Evil Queen

•The Mountain Enterprise has a strict policy about civility in these pages. We ask writers to base their letters on facts rather than personal insults and name-calling. We would not print a letter like this about any other member of our community. But the target of the letters below is the editor of this newspaper. We decided to suspend our civility rule to give the writer her opportunity to express her point of view.

This email came from All Seasons Realty owner Stacey Havener shortly after The Mountain Enterprise published a brief news update on accusations filed by the California Department of Real Estate against her husband, Milton ‘Milt’ Hudson. All Seasons was co-owned by Hudson with Havener. Both were brokers at the time.

Evil queen
Dear Editor:
This email is to give you written notification that I no longer want to be contacted by your company for any reason. Please do not deliver papers to All Seasons Realty at either office nor Basecamp Cafe and Info Lounge.

I have tolerated the behavior of the editor, Patric Hedlund, long enough. I have tried to be impartial when people have asked me about conducting business with the paper, always putting my personal feelings about Patric aside. Even when people have come back to me and told me how she treated them. I want to support local businesses as I am also a local business owner who has dedicated many volunteer hours to the community and understand many of the challenges facing a business here. However, in light of the latest treatment of my husband, I can no longer turn the other cheek.

Patric, your two-faced manipulative behavior is shameful. I have never been so disgusted by the behavior of a business owner I know. To use the power of your position in the community so selfishly yet portraying that it is the opposite, is deplorable. Your ego is out of control.

It is incomprehensible to me that you could stoop so low as to portray Milton’s hearing in the light you have. Have you even bothered to look at the real estate corporation that is now working in our area? Or spent any time researching how common these things can be and put it into perspective?

No, you haven’t said a thing about that. Your motivations are clearly personal, not professional.

We have employed people and supported many other businesses in the community often to our own detriment to keep things flowing during these difficult economic times.

Yet, you personally attack us under the guise of journalism when it is really to try and hurt us financially and help you sell papers. You have crossed a line with me that you can not step back from. Hopefully, others who I know feel the same way will say so. The reign of the “Evil Queen” needs to be a thing of the past and the community finally freed of the sensationalistic rag you call a paper.

Stacey Havener-Hudson
Broker, #01303680
All Seasons Realty and Property Management and owner of BaseCamp Cafe and Info Lounge

­•This was our response to Havener:

Dear Stacey,

Thank you for your note. I understand your concern. I assume that your anger here is related to the publication of information about the California Real Estate Board hearing.

The question we need to focus on first is whether there is a factual error in the material that has been published about the hearing.

If there is a factual error, please provide the information—we need to make a correction.

I’ll watch for your reply,
Patric Hedlund, Managing Editor

• This was Havener’s second message:

Dear Patric,

My anger has nothing to do with the factual information. I have no problem with the date of the hearing which may or may not end up on that date and dealing with any items we need to correct in our business. It has to do with you, your motivations and the way you handle the facts. That’s all! Coupled by the fact that you “play dumb” as you are even now in this response to me. That is why I do not want your paper in any of my businesses. Period! Thank you in advance for honoring my request.

– Stacey Havener, Pine Mountain

­• Here is the initial article we published on November 30, 2012 about the Department of Real Estate’s accusations against Hudson. It was placed on page 18:

Local real estate broker accused of professional code violations

By Patric Hedlund

The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) has filed an accusation against Frazier Park real estate broker Milton Hudson of All Seasons Realty. The accusation covers a 19-month audit period and details alleged violations of the California Business and Professions Code.

The November 20, 2012 complaint filed by Deputy Real Estate Commissioner Brenda Smith alleges the following violations:

-a shortage of $19,180 in the bank accounts Hudson maintained to collect trust funds;

-deposit of rents and security deposits into accounts which were not designated as trust accounts and were not in the name of the broker as trustee;

-failure to perform a monthly reconciliation of the balance of all separate records with the record of all trust funds received and disbursed;

-failure to maintain a record of all trust funds received and disbursed;

-failure to maintain a complete separate record for each beneficiary, accounting for all trust funds deposited into his bank accounts;

-commingling of $3,501 of Hudson’s own funds with the money of others and the making of disbursements for personal expenses from the bank accounts in which he held trust funds.

The accusation also alleges that Hudson used an unlicensed fictitious business name when he—through his employee—entered into written property management contracts under the name All Seasons Property Management.

In an interview with The Mountain Enterprise, Milton Hudson said there had been an audit in July 2011 and “everything was okay except the trust account.”

Advancing money to owners for property repairs caused the commingling of funds problem and that has now been corrected with a reserve account, Hudson said.

In the accusation, Deputy Commissioner Smith asked the DRE to conduct a hearing on the allegations.

She said the allegations constitute cause for the suspension or revocation of Hudson’s licenses and license rights. The hearing schedule and outcome will be published in The Mountain Enterprise.

• On November 15, 2013, after we reported that the state had amended its complaint and added additional charges, Milton Hudson signed an agreement with the Department of Real Estate (now named the California Bureau of Real Estate). He agreed that the accusations made against him by the bureau are true.

He also agreed to surrender his real estate broker’s license. The report about Hudson surrendering his license was published in the November 22, 2013 edition of The Mountain Enterprise

Editor’s Comment 
• Our responsibility is to report about such news. This case is finally closed, but the sentiment expressed by Havener in her letters continues. This disclosure is to provide context.

Over 12 months we published four reports on the progress of the state’s investigation into business practices of Mr. Hudson and his company.

The state investigation itself spanned almost three years of transactions. Our readers asked about this subject often. Several approached our staff with transaction records of their own that allegedly resulted in financial loss.

We reported only the cases that were documented in the state’s filed accusation and the Bureau of Real Estate’s amended accusations against Hudson. Those were based on complaints submitted by local property owners who had been customers of Hudson’s real estate management company.

In the years following the above events, new developments have occurred.

Background
This is a list of the stories we have previously reported about All Seasons Real Estate and the brokers for the company, Milton ‘Milt’ Hudson and Stacey Havener. These are hotlinks, so you can follow the coverage from 2008 through 2016.

All Seasons Hosts Festive Grand Opening
May 9, 2008
Free Rental Listings Offered by All Seasons
February 20, 2009
Local real estate broker accused of professional code violations (Milton Hudson)
November 30, 2012
Hearing set for local real estate broker
March 22, 2013
State adds to allegations against local broker
July 12, 2013
Hearing rescheduled for real estate broker to Nov. 19-20
August 9. 2013
State files third accusation against local real estate broker
November 15, 2013
Local real estate broker surrenders license
November 22, 2013
Evil Queen
January 3, 2014
‘Queenie’
January 24, 2014
Real estate broker accused of violations (Stacey Havener)
April 29, 2016
Real estate fraud isn’t sexy  (All Seasons)
June 24, 2016
(Download the complete CalBRE Accusation here regarding  Broker Havener here)

Customers alleging misconduct started coming into The Mountain Enterprise office by 2011. It was our policy to refer real estate customers with such complaints to the California Department of Real Estate. The name of that agency has been changed to the California Bureau of Real Estate. The Kern and Ventura County District Attorneys’ Offices may also be interested in hearing of complaints.—Patric Hedlund, Editor and Gary Meyer, Publisher

This is part of the January 3, 2014 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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