LaPay

I.

INTRODUCTION

1 In 2018, Lance LaPay (Lance) purchased a ground sub-leasehold interest in a

condo (the Property) in Palm Springs. Ownership title of the Property was held in The

Lance George LaPay Living Trust (the Trust). Lance is the settlor, original trustee, and

sole beneficiary of the trust. He lived in the condo until there was a fire next door in

2020, resulting in smoke damage and damage to the garage. Right after the fire, Lance

abandoned his condo and could not be located or reached by the condo homeowner’s

association, Fairways Homeowner’s Association (HOA), or by the condo manager, J.N.

Lewis Group dba as Desert Management (Desert Management).

Over a year after the 2020 fire, Lance’s sister, Simone LaPay (Simone), became

successor trustee of the Trust because of Lance’s mental incapacity. As successor trustee,

Simone sold the Property in April 2022 and sued HOA and Desert Management for

entering the Property to repair the fire-related damage.

Simone, as successor trustee, appeals from summary judgment granted in favor of

HOA and Desert Management, and from an order awarding them attorney fees and costs.

The trial court found that there were no triable…