Has Robert L. Chapman, Jr. committed a felony? Via Horcada LLC a/k/a 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, 90274
December 31, 2020 § 11 Comments
In looking over the records on file with the Secretary of State for 701 Via Horcada, Palos Verdes Eatates, CA, 90274, it appears that that the statement of information for 2017 may contain deliberately false information. Does this constitute perjury, and if so, should the district attorney for the County of Los Angeles initiate an investigation against Robert L. Chapman, Jr.? The home located there is also listed as 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274, and is currently listed for sale for a sickeningly overpriced $9.5 million considering all of the complaints that have been filed with the PVE Police Department about this property and neighborhood.
At the outset, Robert L. Chapman, Jr., filed and signed a 2007 Limited Liability Company Application for Registration with the California Secretary of State, shortly after the formation of 701 Via Horcada, LLC, a Delaware corporation. Presumably this was the business entity formed for the purchase of 701 Via Horcada, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274, in which Chapman has lived since 2007. The home located there is also listed in county tax records as 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274.
The section of the California Corporations Code regulating limited liability corporations states that “(c) An individual who signs a record authorized or required to be filed under this title affirms under penalty of perjury that the information stated in the record is accurate.” Of course this includes the LLC’s statement of information, a document that LLCs are required to periodically file with the state.
The 2007 application for registration lists “Robert L. Chapman, Jr.” as the managing member. However, in 2017 a statement of information is filed with the state to reflect a change in the LLC’s agent for service of process, changing the agent from CSC to someone named “Robert Lewis, Jr.” In addition to this name, which is suspiciously similar to “Robert L. Chapman, Jr.”, the 2017 statement of information is now signed by not by Robert Lewis Chapman, Jr., but by by the managing member Robert Lewis, Jr.
This leads to a couple of obvious questions:
- Who is Robert Lewis, Jr.?
- Does he actually exist?
- If not, does naming him in the statement of information as agent and managing member constitute perjury pursuant to the Corporations Code?
- If so, who submitted the false 2017 document to the Secretary of State?
- If the person who submitted it was in fact Robert L. Chapman, Jr., should he now be investigated by the Los Angeles District Attorney for commission of perjury, a felony?
- Should concerned citizens and neighbors in Palos Verdes Estates request that the DA launch such an investigation?
The concerns about 701 Via Horcada’s state filings don’t end there. The home located there is also listed as 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274. In 2019, the LLC filed what appears to be a completely unsigned “Statement of No Change.” Unlike the 2017 filing, this new document now lists the managing member as, you guessed it, “Robert L. Chapman, Jr.” However, it affirms that none of the previous information has changed, i.e., the agent for service is still the mysterious “Robert Lewis, Jr.” and that the managing member is still “Robert Lewis, Jr.” despite listing the managing member now as the former “Robert L. Chapman, Jr.”
It’s hard to figure out why the Chapman who signed the 2007 application would falsify the new agent for service and managing member in 2017, if that’s what happened, other than to make it easier to evade service of process. If that’s the case, it suggests that Chapman might have a lot of problems he’s concerned about getting sued for. But it also suggests that whoever filed the 2017 document may have committed perjury, if “Robert Lewis, Jr.” is a sham person.
Perjury in California is defined in Penal Code Section 118, stating in part that “every person who, having taken an oath that he or she will testify…before any competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any of the cases in which the oath may by law of the State of California be administered, willfully and contrary to the oath, states as true any material matter which he or she knows to be false…is guilty of perjury.” This includes giving false information on a material matter in a signed affidavit, and the Corporations Code seems to explicitly make deliberately false information filed with the Secretary of State perjurious.
Any person considering the purchase of 701 Via Horcada, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274, should carefully investigate this and other issues related to what is possibly a deliberately false filing with the Secretary of State. The home located there is also listed as 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274 There may be other, even more serious legal issues that a potential buyer would not be aware of until it’s too late. No one wants to buy a house and end up buying a lawsuit.
END
Cycling in the South Bay 
The property seems to be on the market as 612 Paseo Del Mar.
https://612paseodelmar.com
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/612-Paseo-del-Mar_Palos-Verdes-Estates_CA_90274_M14462-62082
Why?
Thanks for this information. I’ve updated the post and my previous post about 701 Via Horcada, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274, to reflect the dual addresses. I suspect that the sellers want to dissociate the listing of 612 Paseo del Mar from 701 Via Horcada because a potential buyer might discover the numerous police reports filed by Chapman, and begin to wonder whether or not the home was worth anywhere near the asking price. They might also be listing it as 612 Paseo del Mar because of what may be false or fraudulent filings with the Secretary of State linked to 701 Via Horcada. Obviously, anyone with $9.5M to spend on a house has the savvy and wherewithal to use these as negotiating points, especially since many of the problems cited in the police records appear to be significant. I hope that anyone considering this home doesn’t cut corners and spends the few dollars it would take to thoroughly research all of the issues that may be connected to this property. At the very least, it’s very suspicious that the property is listing as 612 Paseo del Mar when the LLC that likely owns it uses the address of 701 Via Horcada.
How strange—and possibly duplicitous—that the property would be listed under both 701 Via Horcada, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274, and 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274. More fraud, and accompanying legal risk, perhaps?
Well, I think that calling it 701 Via Horcada, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274, and 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274 would certainly make a buyer wonder whether or not 701 Via Horcada, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274, and 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274 were worth purchasing, especially when there are so many other nice homes in the area. On a separate note, I would hope that a buyer would take the time to view or video what the traffic and public parking in front of 701 Via Horcada, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274, and 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274 looks like when the surf is pumping this time of year. The area is called “Surfers Paradise” on the Bluff Cove HOA web site. Sounds like it might not be all that paradisiacal for the area residents.
What, then, is this all about?
Chapman, who has been a vociferous critic of cyclists on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, is now, after creating much controversy and ill-will, moving. I think that many people are ecstatic and consider it good riddance.
The home that he is trying to sell appears to be overvalued given all of his criticism and the complaints he has filed with the police about things that have happened in his neighborhood. I think it is a useful public service for anyone considering the purchase of this home to understand all of the things that affect the value of the house.
It would be a shame if, after all of his criticism and his lambasting of the police, neighbors, city government, and cyclists, that he were now able to market the house as if it is some incredibly wonderful place in an idyllic setting. He is perhaps aware that all of his previous complaints are a minus for selling the house, so he appears to have listed it using an address that a potential buyer would not easily link up with the address that he has used for the various police reports and other complaints that he has filed.
He may also be concerned that filings with the secretary of state may be fraudulent, which could pose an issue for anyone trying to obtain clear title to the house, although this is merely my speculative opinon.
In any event, there are numerous other issues regarding the house and its value and I am going to continue to discuss those issues and future posts. I hope that whoever purchases the house pays good value for it, which in my opinion is a lot less than the asking price.
I am thinking about calling up the realtor and offering a straight up trade, his house for my tent. Not sure that would be a great deal for me at this point.
Thank you for your service to America, and Happy New Year! 🙂
Well shoot, that is a pretty nice thing to say. Happy new year to you as well! As one friend said, the Century is 21 now and can drink legally. Watch out.
Confucius say – “He who stokes the ire of an atheist born on Christmas Day hath hell to pay.”
Hahaha!
[…] home for sale at 612 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274, also known as 701 Via Horcada. In that post I wondered why the 701 Via Horcada address was not being used for the listing and speculated that […]