About Mark

Mark Adams pioneered the use of health and safety receivership as a remedy to abate nuisance conditions at slum properties, abandoned properties, and various types of dilapidated properties throughout California. In 1999, Adams became the first receiver ever appointed under the California Health and Safety Code to address a 66-unit apartment complex after a young child tragically died from an illness brought on by the dangerous conditions on-site. Adams went on to establish California Receivership Group and, over the past twenty-five years, has become the most experienced receiver operating in this field. CRG and Adams have been appointed to over 340 projects on petition of over 130 cities. CRG has been the court-appointed receiver for almost 200 judges (State and Federal) in roughly two-thirds of California’s 58 counties.

Background & Experience

Prior to establishing CRG, Mark was a driving force behind, and served on, former Los Angeles Mayor Riordan’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Slum Housing. This experience, combined with his decades-long career in real estate finance, provided the  backbone for his initial receivership work. Over the past twenty-five years, Adams has led CRG as the company has honed its approach to health and safety receivership work, gaining vast experience managing the financial, political, social, and economic
intricacies that accompany this extraordinarily unique enforcement tool. Mark innovated the use of super-priority receivership certificate financing for the rehabilitation of nuisance properties. In its work to cure code violations at red-tagged properties, CRG has funded over $58 million in health and safety receivership financing.

Areas of Expertise

• Unpermitted construction
• Fire, hillside stability, and seismic danger
• Rampant crime and repeated calls for service
• Abandoned and unsecured structures
• Fire and water damage
• Unsafe but inhabited buildings and relocation of occupants
• Accumulation of junk and debris, including hoarding situations
• Hazmat, pest infestation, asbestos, and mold abatement
• Unmaintained lots with lack of defensible space and unprotected public dangers
• Structural inadequacy or complete failure
• Abatement of nuisance conditions with occupants living on-site
• Environmentally sensitive areas
• Animal welfare situations
• Properties without heat, electricity, and running water
• Revitalization of historically significant properties
• Abatement of all property types:
  • Single-family and multi-family homes
  • Apartment buildings, motels, and hotels
  • Mobile home parks and multi-acre sites
  • Commercial buildings, including stores and garages

Professional Experience

CALIFORNIA RECEIVERSHIP GROUP, INC.
PRESIDENT, 1999-Present
Specializing in real estate, real estate finance, and litigation for appointment of health and safety receivership under Health and Safety Code Section 17980.7, Penal Code, Code of Civil Procedure Section 564 et seq., and Business and Professions Code Section 17203, see above.
 

PRINCIPAL, CIVITAS HOUSING CO.
 

SENIOR V.P., DE MIRANDA MANAGEMENT
1997-1999
Responsible for affordable housing management activities for a professional property management firm which managed 4,400 apartment units in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Worked with various clients in arranging bank financing for real estate projects.

Co-founded and helped administer the Blue Ribbon Citizens Committee on Slum Housing, the catalyst for the City of Los Angeles’ substantially expanded slum housing inspection program.
 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES DIVISION, 1995-1998
Managed Los Angeles operations for this nonprofit housing developer.
 

FANNIE MAE
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, 1992-1995
Responsible for congressional relations in the nine western states.
 

ATTORNEY/CONSULTANT
1988-1992
Corporate and housing finance work for clients such as the California
Housing Finance Agency and Great Western Bank.
 

CALLIE MAE, INC.
PRESIDENT, 1982-1987
Founded and managed a mortgage banking company which sold over $500 million in home mortgage loans to California public pension funds and other institutional investors.
 

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF PLANNING AND RESEARCH
CONSULTANT, 1978-1981
Worked in the policy development arm of the Governor’s office.
 

BALL, HUNT, HART, BROWN AND BAERWITZ
ATTORNEY, 1976-1978
Associate in the litigation department.
 

Education

Georgetown University Law Center – J.D.
Loyola Marymount University – B.A.