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Real Estate Deception

Silicon Valley Homeowner Wins $450,000 Settlement in Real Estate Fraud Lawsuit!

Mark Ivie's Deposition


                  IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

                         IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA

                                UNLIMITED JURISDICTION



              RALPH SIMPSON,

                                  Plaintiff,

                       vs.                      Case No. 1-05-CV-053398

              LOU RAE KAGEL, LYNN O'BRIEN,
              JAMES O'BRIEN, STONEHENGE
              PROPERTIES, INC., VALLEY OF
              CALIFORNIA, INC., dba COLDWELL
              BANKER, and DOES ONE through
              TWENTY, inclusive,

                                  Defendants.
              _______________________________/

              AND RELATED CROSS-ACTIONS
              _______________________________/




                             DEPOSITION OF MARK T. IVIE

                             Thursday, January 18, 2007

                      951 Mariner's Island Boulevard, Suite 630

                                San Mateo, California





                              MADELEINE M. FREDA, INC.
                           Certified Shorthand Reporters

              Reported by:                 2000 Broadway
                 Joanne Haag               P.O. Box 3119
                 CSR No. 4716              Redwood City, CA 94064
              Our File No.                 (650) 365-6152


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           1                   A P P E A R A N C E S

           2  For the Plaintiff:    GREENE, CHAUVEL, DESCALSO &
                                    MINOLETTI
           3                        Attorneys at Law
                                    951 Mariner's Island Boulevard
           4                        Suite 630
                                    San Mateo, CA  94404
           5                        BY:  PAUL G. MINOLETTI, ESQ.

           6  For the Defendants    GLASPY & GLASPY, INC.
              Lynn and James        The Garden Alameda
           7  O'Brien and Stone-    1550 The Alameda, Suite 200
              henge Properties,     San Jose, CA  95126
           8  Inc.:                 BY:  PAUL C. GLASPY, ESQ.

           9
              For the Defendant     LAW DIVISION OF NRT INCORPORATED
          10  Valley of California  WESTERN DIVISION
              dba Coldwell Banker:  12657 Alcosta Boulevard, Suite 500
          11                        San Ramon, CA  94583
                                    BY:  STEPHEN W. THOMAS, ESQ.
          12

          13

          14

          15

          16           BE IT REMEMBERED that, pursuant to Notice and

          17  on Thursday, January 18, 2007, commencing at the hour of

          18  11:07 a.m., at 951 Mariner's Island Boulevard, Suite

          19  630, San Mateo, California, before JOANNE HAAG, CSR No.

          20  4716, personally appeared

          21

          22                        MARK T. IVIE

          23

          24  who was produced as a witness under the provisions of

          25  Section 776 of the Evidence Code.


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           1                         I N D E X

           2  Examination by:                                 Page

           3           Mr. Minoletti                            4

           4

           5

           6                          EXHIBITS

           7

           8  Plaintiff's Exhibits:

           9    1      Cover letter and materials from          8

          10           Mr. Glaspy

          11    2      Documents obtained from city of          9

          12           Monte Sereno

          13    3      MetroScan property profile and           9

          14           plat maps

          15

          16

          17

          18

          19

          20

          21

          22

          23

          24

          25


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           1                        MARK T. IVIE

           2  being duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:

           3                EXAMINATION BY MR. MINOLETTI

           4  MR. MINOLETTI:

           5  Q.       Would you state your full name for the record.

           6  A.       It's Mark Terrell Ivie.

           7  Q.       Okay.  And have you testified in deposition

           8  before?

           9  A.       Yes, I have.

          10  Q.       On how many occasions?

          11  A.       Roughly eight to 10.

          12  Q.       And have you testified in trial before?

          13  A.       Yes, I have.

          14  Q.       On how many occasions?

          15  A.       Less than five.

          16  Q.       Do you remember any of the cases that you

          17  testified in trial on?

          18  A.       Specific addresses --

          19  Q.       Names.

          20  A.       Names.  I do not.

          21  Q.       Do you remember addresses?

          22  A.       I did testify recently in a case in Morgan Hill

          23  but I do not remember the address.

          24  Q.       Do you remember the names of the attorneys

          25  involved?


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           1  A.       Unfortunately I do not.

           2  Q.       Since you've had your deposition taken a few

           3  times, can I skip the normal admonitions?

           4  A.       Yes.

           5  Q.       Okay.  And what's your business address?

           6  A.       1280 Sierra, S-i-e-r-r-a, second word is Mar,

           7  M-a-r, and that's Drive, city of San Jose, 95118.

           8  Q.       Can you give me a brief summary of your

           9  employment history.

