Our 2009 Achievements

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1 Robert J. Sheppard Jaime C. Uziel Lawrence R. Sussman Juliana E. Pisani Weldon E. Bradstreet Daniel D. Buchalter Elizabeth W. Sheppard Jeffrey S. Rosen ( ) Office Manager: Jairo Santos Sheppard, Rosen, Uziel & Sussman Law Firm, LLP 100 MONTGOMERY STREET SUITE 2100 SAN FRANCISCO CA PHONE FAX website: sheppardlaw.com Trials & Litigation Dispute Resolution/Mediations Real Estate Law/Land Use Landlord-Tenant/Rent Control Premises Liability Law Personal Injury/Tort Law Insurance Law and Coverage Business/Contract Law Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts Our 2009 Achievements Super Lawyer of Northern California Selected by Peers Four Consecutive Years: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Real Estate Law and Mediations/ADR Recovered Over $1 Million in Property Owner Liability and Landlord/Tenant Claims Recovered Over $1 Million for Injured Persons - Pedestrian Injuries, Auto, Bicycle Resolved Dozens of HOA, Condo, and Tenant-in-Common (T.I.C.) Neighbor Disputes Won Court Injunctions to Cease Disturbances between Property Owners/Neighbors Successful Ellis Act Evictions and Negotiation of buy outs of rent-controlled tenants Won Dozens of Eviction cases for Nuisance Conditions, Rent Non-Payment, Owner Move-In Recovered Numerous Insurance Payments for Policy Holders/Property Owners Private Mediation Services - Disputes Get Settled Serving as Private Mediator, Robert Sheppard settled dozens of lawsuits/disputes in 2009 Selected Co-Chairs of Real Property Section of San Francisco Bar Association Lectured at Seminars for Lawyers on Real Estate Law/Landlord-Tenant Law Published Articles in California State Bar Real Property Journal Assisted Sellers & Buyers of Real Property with Transactions/Agreements/Disclosures Experts in Preparation of and Negotiating Complex Commercial/Retail Leases Expert Witness Services Robert Sheppard testified as an Expert Witness at Depositions and Trial Property Owner Liability, Standard of Care for Property Owners, Standard of Care for Lawyers, Value of Legal Services AV-Rated Law Firm -- Professional Peer Review (Martindale-Hubbell) WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2 Get Your Dispute Settled & Closed Robert J. Sheppard* Adept Mediator 100 Montgomery Street, Suite 2100, San Francisco, CA Phone W ebsite/ Cost-Saving Mediation/Arbitration Services (Litigation and Pre-Litigation Cases) Experienced (30+ years) & Dynamic Mediator who Gets the Job Done BEFORE AFTER Mediation with flexibility & informality Mediator with People Skills Known for techniques to close a deal Tenacious, persistent, and hard-working * Robert J. Sheppard was recognized by other lawyers as a Northern California Super Lawyer in the field of Mediations/ADR for 3 consecutive years. Nominated by blue ribbon panel; Ballots sent to over 50,000 lawyers * Robert J. Sheppard has served on the Board of Directors of The Mediation Society: 2007, 2008, 2009

