People v. DODG Corp. CA1/4

I. BACKGROUND1

A. The Defendants’ Real Estate Business Defendants Baljit Mann and Surinder Mann (who are husband and wife) have owned and managed real estate in Oakland since 1980. They are corporate officers and shareholders of several closely held entities that own, manage, or rent out real property in Oakland, and for some of those they are the sole officers. The entities have common management and an Oakland office that Surinder Mann oversees. In total, at the time of trial, the companies owned about 130 properties in Oakland, 30 to 60 of which were residential. Two of the closely held entities are defendants DODG and SBMANN2. Baljit Mann is the president of DODG, and Surinder Mann is its vice president and chief financial officer. They are also the sole managing

1 We derive our summary of the background facts in part from the

trial court’s statement of decision, as well as the underlying trial evidence.

2 members of SBMANN2. DODG and SBMANN2 own over 60 parcels in Oakland. Plaintiffs’ claims in this case arise from defendants’ alleged real estate practices at six Oakland properties: 276 Hegenberger Road, 5848 Foothill Boulevard, 5268-5296 Foothill Boulevard, 5213-5219…