          10  A.       I have been appraising real estate since 1983.

          11  I have been on my own since 1989.  Between 1983 and 1989

          12  I worked with my father and my brother.

          13  Q.       Did you have a company name?

          14  A.       Yes -- with my father and my brother?

          15  Q.       Yes.

          16  A.       It was under Carl Ivie & Sons Appraisal

          17  Service.

          18  Q.       Can you give me a brief history of your

          19  educational background.

          20  A.       I have a four-year undergraduate degree from

          21  San Jose State University in international business, and

          22  I also have a two-year teaching credential degree in

          23  learning handicap.

          24  Q.       Have you done any teaching?

          25  A.       Yes, I have.


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           1  Q.       And any of your teaching have to do with real

           2  estate or real estate appraisal?

           3  A.       No.

           4  Q.       In addition to your education, have you had any

           5  specialized training in real estate or real estate

           6  appraisal?

           7  A.       Specialized training in what sense?

           8  Q.       Any courses, things like that?

           9  A.       Yes.  I take, I'm a state certified residential

          10  real estate appraiser and I'm required to take

          11  continuing education, and I take roughly 14 to 21 hours

          12  worth of continuing education per year.

          13  Q.       And have you kept up with that?

          14  A.       Yes, I have.

          15  Q.       And what is the state certification that you've

          16  referenced?

          17  A.       It's a residential license that requires a

          18  minimum number of hours, a passage of a standardized

          19  test, background, fingerprint, and payment of fees.

          20  Q.       And what is the minimum number of hours

          21  requirement?

          22  A.       2,000 hours for my particular license.

          23  Q.       And what is that 2,000 hours comprised of?

          24  A.       That's comprised of research and in the field

          25  preparing appraisals.


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           1  Q.       And how long have you had that license?

           2  A.       1996, I'm vague on that because it was the late

           3  '90s when the licensing certification came into effect

           4  in the state of California.

           5  Q.       And has your license ever been limited,

           6  suspended, revoked, anything like that?

           7  A.       No.

           8  Q.       Have you ever worked on any other cases with

           9  the O'Briens or Stonehenge Properties?

          10  A.       No, I have not.

          11  Q.       Have you ever worked with Mr. Glaspy or anyone

          12  from his office before?

          13  A.       No, I have not.

          14  Q.       Now, you've brought with you today your file

          15  materials on this matter?

          16  A.       That is correct.

          17  Q.       Okay.  And is this everything that you've

          18  relied upon, reviewed, to come to your opinions in this

          19  case?

          20  A.       It is.

          21  Q.       And can you just go through and tell me what

          22  you've brought with you here.

          23  A.       What I've brought is correspondence from

          24  Mr. Glaspy's office, and that correspondence included a

          25  purchase contract, some look to be color digital photos


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           1  of the subject property, looks like an exterminator's

           2  report concerning the subject property.  And an

           3  appraisal of the subject property which was dated as of

           4  July 30th of '01.

           5  Q.       And those materials you've just described came

           6  from Mr. Glaspy.

           7  A.       That is correct.

           8  Q.       Okay.

           9  A.       And along with that I have done some research

          10  with the city of Monte Sereno.  I've downloaded some

          11  items concerning definitions of a secondary dwelling

          12  unit, the regulations, the summary of development

          13  standards for the zoning for the subject property, along

          14  with some regulations concerning a sports court and then

          15  from a separate data source that I use, the ownership

          16  information for the property on Blanchard Drive in Monte

          17  Sereno, along with two different plat maps, a view of

          18  the subject property with the square footage measured

          19  out and then a different view of the, looks like the

          20  neighborhood around the subject property.

          21           MR. MINOLETTI:  Let's do this.  Let's have the

          22  material, the letter, the cover letter and the materials

          23  from Mr. Glaspy marked as Exhibit 1.

          24           (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit 1 was

          25           marked for identification.)


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           1           MR. MINOLETTI:  Then Exhibit 2 will be the

           2  documentation you obtained or derived from the city of

           3  Monte Sereno.

           4           (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit 2 was

           5           marked for identification.)

           6           MR. MINOLETTI:  And then Exhibit 3 will be the

           7  MetroScan property profile and the two plat maps.

           8           (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit 3 was

           9           marked for identification.)

          10  BY MR. MINOLETTI:

          11  Q.       I take it you were retained around December 19,

          12  2006?

          13  A.       That is correct.

          14  Q.       Do you have a record or do you keep a record of

          15  the time that you've put into the case?

