On September 5, 2023, a Long Beach jury ordered Ken Allen Lamphear, a seasoned real estate investor from Los Angeles County, to pay $3 million in punitive damages for elder abuse and fraud against Suzanne “Susie” Yorgason, an 80-year-old Long Beach resident. The punitive damages award followed the jury’s initial September 1st verdict in which, after finding Lamphear liable for committing elder abuse, fraud, and fraud in the inducement, the jury also determined that Lamphear had acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud.”
The punitive award brought the total judgment in favor of Ms. Yorgason to $5.5 million, a sum that encapsulated the court’s rescission of the contested grant deed. Combined with the jury’s initial verdict awarding Yorgason more than $2.5 million, the case sends a clear message that elder abuse will not be tolerated in California.
Ms. Yorgason, who resided in her Alamitos Beach home for nearly 50 years, was bedridden and living in a nursing home when Lamphear unscrupulously acquired her property without making any payment. The case took a darker turn with allegations that Lamphear performed unauthorized and substandard renovations on the property and relocated Ms. Yorgason’s personal belongings into a storage unit without her knowledge or consent.
William D. Chapman, a partner at the Orange County law firm of MBK Chapman and lead counsel for Ms. Yorgason, expressed satisfaction with the court’s decisions. “Ken Lamphear was fully aware of his actions when he exploited Ms. Yorgason. The absence of essential legal documentation—no promissory note, deed, or escrow—exemplifies the calculated nature of this abuse.”
On September 1, the jury initially awarded Ms. Yorgason $719,787 for past economic loss, $150,000 for past non-economic loss, and $69,882 for future economic loss—for a total of $939,669. Under the provisions of California’s Elder Adult and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, Ms. Yorgason’s economic damages will be doubled, adding another $789,669 to the judgment. Furthermore, Lamphear has been ordered to cover Ms. Yorgason’s legal fees and costs, which will likely add several hundred thousand dollars more to the judgment.
The court also voided Lamphear’s grant deed, effectively restoring ownership of the now-$800,000 property back to Ms. Yorgason. When all financial considerations are accounted for, Ms. Yorgason’s total judgment against Lamphear is estimated to approach $6 million.
Click here to read about the case in the Long Beach Post News: https://lbpost.com/news/elderly-woman-swindled-out-of-home-investor-yorganson/