Privacy and Property : Land-Theft Case Puts Recluse in Spotlight

By all accounts, 88-year-old Neal Garrett of Glendale is determined to hang on to two things--his real estate and his privacy.

This week, the self-described “old hermit” found himself in a fierce battle to keep both intact.

On one front, Garrett was successful.

The frail, white-haired loner’s testimony helped persuade a judge to order Sunland real estate agent Abranham A. Hovik, 49, to stand trial on charges that he tried to steal Garrett’s land. Authorities say Hovik forged deeds in an attempt to steal 35 parcels worth more than $5 million.

On the second front, Garrett had less luck. The unusual theft allegations thrust the reclusive resident into the public eye, throwing a spotlight on his lifestyle and his vast land holdings.

In Glendale Municipal Court on Monday, he had to identify the lots he owns and answer questions about his health and his memory. He said he owns 120 pieces of land, mainly in Los Angeles County. Most are vacant.

At one point, he told Judge Barbara Lee Burke that he wanted his name and photograph kept out of the newspapers. When a prosecutor said she was concerned about Garrett’s safety, Burke ordered a Times photographer not to take the man’s picture.

The preliminary hearing ended when the judge ordered Hovik to stand trial in Pasadena Superior Court on forgery and grand theft charges.

But outside the courtroom, tongues were still wagging within Glendale’s close-knit real estate community.

Among agents and developers, Garrett and his land have been a source of fascination and speculation. On the telephone and over restaurant meals, they talked this week about the theft allegations and traded stories about their brief encounters with Garrett.

Although he owns many valuable lots, the agents said he has stubbornly refused to sell any of them.

“I’ve met him a time or two, but I’ve never gotten to know him,” said Al La Chasse, a retired Glendale real estate broker. “He owns spot lots here, there and everywhere. He was pretty persistent in just collecting lots.

“I don’t remember him being in organized real estate. At realtor meetings, every now and then somebody would stumble into talking about him. . . . He bought it all directly from the owners--that’s the story that goes around. I’ve never heard of a realtor who was successful in selling him a lot. And I’ve never known him to list a lot for sale.”

Authorities who investigated the land-theft case said Garrett has no immediate family and few close friends.

“I have my doubts that Neal really lets people get close to him,” said Ben Bass, a longtime Glendale real estate agent. “I suspect that he wants it to be the way it is. I don’t think he wants to get mixed up with a lot of people--or maybe anybody.”

Authorities believe that Hovik, in his alleged attempt to steal the land, was counting on Garrett’s low profile and his insistence upon managing more than 100 parcels by himself. If Garrett had died without discovering the properties were transferred to Hovik, “no one would have ever known,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Leslie Kenyon said.

Glendale Police Detective Ruth Feldman said Hovik, an employee of Help-U-Sell of La Crescenta & Sunland Tujunga, is suspected of forging quitclaim and grant deeds, then recording them with the county. These documents indicated that Garrett was giving his lots to Hovik as gifts.

Garrett testified, however, that the signatures on these deeds were not his.

A notary public’s signature and stamp appear on each document. A notary witnesses a signature and verifies the identity of the person who signed. Feldman testified that the two notaries whose stamps appeared on Garrett’s deeds denied that they had handled the documents. The notaries had both been affiliated with Help-U-Sell, and their stamps could have been removed from their desks and used by someone else, the detective said.

Garrett’s reputation for refusing to sell his land proved to be Hovik’s undoing, investigators said.

Real estate broker Rick Barnes testified that Hovik in April had tried to interest him in buying a parcel in Sylmar. “He had it listed for sale,” Barnes said. “He didn’t say whose property it was.” Barnes researched the site through a Glendale title company. A title company employee who had done work for Garrett knew that it was Garrett’s land and that he would not sell it. She later found records of an ownership change and became suspicious. She alerted Garrett, who called police.

During the preliminary hearing, Garrett said he did not recognize the defendant in the courtroom. But when Deputy Public Defender Albert Feldman asked Garrett how he knew that he owned each parcel on the disputed deeds, the elderly man answered firmly.