          16  A.       I do keep a record, I do not have it with me.

          17  Q.       Do you have an estimate as you sit here today

          18  as to how much time you have into the case?

          19  A.       And we're not speaking about my travel time

          20  today?

          21  Q.       No.

          22  A.       Not today.  I would say roughly an hour so far.

          23  Q.       And up until today, can you break down what

          24  you've done for me in that one hour.

          25  A.       Roughly 20 minutes was spent on the phone with


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           1  the planning and zoning department of Monte Sereno, and

           2  the other 40 minutes was reviewing the documents that I

           3  downloaded and reviewing the appraisal of the property.

           4  Q.       Who did you speak with at the city?

           5  A.       I spoke with a young lady, her name was Andrea,

           6  I did not get a last name.

           7  Q.       And what was the gist of your conversation with

           8  Andrea?

           9  A.       The gist of the conversation was, first off,

          10  would I need to come in to the city to get copies of

          11  records or find out about certain regulations.  She

          12  guided me to the Web site, walked me through the

          13  process.  I had some questions concerning the specific

          14  zoning requirements for the subject property, which I

          15  showed to be an R1-20 and she and I discussed certain

          16  aspects of this development standards for the zoning.

          17  Q.       You referenced the MetroScan property profile

          18  designated the property as R1-20.  What does that mean,

          19  R1-20?

          20  A.       It's a single-family residence with a minimum

          21  lot size of 20,000 square feet.

          22  Q.       In your discussions with Andrea at the city of

          23  Monte Sereno, did you bring up the prospect of trying to

          24  put an additional 800-square-foot structure on this

          25  property?


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           1  A.       Not specifically on this property, but a

           2  hypothetical situation.

           3  Q.       And what was the hypothetical situation?

           4  A.       Based upon what I had been -- based upon the

           5  information in the appraisal, I presented a hypothetical

           6  situation if there was already a separate secondary

           7  dwelling unit of 900 square feet, would an additional

           8  secondary dwelling or accessory structure be allowed

           9  under that zoning.

          10  Q.       And what did you learn?

          11  A.       I learned that it would not be able to be

          12  built.

          13  Q.       And for what reason?

          14  A.       Because there was -- it was already considered

          15  an accessory structure because it was detached from the

          16  main residence.

          17  Q.       So is it your understanding that a property

          18  this size in Monte Sereno could only have one accessory

          19  structure?

          20  A.       That was detached.

          21  Q.       Did you have any discussion with Andrea or

          22  anyone at the city of Monte Sereno about impervious

          23  coverage limitations on the property?

          24  A.       On that particular property, no.

          25  Q.       Are you aware of any impervious coverage


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           1  limitations on the property?

           2  A.       I am aware of impervious coverage limitations

           3  under that zoning.

           4  Q.       And what's your understanding of the impervious

           5  limitations under that zoning?

           6  A.       My understanding of the impervious is that it

           7  could be 40 -- up to a maximum of 40 percent of the lot

           8  size.

           9  Q.       And did you make any determination as to the

          10  impervious coverage on this particular lot?

          11  A.       No, I did not.

          12  Q.       Did you visit the property at all?

          13  A.       No, I have not.

          14  Q.       The MetroScan property profile that you've

          15  pulled, is this something you use regularly in your work

          16  as an appraiser?

          17  A.       Yes.

          18  Q.       And is the information contained in the

          19  MetroScan property profile deemed accurate as far as

          20  you're concerned?

          21  A.       As far as I'm concerned, these are from county

          22  records.

          23  Q.       I understand that your only opinions in this

          24  case revolve around the ability or inability to

          25  construct an additional 800-square-foot structure on


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           1  this property.  Is that true?

           2  A.       That is true.

           3           MR. GLASPY:  I've also asked him to opine as to

           4  in the hypothetical sense if a structure could be built,

           5  what value if any would that add.

           6           MR. MINOLETTI:  Okay.

           7  Q.       Let's get to those opinions.  What is your

           8  opinion with regard to whether or not an additional

           9  800-square-foot structure could be built on this

          10  property?

          11  A.       Based upon the current zoning?

          12  Q.       Yes.

          13  A.       My opinion is that it could not, that another

          14  structure cannot be built.

          15  Q.       In your materials did you see an advertisement

          16  with respect to the subject property?

          17  A.       No.  These are not my -- are you talking --

          18  well, this is not my appraisal, this is a copy of an

          19  appraisal that was done by someone else.

          20  Q.       Well, in any of your work on this case, were

          21  you told or given any material that indicated this

          22  property was advertised as having the ability to build

          23  an additional 800-square-foot structure?

