But He’s Locked Out of Balboa Mansion Anyway : Surf Guitarist Wins a Court Stay on Eviction

Surf guitarist Dick Dale won a judge’s order allowing him to stay in his landmark Balboa Peninsula home Tuesday, but when he returned from court he discovered that someone had changed the locks.

“The marshal jumped the gun,” said Robert Speas, a paralegal who worked on Dale’s case. “He (Dale) can’t get back in tonight, but we’ll be back in court (this) morning.”

At issue was whether Dale, founder of the Deltones and one of the creators of the surf music craze of the early 1960s, would be able to stay in his 62-year-old mansion until his lawyers had a chance to appeal an eviction order.

During a March 4 foreclosure sale, Orange Coast Thrift & Loan Inc. of Los Alamitos bought Dale’s house, which was built by razor magnate King Gillette and overlooks “The Wedge” surfing area at the end of the peninsula.

Orange Coast had foreclosed on the property after Dale failed to make payments on a $989,000 loan secured by the house. Dale filed for bankruptcy in July, 1984.

The company won an eviction order, and the county marshal’s office posted an eviction notice on the property over the weekend with a deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Speas said.

However, Superior Court Commissioner Ronald L. Bauer decided last Friday to delay the order if Dale could make $2,500 in payments on the property to Orange Coast.

But after Dale’s lawyer posted $2,500 with the court at about 1 p.m., he found the locks had already been changed, Speas said.

In a separate lawsuit, Dale alleged that Orange Coast had committed fraud in the loan transaction and charged him the “usurious” interest rate of 31% on the loan. Orange Coast representatives could not be reached for comment.

Asked where Dale would spend Tuesday night, Speas said, “He won’t be far from home.”