3 Robert J. Sheppard Jaime C. Uziel Lawrence R. Sussman Juliana E. Pisani Weldon E. Bradstreet Daniel D. Buchalter Elizabeth W. Sheppard Jeffrey S. Rosen ( ) Office Administrator: Jairo Santos Sheppard, Rosen, Uziel & Sussman 100 MONTGOMERY STREET SUITE 2100 SAN FRANCISCO CA PHONE FAX Website/ SHEPPARDLAW.COM We handle all types of LITIGATION MATTERS (Real Estate, Landlord-Tenant, Business, Tort, Etc. ) and Trials & Litigation Dispute Resolution/Mediations Real Estate Law/Land Use Landlord-Tenant/Rent Control Premises Liability Law Personal Injury/Tort Law Insurance Law and Coverage Business/Contract Law Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts TRANSACTIONAL MATTERS: Real Estate Purchase/Sale, and For-Sale-By Owner ( FSBO ) Transactions Tenancy Buy-Outs Real Property Co-Owner Buy-Outs (in lieu of Partition litigation) Draft/Negotiate: Commercial Leases Residential Leases Parking, Storage, and Pet Agreements Lease Extensions/Renewals Leases w/options to Purchase Tenancy-In-Common ( TIC ) Agreements Owner-Contractor/Architect/Engineer Contracts Business Sales/Lease Assignments Easements/Licenses Landlord-Tenant Legal Notices, Eviction Notices, Ellis Act Eviction Notices, etc. Negotiate Homeowners Association ( HOA ) Disputes and Modifications/Amendments to HOA Governing Documents Condominium Conversions Private Loans (Notes/Deeds of Trust) Foreclosures and Related Negotiations Hybrid Cases : Owner Move-In Eviction ( OMI ) > FSBO; OMI >TIC; Litigation > Purchase; Condo Conversion > Tenant Purchases Property; Family Inheritance > Beneficiary Purchases Property; etc.

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6 Sheppard, Rosen, Uziel & Sussman 100 MONTGOMERY STREET SUITE 2100 SAN FRANCISCO CA PHONE FAX Website: sheppardlaw.com Real Estate Law Transactions Trials & Litigation Dispute Resolution/Mediations For-Sale-By-Owner ( FSBO ) Transaction Work (Avoid Paying a Real Estate Commission) Sheppard, Rosen, Uziel & Sussman can do all the paperwork for sellers and buyers of real estate (usually a house, a condominium, or a Tenancy-in-Common interest in an apartment building), helping the seller avoid payment of expensive commissions (usually between 5% and 6%) to real estate brokers and agents. We do the real estate agent/broker/legal work for a For-Sale-By-Owner ( FSBO ) transaction at a fraction of what a real estate broker or agent charges. Sheppard, Rosen, Uziel & Sussman has carved a niche as a law firm performing the necessary paperwork to streamline a FSBO transaction through the close of escrow. Attorneys Jaime Uziel and Larry Sussman spearhead the FSBO work for sellers and buyers of real estate. Mr. Uziel is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and has been licensed as a real estate agent since Senior Counsel Larry Sussman, with more than 25 years experience in practicing real estate law, is also a licensed California Real Estate Broker and is a member of the San Francisco Association of Realtors. Mr. Uziel s and Mr. Sussman s decades of experience as Real Estate Brokers and Real Estate Lawyers help facilitate smooth escrow closings. FSBO transactions usually take between attorney hours, depending on the individual transaction and whether or not complications arise.* The fees expended save the seller thousands of dollars in real estate broker commissions. Please call Attorney Jaim e Uziel (ext. 38) or Attorney Larry Sussm an (ext. 25) at for additional inform ation. Please also feel free to visit our law firm web-site ( so you can learn m ore about us. Our law firm does not conduct public m arketing of properties. (See other side for more info.)

7 Our FSBO (For-Sale-By-Owner) Work in a Nutshell: * We provide a service to both buyers and sellers of real property in the San Francisco Bay Area (and occasionally, beyond), whereby we facilitate purchase and sale transactions through negotiations (if necessary), document drafting, disclosure completion/execution, etc. * W e work in conjunction with local, reputable escrow companies which hold deposit monies and deal with escrow-related matters. * The FSBO transactions we handle result from situations where the buyer and seller have reached a verbal agreement on deal points and need qualified, competent professionals to handle the details (i.e., to draft transaction documents, prepare legally-required disclosure documents, work with escrow companies, review all documents with clients, etc.). That s where we step into the picture. * When we are retained, we are retained by one side of the transaction - either buyer or seller - to avoid a conflict of interest. We can refer the other party to competent legal counsel (at reasonable rates), upon request. * Consider: Assume a property s purchase price is $1,000,000. At a 5% commission rate, the real estate broker would be entitled to $50,000. A seller would likely pay Sheppard, Rosen, Uziel & Sussman between $3,000 to $7,500* to handle the transaction (depending on the circumstances of the particular transaction), thereby potentially saving the seller up to $47,000 on a $1,000,000 transaction. * We do not charge a flat fee; rather, we ask for a reasonable up-front retainer and we bill against that retainer. Any funds left over are returned to the client. If our fees exceed the retainer (e.g., due to unforeseen circumstances), then we ask for a refresher retainer. * W e are also skilled in conflict-resolution and have, on many occasions, succeeded in getting deposit monies released to our purchaser-clients when they have decided not to proceed with the transaction due to a failed condition. W e are also experienced litigators, and we are ready to battle for our clients in court, if necessary. * There are no guarantees, of course, and a transaction may take more than 25 hours of attorney time to complete, depending on the circumstances and any complications that may arise.