“I read the descriptions, and I pictured where they are,” Garrett said. “I recognized the assessor’s numbers that appear on my tax bills. I visualized every parcel as it was presented to me.”

When the defense attorney questioned him about his health, Garrett said he has been treated for two broken hips and continues to receive occasional chiropractic care. But, he insisted, “I don’t take any kind of medication.”

Although he appeared to be uncomfortable in the courtroom, Garrett displayed a sense of humor at one point. When asked how he might develop some of his vacant land, Garrett turned to Burke and said with a smile: “I’d get the judge here to be a partner with me.”

“That would be nice,” Burke said, “but I can’t do that, Mr. Garrett--sadly.”

The landowner testified that real estate agents contact him often. He said one Glendale agent, Cesar Trinidad, has been particularly persistent. “He’s No. 1 of the guys who have tried hardest to get me to sell something,” he said.

In an interview Monday, Trinidad said he learned about Garrett’s holdings several years ago while researching properties near one of Garrett’s lots. “When I first came across him, I was hoping to list all of his properties,” Trinidad said.

Garrett told him that he was not interested in selling because he planned to build on his properties himself. But Trinidad began checking back regularly, hoping that Garrett would change his mind. Garrett’s holdings include two undeveloped lots on Mountain Street in an upscale Glendale neighborhood. Trinidad estimated that each is worth at least $750,000.

“That’s why a lot of people are sucking up to him,” the agent said. “A lot of people would like to be looked on favorably by this man.”

Trinidad said he realized recently that he was probably the one who introduced Hovik to the elderly landowner. In the spring of 1990, Hovik told Trinidad that he was interested in a parcel owned by Garrett. Trinidad said he did not know Hovik but agreed to introduce him to Garrett as a professional courtesy. Trinidad said he warned Hovik that Garrett was adamant about holding on to his land.

Although Garrett’s holdings are widely known among real estate agents, few know how he acquired the land. They repeat rumors that he picked up lots at auction for unpaid taxes or from absentee owners. They say he spotted good buys while surveying property for developers.

Garrett refused to discuss his past or his holdings during a brief interview last week outside his modest Glendale house. “I’m an old hermit who wants to keep it a secret that I’ve got anything,” he said.

According to state records, Garrett has been a licensed civil engineer since June, 1930, and is also authorized to do surveying work. Longtime Glendale residents say he operated a busy engineering business, designing housing subdivisions. He also invented and promoted innovative home-building techniques, they said.

Retired Glendale architect Paul Burkhard Jr., 71, recalls visiting Garrett about 50 years ago with his father, a building contractor. Garrett showed his visitors an unusual wall construction technique that he had invented. “I would say he was a little ahead of his time,” Burkhard said. “It never caught on.”

On at least one occasion, Garrett’s interest in new building ideas may have caused him to set aside his no-sale philosophy.

Glendale developer Sal Gangi said he contacted Garrett about six years ago because he wanted to buy two of the man’s hillside lots. “He came in to our office and said he’d sell the lots, but we had to use the building method that he or someone he knew was developing,” Gangi said. “It just didn’t make any sense to us. We didn’t think it would work.”

Another longtime Glendale developer, Tim Nichols, said shrewd land acquisition has been the focal point of Garrett’s life.

“Neal was a pretty smart guy, and he probably only bought selected pieces of property,” said Nichols, who hired Garrett on several projects. “Neal was out there surveying and doing the engineering work. He knew what property was worth. He knew what areas were going to be built and what areas were going to progress.”

Nichols, a former planning commissioner, said home lots that cost $2,500 in Glendale 50 years ago now might be worth $500,000. He speculated that the reclusive Garrett put most of his business earnings into real estate that escalated in value.

“Apparently, he didn’t have anybody to spend it on, so he bought land,” Nichols said. “I think a lot of old guys have a tendency to hold on to things. Maybe that’s where he feels he’d rather have his money, instead of having it in the bank. Dirt in Glendale is worth more than money in the bank.”