Vass

FACTS

Background In April 2010, plaintiff and appellant Atila Vass, represented by legal counsel, initiated his current action by filing a complaint against Michael Magness, an alleged mortgage broker/salesman, and several financial institutions. Vass‟s original complaint alleged two themes: (1) he had been a victim of “predatory” lending practices in the first instance and a subsequent refusal to modify loans he was repaying, and (2) he had been defrauded by Magness, working as an agent of the financial institutions, in a scheme which culminated in loans and deeds of trust related to a property on Museum Drive in Los Angeles being issued in Magness‟s name, instead of Vass‟s name. Along with his complaint, Vass filed a “„911‟” ex parte application for a temporary restraining order to stop a then-pending trustee‟s foreclosure sale of the Museum Drive property. In April 2010, the trial court denied Vass‟s application for a temporary restraining order. During June 2010, at which time Vass was represented by new counsel, the trial court denied two further applications for a temporary restraining order. By September 2010, Vass had taken control of his case away from lawyers; he…