8 New Laws for 2010 Courtesy of Sheppard, Rosen, Uziel & Sussman (415) Day Notice to Evict Residential Tenants: The law requiring a landlord to provide a 60-day notice to terminate a residential tenancy if the tenant has resided in the unit for a year or more is extended indefinitely. New Protections for Tenants in Foreclosed Properties: Under this new law, the foreclosing lender or postforeclosure purchaser must give a bona fide month-to-month tenant a 90-day notice to vacate instead of the previous 60-day notice. A bona fide tenant is any tenant other than the borrower/owner (or his/her child, parent, or spouse) with a tenancy that is the result of an arms-length transaction with rent not substantially lower than fair market rent. If the bona fide tenant is on a lease, then the full lease term must be honored, unless the unit is sold to a buyer who intends to occupy the property, in which case a 90-day notice can be given. Residential Utilities; Landlord Default: Utility companies must give written notice to tenants at least 10 days prior to terminating a utility service when the landlord s utility account is in arrears, and must make the utility service available to the tenant when the tenant assumes responsibility for future charges under the account. Homestead Exemption Limits Increased: This new law changes the statutory homestead exemptions from: (a) $50,000 for a single person, (b) $75,000 for a member of a family unit, and (c) $150,000 for a person who is elderly, disabled, or 55 years of age or older with a gross annual income of $15,000 or less (or $20,000 or less if married), to (a) $75,000, (b) $100,000, and (c) $175,000, respectively. Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension and Expansion: This new law extends the first-time homebuyer tax credit and expands it to qualified non-first-time homebuyers. Appraisal Management Companies - Registration: Appraisal management companies must register with the Office of Real Estate Appraisers and be subject to the Real Estate Appraisers Licensing and Certification Law. Advance Fees for Loan Modification Work Prohibited: This new law prohibits any person (including licensed real estate brokers and attorneys) who works for compensation on mortgage loan modifications related to residential real property containing one-to-four dwelling units to charge or receive any compensation until after the person has fully performed each and every service the person contracted to perform. Foreclosure - Notice of Default; Notice of Sale; Short Payoffs: This new law: (a) limits application of a 30- day pre-recording Notice of Default period to owner-occupied residential real property of 1-4 units; (b) extends the time required between recording a Notice of Sale to the sale date from 14 to 20 days; (c) requires that a beneficiary deliver a short-pay demand statement within 21 days after receipt of a short payoff request. Mortgage Loans - Reg Z Advertising: Under this new law, the Federal Reserve Board has adopted rules to prohibit prominent deceptive and misleading practices in advertisements for closed-end mortgage loans. Legal Aid for Human Needs: Effective July 1, 2011, this new law requires that the Judicial Council develop one or more model pilot projects in selected courts for three-year periods in order to provide free legal counsel for low-income parties in civil matters involving critical issues affecting basic human needs, such as housing-related matters, domestic violence and civil harassment restraining orders, probate conservatorships, personal guardianships, elder abuse, or parental actions for sole legal or physical custody of a child.