          24  A.       No, I was not.

          25  Q.       You were also asked to formulate an opinion


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           1  with respect to the value of an 800-square-foot

           2  structure, if it could be built on this property; is

           3  that correct?

           4  A.       That is correct.

           5  Q.       Okay.  And what is your opinion in that regard?

           6  A.       My opinion is that it would not add anything to

           7  the value of the property.  It would be an over

           8  improvement based upon the structures that are on the

           9  property currently.

          10  Q.       What do you mean by an over improvement?

          11  A.       That it would, it would not add any value to

          12  the property whatsoever.

          13  Q.       And what do you base that upon?

          14  A.       I base that upon what is there, at least what I

          15  was shown to be there on the appraisal that was dated

          16  back in 2001, and what the market would allow or would

          17  adjust for based upon the neighborhood and also the size

          18  of the lot.

          19  Q.       In coming to the opinion that any potential to

          20  build an 800-square-foot additional structure there

          21  would be an over improvement, did you take into account

          22  any cost to build?

          23  A.       I did take into a cost to build and my opinion

          24  is based upon the fact that it would not add anything to

          25  the value.


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           1  Q.       And what formula did you use to factor in the

           2  cost to build?

           3  A.       Well, depending upon what type of structure,

           4  for example, if it was a garage, it would be roughly

           5  $100 a square foot.  If it was, say, a separate office I

           6  would say $200 a square foot.

           7  Q.       And those cost-to-build numbers are based on

           8  what, your experience?

           9  A.       My experience.

          10  Q.       And is that in today's dollars?

          11  A.       Yes, it is.

          12  Q.       Now, assuming an office could be built there at

          13  $200 per square foot, the cost to build would be, is it

          14  320,000?

          15  A.       No, we're talking -- it would be 800 square

          16  feet, so it would be $160,000.

          17  Q.       And you're saying that putting $160,000 into

          18  building an office at this particular property would

          19  yield no return for the homeowner.

          20  A.       That's correct.  It would be a net gain of

          21  zero.

          22  Q.       Would there be a loss in your opinion?

          23  A.       Depending upon where it was built on the

          24  property, the quality of construction, there possibly

          25  could be.


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           1  Q.       At $200 a square foot, what sort of quality of

           2  construction are you estimating?

           3  A.       Average to good quality.

           4  Q.       If an office structure could have been built

           5  there, would there be any loss-of-use value?

           6  A.       Loss-of-use value of the lot itself?

           7  Q.       Assuming you could have an office there.

           8           MR. GLASPY:  I'm just going to object, it's

           9  irrelevant, it's not the measure of damages in this type

          10  of claim.

          11           THE WITNESS:  And I need you to clarify what

          12  exactly you mean.

          13  MR. MINOLETTI:

          14  Q.       Sure.  Assuming that in this particular

          15  instance the homeowner wanted and could have built an

          16  office on the property shortly after he purchased the

          17  property, and now we're X number of years down the line

          18  and he cannot have it for that office, in your mind

          19  would there be a loss of use to the homeowner?

          20           MR. GLASPY:  Same objection.

          21           THE WITNESS:  Do I need to answer that?

          22           MR. GLASPY:  If you can.

          23  MR. MINOLETTI:

          24  Q.       If you can.

          25  A.       I have no opinion to that.


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           1  Q.       Just so that I can eliminate some additional

           2  questioning, you weren't asked to make any opinion about

           3  the subject pool at the property, correct?

           4  A.       That is correct.

           5  Q.       And you were not asked to give an opinion as to

           6  the square footage of the existing structures or the

           7  square footage of the land itself, correct?

           8  A.       That is correct.

           9  Q.       And you were not asked to formulate any

          10  opinions as to value of the home with or without

          11  fiberoptics; is that correct?

          12  A.       That is correct.  If I may, at a side light, in

          13  the course of my investigation I did determine what the

          14  square footage of the lot, the subject lot, was.  And

          15  that was for the, to see if it met current standards

          16  under the current zoning.

          17  Q.       Okay.  And what did you come up with?

          18  A.       I came up with, it did meet the minimum

          19  requirements of the development standards for the zoning

          20  of R1-20.

          21  Q.       So that it had at least 20,000 square feet.

          22  A.       Correct.

          23  Q.       And were you relying upon the MetroScan report

          24  for that?

          25  A.       Both the MetroScan report and also in the


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           1  MetroScan software there's an ability for the lot to be

           2  measured, which I did.

