Marina Pacifica Homeowners Ass'n v. Southern California Financial Corp.

This litigation between plaintiff Marina Pacifica Homeowners Association (the HOA) and defendants William Lansdale and Southern California Financial Corporation (SCFC) concerns the Marina Pacifica condominium project (Marina Pacifica) in Long Beach, California. SCFC appeals, and the HOA cross-appeals, from the judgment after a bench trial. The parties’ dispute centers around a monthly fee the residents of Marina Pacifica pay to the developers of the condominiums, or the developers’ successor in interest, called the “assignment fee.” We affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Marina Pacifica’s Development and Pertinent Transactions

Marina Pacifica is a 570-unit complex on the Long Beach waterfront. At the time of Marina Pacifica’s construction in the early 1970’s, the McGrath Trust owned the land on which the complex was built. Lansdale obtained an option on a ground lease from the McGrath Trust. He contributed the ground lease option to Marina Pacifica Limited Partnership (the limited partnership). The limited partners in this entity were Lansdale, Abe Reider, and William Dawson. The limited partnership exercised the ground lease option…