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Santa Clarita Realtor Richard Szerman of Alta Realty Group
Santa Clarita Realtor Richard Szerman of Alta Realty Group

Santa Clarita Realtor Fights To Save Home Of Cancer Survivor Facing Foreclosure

After surviving cancer of the head and neck, Kelly Estavillo lost the ability to operate his business. Now he may lose his home to SPS, a mortgage servicing company, according to a Santa Clarita realtor.


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Estavillo is among several individuals facing foreclosure by a mortgage servicing company called Select Portfolio Servicing (SPS), and is being represented by Richard Szerman of Alta Realty Group, who offers free foreclosure defense services to the public.

Szerman said that after debilitating cancer treatment, Estavillo “lost his small business and his ability to ever work again.”

Related: Santa Clarita Realtor: Mortgage Holders Should ‘Act Now’ If Seeking Forbearance Under CARES Act

“He has worked his entire life, and being forced to beg to be able to short-sell his home so that he may be able to keep any roof over his head is unnecessarily traumatic, painful and frankly cruel,” the Santa Clarita realtor continued.

Estavillo had been working with SPS to arrange a short sale of his Palmdale home well before the coronavirus pandemic started, said Szerman. However, Szerman said the company failed to communicate effectively over the course of the pandemic, leading both Szerman and Estavillo to be caught unaware that his house had moved into foreclosure.

Szerman said he made many attempts to contact SPS to discuss the short sale he had arranged for Estavillo, but those calls reportedly went unreturned.

According to Szerman, SPS claimed they sent a letter to Estavillo on April 30, denying the in-progress short sale and warning of the impending foreclosure, but neither Estavillo nor Szerman, as his representative, said they received any such communication.

The April 30 letter, later faxed to Szerman per his request on June 3, reads in part, “You have thirty (30) calendar days from the date of this notice to contact SPS to discuss the reason for non-approval. No foreclosure sale will be conducted and you will not lose your home during this thirty (30) day period.”

“But since we didn’t know this letter existed, that clock started running without any notice,” Szerman said. “I wonder how many other homeowners SPS has done this to during this pandemic?”

As of March 13, Szerman said that he had received written confirmation that SPS was to forward copies of “all communication with regard to the mortgage account to (his) attention and has authorized (him) to receive such communication,” yet Szerman claimed that SPS admitted that no copy of this April 30 notification had been forwarded to him.

“Despite SPS’s own authorization letter, SPS still claims they had no reason or responsibility to send me or anyone other than the homeowner a copy of the decline letter,” Szerman said. “Which is very convenient for them. SPS has no proof of mailing or any other evidence to prove the letter was even sent. They don’t feel proof of mailing or tracking is warranted. They, by their own admission, made no attempt to email or otherwise contact either my client or me.”

Szerman said he believes this lack of communication is intentional on SPS’s part to force properties such as Estavillo’s into foreclosure when a short sale would otherwise be possible.

One of the reasons Szerman believes the actions by SPS are intentional has to do with the reasoning SPS gave for their denial of Estavillo’s short sale — “the counter offer was insufficient.”

Szerman said he had previously worked with SPS to agree on a minimum amount for the short sale — $375,000 — for which the Santa Clarita realtor had found a buyer before the April 30 denial letter.

The foreclosure of Estavillo’s home was originally scheduled for July 16, but was rescheduled for September 10 after KHTS reached out to SPS for comment on this story, according to Szerman. The Santa Clarita realtor hopes that this extra time will allow him to convince SPS that the short sale will benefit their investors more than a foreclosure.

The short sale is “vital” for Estavillo’s sake, said Szerman, pointing out that a short sale would allow Estavillo to take advantage of public services that would be unavailable to him should a foreclosure be added to his credit record.

“Mr. Estavillo needs this short sale to go through, because if the house is foreclosed on, he will have a much harder time finding replacement housing. A foreclosure will mean Mr. Estavillo will likely lose any public assistance benefits he otherwise would qualify for. If SPS forecloses, … Mr. Estavillo will have a nearly impossible time finding a rental property that will approve him,” Szerman said. “He will likely wind up homeless.”

Szerman said that Estavillo is one of “half a dozen foreclosures scheduled (with SPS) in the next two weeks for clients who had files in process prior to the pandemic.”

“If you have a property that was in default prior to the pandemic — or even during the pandemic, we’ve discovered — the bank is not going to treat you reasonably,” Szerman warned. “They’re, in effect, ignoring the fact that there is a pandemic.”

Szerman recommended those with mortgages in default call him for free assistance, but also that they contact their local politicians to petition them to put regulations in place to stop banks and mortgage servicers from foreclosing during the coronavirus pandemic.

“If you think homelessness is bad in the state of California now,” Szerman said, “try what it looks like in six months if we do not stop banks from foreclosing.”

Ed. Note: SPS officials did not return a request for comment by KHTS prior to the publication of this story.

Ed. Note: This article is a KHTS Community Spotlight based on a recent radio interview with Richard Szerman of Alta Realty Group.

Santa Clarita realtor Richard Szerman, of Alta Realty Group, has more than two decades of experience as a realtor. After “quietly” conducting public outreach and pro bono work as a realtor in Santa Clarita for many years, Szerman is raising awareness about the opportunities available to the community through Alta Realty Group. He offers free foreclosure defense services to the public, gives clients money to buy a house based on the rent they have previously paid, and gives sellers money to fix up their house in an effort to help it sell at a higher price. The Rental Rebate, Free Loan Modification and Resale Renovation Programs are designed to help make it easier to buy a house, sell a house and even save a house from foreclosure. Anyone looking for a “realtor near me” can reach out to the team at Alta Realty Group today. 

Richard Szerman, Alta Realty Group

27451 Tourney Road, Ste #140
Valencia, CA  91355

Office: (661) 253-3000

To call/text Richard directly: (661) 714-1400

Richard Szerman, Alta Realty Group – Santa Clarita

Santa Clarita Realtor, Realtor in Santa Clarita, Rich Szerman, Richard Szerman, Alta Realty Group, Save a House From Foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, Free Foreclosure Defense, Realtor Near Me

KHTS AM 1220 & FM 98.1 - Santa Clarita Radio - Santa Clarita News

Santa Clarita Realtor Fights To Save Home Of Cancer Survivor Facing Foreclosure

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About Amanda Bosworth