           3  Q.       And that is --

           4  A.       I came up with an estimated lot size of 26,638

           5  square feet.

           6  Q.       And that is on this Tract Number 1 plat map?

           7  A.       That is correct.

           8  Q.       Okay.  That's part of Exhibit 3.  And where did

           9  you obtain the measurements?

          10  A.       The measurements were already on the map

          11  itself, and I just overlaid a mapping program on top of

          12  it to determine if that is correct.  I use it to

          13  determine the square footage of irregular lots.

          14  Q.       Other than Andrea at the city of Monte Sereno

          15  and Mr. Glaspy, have you spoken with anybody else about

          16  this particular assignment?

          17  A.       No, I have not.

          18  Q.       Do you plan on doing any further work?

          19           MR. GLASPY:  I intend to get to Mr. Ivie the

          20  transcripts and exhibits for the other disclosed

          21  experts, but other than that, I'm not aware of anything.

          22  MR. MINOLETTI:

          23  Q.       Have you read any depositions that were taken

          24  in this case?

          25  A.       No, I have not.


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           1  Q.       There was one advertisement contained within

           2  the materials you were sent.  Did you rely on any

           3  portion of this advertisement in formulating your

           4  opinions?

           5  A.       No, I did not.

           6  Q.       There's also a site plan type drawing that's

           7  been reduced down as part of the materials that you were

           8  sent.

           9  A.       I have that in front of me.

          10  Q.       Did you rely on any of the information

          11  contained on that drawing in formulating your opinions

          12  in the case?

          13  A.       I did look at this and, yes, I did.

          14  Q.       What information did you rely on in formulating

          15  your opinions?

          16  A.       The information that showed the configuration

          17  of the lot, how the main structure was situated on the

          18  lot, and the supposed guest house where it sat on the

          19  lot also, that showed it was detached from the main

          20  residence.

          21  Q.       Do you see on that document where it says, see

          22  floor plan for exact size and location of dwellings,

          23  pool and court?

          24  A.       Yes, I do.

          25  Q.       Have you ever seen a floor plan that shows the


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           1  exact size and location of the dwellings, pool and

           2  court?

           3  A.       Besides this one, no.

           4  Q.       Do you know what the court refers to?

           5           MR. GLASPY:  Don't guess or speculate.

           6           THE WITNESS:  I do not know.

           7  MR. MINOLETTI:

           8  Q.       Were you asked to formulate any opinion as to

           9  the fair market value of the property, either at the

          10  time it was purchased by Mr. Simpson or now?

          11  A.       No, I was not.

          12  Q.       In your opinion, is this property a level

          13  two-thirds of an acre?

          14  A.       Based upon the appraisal, it is a level lot.

          15  Q.       You calculated the acreage, did you not?

          16  A.       I calculated the square footage of the lot.

          17  Q.       And on that sheet it says .612 acres.

          18  A.       That's right, the measurement software did

          19  that.

          20  Q.       The photographs in your file, were they of any

          21  particular importance to you?

          22  A.       They don't have any particular importance to

          23  me.  It gives me more of a -- it gives me a visual of

          24  certain aspects of the subject property.

          25           MR. MINOLETTI:  I think that's all I have.


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           1           (11:41 a.m.)

           2

           3

           4

           5                           ____________________________

           6                           MARK T. IVIE

           7

           8                           ____________________________

           9                           Date

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                             CERTIFIED SHORTHAND REPORTERS






           1             I do hereby certify that the witness in the

           2  foregoing deposition was by me duly sworn to testify the

           3  truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in the

           4  within-entitled cause; that said deposition was taken at

           5  the time and place therein stated; that the testimony of

           6  the said witness was reported by me and was transcribed

           7  under my direction into typewriting; that the foregoing

           8  is a full, complete and true record of said testimony;

           9  and that the witness was given an opportunity to read

          10  and correct said deposition and to subscribe the same.

          11             I further certify that I am not of counsel or

          12  attorney for either or any of the parties in the

          13  foregoing deposition and caption named, or in any way

          14  interested in the outcome of the cause named in said

          15  action.

          16             Should the signature of the witness not be

          17  affixed to the deposition, the signature has been waived

          18  by stipulation; or the deposition was not signed for the

          19  following reason:

          20  _______________________________________________________.

          21             IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto certified the

          22  foregoing transcript by authority of the Code of Civil

          23  Procedure, Section 2093(b).

          24  Date:_______________________ __________________________
                                           JOANNE HAAG
          25                               CSR NO. 4716


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                             CERTIFIED SHORTHAND REPORTERS