Kelly Gearhart, Developer
Atascadero land developer Kelly Gearhart and onetime Atascadero “Person of the Year” awaits trial.
In August 2012, Gearhart pleaded not guilty to 16 charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering at a federal court in Los Angeles. He faces up to 300 years in federal prison if convicted on all charges.
Gearhart and the former president of Hurst Financial, James Miller, have been accused of helping to defraud more than 1,200 investors of more than $100 million in an alleged Ponzi scheme. Miller and Gearhart bilked investors who put money into Central Coast real estate projects and then siphoned off the monies for other purposes, including maintaining lavish lifestyles, federal authorities alleged.
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PDFHeritage Oaks Bank files big foreclosures
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Heritage Oaks Bank has filed foreclosure notices against developer Kelly Gearhart’s Vista Del Hombre project, as well as Karen Guth and Joshua Yaguda’s Pasolivio Olive Ranch. Bank officials did so despite a state move on all Guth-Yaguda assets. Following the Oct. 16 arrest of the mother-son team, state officials filed a lis pendens on all properties... (Continue Reading)
DUMPSTER CHRONICLES: Web of deceit
(EDITORS‘ NOTE: For months, a concerned investor sifted through Hurst Financial Inc.’s trash, tirelessly collecting eight bags of “Post-it” notes, hand-written letters, and typed documents from the imploding lending company. The investor then shared that trash with us. Part I of the Dumpster Chronicles reveals how Hurst Financial Inc. principals knowingly defrauded investors. Part II explains how district attorney’s officials... (Continue Reading)
Lenders accused of fraud agree to surrender licenses
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Hurst Financial Inc. president James Hurst Miller Jr. and his daughter Courtney Lee Brard admitted to state regulators their complicity in fraud. The pair agreed to forfeit their real estate licenses rather than dispute a large number of fraud allegations filed against them by the California Department of Real Estate (DRE), according to an October 14... (Continue Reading)
DUMPSTER CHRONICLES: Law, disorder, and the DA
SECOND IN A SERIES By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN A disengaged and reticent district attorney failed to investigate numerous complaints targeting fraudulent hard money lenders and big-name developers during the past 18 months, even as new and unsuspecting investors were being fleeced of their life savings. Personal, political, and family connections may have had significant influence on decisions made by key members... (Continue Reading)
BULLETIN: Gearhart crashing, burning
By THE EDITORS Attorneys for North County developer Kelly Gearhart, the darling of Atascadero city officials, hard-money lenders, and local banks, encountered Judge Charles S. Crandall Tuesday morning. The San Luis Obispo County Superior Court jurist took position and control from Gearhart on his Morro Road LLC and appointed a limited receiver. The LLC owns Tastee Freeze in Atascadero and numerous... (Continue Reading)
Where did Hurst’s Beacon Road money go?
By DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE Investors wooed by Atascadero hard money lender Hurst Financial’s owner Jay Miller raised $414,000 of an apparent $485,000 loan to help fund a new North County commercial park, but learned within four months that only $198 remained in the investment account. Construction on the Kelly Gearhart/Miller project was never started. And even as the fund money... (Continue Reading)
Bank’s own appraisal questions Gearhart loan
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN A million-dollar loan from Heritage Oaks Bank to North County developer Kelly Gearhart earlier this year was based on “erroneous” and questionable claims, according to the bank’s own appraisal. That appraisal was not received by bank officials until nearly two months after the loan proceeds had been paid to Gearhart. ... (Continue Reading)
Banks on thin ice after risky loans to developer
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Bank loans which appear inadequately secured made to a well known North County developer -- as well as an accompanying tangled web of loan transfers -- may have created significant problems for some San Luis Obispo County banks. Kelly Gearhart owns an 884-square-foot house on a small, oddly shaped Atascadero lot at 5120 Traffic Way. The... (Continue Reading)
Hurst, Gearhart drawing battle lines
By DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE Two prominent North County real estate confederates appear headed for a showdown after one announced today he “will be filing notices of default” on many delinquent loans, including at least several with developer Kelly Gearhart. Hard money lender Jay Hurst Miller, president of Hurst Financial of Atascadero, wrote in an e-mail to investors, a copy of... (Continue Reading)
Fraud lawsuit filed against Gearhart, Hurst
By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN Local investors are alleging they were bilked out of millions by Hurst Financial and developer Kelly Gearhart. David Rios and Murray Powell filed an 11-count lawsuit Tuesday in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court. Allegations include fraud and civil conspiracy by Hurst Financial president Jay Hurst Miller, Hurst loan officer Courtney Brard, and Gearhart, and claims... (Continue Reading)
