Receiver Mark Adams CRG

Over the past 25 years, Mark Adams, the President of California Receivership Group (CRG), has pioneered health and safety receivership to address and improve slum properties, abandoned sites, and other deteriorating properties across California. He is regarded as the state's most experienced health and safety receiver. He has been appointed as a receiver by 179 different state and federal judges to rehabilitate more than 360 properties spanning 36 counties and 126 cities. His expertise is also applied in other states, including Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, and Wisconsin.

A receivership under the Health and Safety Code is a powerful solution when traditional code enforcement methods have failed to resolve a problem. Through receivership, the financial and physical issues of nuisance abatement are addressed at no cost to taxpayers, as the property itself funds the necessary repairs. The court's statutory authority and equitable discretion make this process possible.

Mark Adams handles various health and safety issues at distressed properties, including residential homes, hotels, apartment buildings, and commercial spaces. His areas of expertise include addressing unpermitted construction, fire and seismic damage, hillside stability concerns, rampant crime, abandoned and unsecured structures, unsafe but occupied buildings, junk and debris accumulation, hoarding situations, hazmat abatement, pest infestations, asbestos, mold, structural inadequacies, and properties lacking essential utilities like heat, electricity, and running water.

The First Receiver Appointed under the California Health and Safety Code

In 1999, Mark Adams became the first receiver appointed under the California Health and Safety Code. This appointment was in response to a 66-unit apartment complex with deplorable conditions, where an 11-week-old infant tragically died from a respiratory infection due to the poor living environment. This marked the first time the remedy under California's Health and Safety Code was employed to address a nuisance abatement issue.

The incident deeply impacted him, leading him to establish California Receivership Group (CRG) as a comprehensive solution for abating dangerous properties. CRG was created to provide relief to communities affected by problematic properties, which make daily challenges for residents in the surrounding area.

Over the last 25 years, he has become the most experienced receiver in this field. In 2022, Loyola Marymount University (LMU) honored him with the "Distinguished Entrepreneurial Alumnus Award," the Los Angeles Business Journal recognized CRG as an outstanding family-owned business.

Co-founding the Blue Ribbon Citizens Committee on Slum Housing

Before founding CRG, Mark Adams was key in creating and serving on then-Mayor Riordan's Blue Ribbon Citizens Committee on Slum Housing. From 1998 to 2000, he co-founded and helped administer the committee, which led to the significant expansion of the City of Los Angeles's slum-housing inspection program. The committee's findings revealed that slumlords frequently delayed essential repairs without fear of inspections or prosecution, resulting in unsafe, unhealthy, and uninhabitable living conditions in many apartments across Los Angeles.

His involvement with the Blue Ribbon Citizens Committee and his extensive background in real estate finance provided a strong foundation for his initial work in receivership. Over the years, he has led CRG in refining its approach to health and safety receivership, gaining substantial experience managing this unique enforcement tool's financial, political, social, and economic complexities. He pioneered super-priority receivership certificate financing to rehabilitate nuisance properties. CRG has funded over $56 million in health and safety receivership financing to address code violations at red-tagged properties.

A Mentor to Health and Safety Receivers

Through California Receivership Group, Mark Adams has mentored and trained many of the health and safety receivers currently operating in California. He is a sought-after speaker at state and national housing conferences. He has contributed his expertise to significant legal cases, including submitting an amicus curiae brief in the California Supreme Court's landmark ruling supporting the health and safety receivership remedy, City of Santa Monica v. Gonzalez 43 Cal. 4th 905 (2008).

Mark Adams's Career Path

Before establishing CRG, he held several notable positions, including principal at Civitas Housing Company and Senior Vice President of De Miranda Management. He oversaw affordable housing activities for 4,400 apartment units in the Los Angeles area and provided consulting services for bank financing of real estate projects.

Earlier in his career, he managed the Los Angeles operations for a nonprofit housing developer. He served as Director of Public Affairs at Fannie Mae, responsible for congressional relations in nine Western states. He also worked as an attorney, providing consulting services on corporate and housing finance matters for clients, including the California Housing Finance Agency and Great Western Bank.

Mark Adams founded and managed a mortgage banking company, Callie Mae, Inc., which sold over $500 million in home mortgage loans to California public pension funds and other institutional investors. He also worked in the policy development arm of California Governor Jerry Brown's office from 1978 to 1982, where he wrote a law review article on what later became known as NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement).

He began his legal career as an attorney with Ball, Hunt, Hart, Brown, and Baerwitz, where he worked under the supervision of Former California Governor Pat Brown. He graduated magna cum laude from Loyola Marymount University and later from Georgetown University Law Center.

A Dedicated Family Man

Born in Chicago, he grew up in Los Angeles, where he and his wife, Janis, raised their three children. The couple will be celebrating their 35th anniversary next year. Two of their children attended Harvard, with his son enrolling at the prestigious university 100 years after his paternal grandfather emigrated from Greece. His daughter attended Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a John F. Kennedy scholar.

Mark Adams avidly supports major league baseball, particularly the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was also an enthusiastic fan at his daughter's high school volleyball games, where he was recognized as the team's most loyal fan. A devoted grandfather of six, he is known for his daily knock-knock jokes sent to his granddaughter during her stay at camp, which she used in a talent show.

Paying It Forward

His commitment to the communities in California goes beyond his work at CRG. From 2016 to 2022, he served on the National Board of Directors for the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, a nonprofit organization serving the needs of the poor and marginalized. His monthly donations to St. Monica's Catholic Church and Loyola Marymount University support various community initiatives. He was also a founding director of the Chrysalis Center, a well-established homeless services provider in Los Angeles.

His charitable contributions have spanned decades. In 1986, he organized volunteers to raise $10,000 for Ethiopian Famine Relief at the state Democratic convention. He has also served as President of the LMU Alumni Board and a member of the University's Board of Regents.

Mark Adams continues to lead in his field, applying his extensive experience to improve communities across California and beyond.

Learn More:

https://www.tnreceivers.com

https://www.newtimesslo.com/news/capslo-earmarks-nearby-prado-road-property-for-family-services-15136115

https://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/bakersfield-renovates-nuisance-property-officials-and-businesses-put-in-the-work

https://www.picketfencemedia.com/capistrano-seaside-inn-2-0/article_84acafb3-04f6-58d0-8af4-dbc39766b34c.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/granada-hills-junk-house

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/granada-hills-homeowner-sued-by-la-county-for-hoarding

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/infamous-granada-hills-hoarder-house-up-for-sale