Commissioner Revokes Ex-Chamber President’s Broker’s License

The state real estate commissioner has ruled that the former president of Oxnard’s Chamber of Commerce should lose his broker’s license next week for failing to turn over key business records.

John Howard Waters, the owner of Southwest Investments of Oxnard, did not produce accounting, employment and other records after a January 1995 subpoena by the state’s Department of Real Estate, according to court documents.

The state was investigating Waters because a client filed a complaint against him.

Waters also violated state code when he failed to notify the department that he moved his business from Gonzales Road to South A Street in Oxnard in July 1994, a judge has ruled.

State Administrative Law Judge Ralph B. Dash decided this month in Los Angeles that Waters’ real estate broker’s license should be revoked. The state real estate commissioner agreed, and set Feb. 7 as the date.

“After Feb. 7, he can’t sell property, lease property, sell business opportunities or conduct mortgage loan transactions,” said Robert E. Baker, the attorney in charge for the Southern California region of the Department of Real Estate, a state agency that regulates the industry.

*

Waters, a broker who handles commercial leasing in Oxnard and Ventura and was president of Oxnard’s Chamber of Commerce in 1993, said Monday that he will appeal the judge’s decision.

“I am considering all of my legal options,” said Waters, adding that he has not received a copy of the judge’s decision. “But as of today, I still have my license.”

Waters contends that the charges stem from a string of misunderstandings, including that he mistakenly thought the department wanted a set of records that was destroyed in the Northridge earthquake. When he realized his error, he said, it was too late.

But Dash in his decision appeared unswayed by Waters’ explanation.

“When [Waters] finally realized he had no viable excuse for not complying with the subpoena, he claimed that he ‘wasn’t aware’ of what documents the subpoena requested,” Dash wrote.

Waters also said his failure to file state forms when he moved his office was just an oversight. He said he filed a change of address with the post office but didn’t realize he had to do more.

“I moved 10 blocks away and I didn’t file the proper paperwork,” said Waters, who has been a licensed real estate broker for 16 years. “They said I should have notified them of a change of address. What a thing to take my license for.”

Don Facciano, executive director of the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce, said he was surprised by news of Waters’ legal trouble.

“John has been in the Oxnard area for quite some time and has been active with the chamber, although he has not been a member of the chamber for over a year,” Facciano said. “We have kind of lost touch, but we really weren’t aware of anything.”

Baker said the department decided to subpoena Waters’ records after a client filed a complaint, but that he didn’t recall the nature of the original complaint.

“The main charge against Waters, and what the judge found onerous, was the fact that despite requests from the Department of Real Estate to give us his records, he refused to do so. That is the serious charge,” Baker said.

Waters said he believes that a competitor who wants to see him fail has filed a complaint with the Department of Real Estate to hurt his business.

“I have already had brokers calling my clients, bad-mouthing me, trying to get clients,” Waters said.