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94 In State of Colorado v. e Castle Law Group, LLC, et al., Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman claimed that the defendants (which included not only the foreclosure law firm but also former partners Larry and Caren Castle) padded billings in order to take in mil- lions in illegitimate profits from the banks they represented, as well as the affected homeown- ers and real estate investors who later bought the foreclosed houses at auction. In April 2017, Denver District Judge Morris Hoffman ruled against the state, arguing in a 92-page opinion that neither the Castles nor the other defen- dants took advantage of the position banks were in to move foreclosures quickly during the housing crisis. "ese foreclosure law firms were not Wall Street firms with their own economic power," Hoffman said at the time. "For the most part they were small, local firms specializing in foreclosures, whose very existence depended on the willingness of their clients to keep referring foreclosures to them. As a result, the lenders and servicers could, and did, dictate the terms they would accept from their foreclosure law firms, with virtually no negotiation." e case reached its next fork in November 2017, when Judge Hoffman ordered the state of Colorado to pay the defendants' legal fees, criticizing the state's case and noting, "e evidence, or lack of evidence, at trial, was noth- ing short of breathtaking, especially compared to the investigative buildup and the serious and pervasive allegations in the complaint." "e consumer fraud department of the Colorado AGs decided they knew better than the law firms who should be hired and what should be charged," Pozner told DS News. "ey put the Castle Firm out of business, they cost hundreds of people their jobs, and they wasted millions of dollars of taxpayer money. e real fraud here is that, on Monday morn- ing, the assistant attorneys general who perpe- trated this injustice will still have their jobs." WASHINGTON Can Tiny Homes Help Combat Affordability Issues? With home prices and demand continuing to soar and housing inventory running short in many markets, homebuyers might have to start reconsidering what they're looking for from a home. One trend that's been the subject of much coverage is the so-called "tiny homes" phenomenon—bite-sized domiciles that cater to those looking for cheaper options and a simpler approach to daily living. But can these tiny homes really serve as a viable option for homebuyers looking to find more affordable alternatives? Redfin's new report breaking down the top 10 most popular tiny homes on the market might provide some clues. To find the top 10 tiny homes on the market, Redfin looked at "actively listed single-family homes under 600 square feet in more than 80 markets" and used the number of "favorites" from Redfin users to gauge each home's popularity among home shoppers. e most popular tiny home currently on the market, according to Redfin, is a quaint, 580-square-foot home in Seattle, Washington. Listed for $309,950, the home certainly isn't cheap, but it is less than half of the Seattle median home price of $772,729 (according to Zillow data). e top three tiny homes are all in Washington, actually. Number two on the list is a 400-square-foot residence in Monroe, Washington (median home price $424,885), and it's listed for just shy of $300k. e third- most-popular entry is 440 square feet, listed for $229,000, and located in Gold Bar, Washing- ton (median home price $291,744). With the exception of number six (also in Washington state), the rest of Redfin's top 10 list is located in California. It's not surprising that some Californian home shoppers might consid- er going the tiny homes route—home prices in many California markets have traditionally been high, and the state as a whole is facing severe housing shortages. But how do these pint-sized California homes compare to their Washington counterparts in terms of affordability? e top California tiny home on the list is in the midst of one of the hottest markets in the country, Los Angeles. At 470 square feet and $465,000, this L.A. home is almost $200k cheaper than the $674,140 median home price for L.A. For those willing to sacrifice space to save money, tiny homes do look to be a viable op- tion for homebuyers who can find one to their liking. Riverside, California, is apparently something of a tiny home mecca, with 153 of them currently listed, well ahead of Phoenix's 99, New York's 86, L.A.'s 70, and Tampa's 55. Of course, smallness doesn't guarantee af- fordability. Redfin reports that the most expen- sive tiny home on the market is a 600-square- foot home in Santa Cruz, California, that's going for $1.25 million—or more than two grand per square foot. (e median home value in Santa Cruz is $913,912.) communication process between lenders and investors that is often required to extend loan expiration dates. COLORADO Castle Law Defendants Awarded $1.9M in Legal Fees e years-long saga surrounding the state of Colorado's lawsuit against Castle Law Group has reached another milestone. Judge Morris Hoffman awarded the case's defen- dants, including Castle Law and two related entities, another victory in awarding legal fees totaling $1.9 million as a result of the specified claims filed by the state which the Judge had found to be substantially frivolous and ground- less claims. e Court awarded 100 percent of the fees that e Castle Law Group, Caren Castle, and Larry Castle requested, and indicated that the methodology used by Castle Law in applying for the fees was conservative. Here's how the awarded fees broke down; defendants from the Castle Law Group were awarded $1,454,809 in fees. e case also involved two other defen- dant entities: Absolute Posting & Process Services, LLC, a posting company employed by the Castle Law Group; and Colorado American Title, LLC, (CAT) a title company employed by Castle Law. Judge Hoffman awarded the Absolute defendants $445,256 in fees and the CAT defendants $19,979 in fees. In his opinion, Judge Hoffman cited the enormous amount of work the defendants had to put in while navigating the multiyear case. "Just organizing this ocean of discovery was a massive undertaking, let alone making sense of it and developing litigation strategies and tactics based on it. Defending this case required enormous commitments of time and extraordinary skill." Larry Pozner, Partner at Reilly Pozner LLP and lead defense attorney in the case, exclusive- ly told DS News, "Law firms who practice in the foreclosure space have enormous responsi- bilities to the lenders. e cases have to be done rapidly, right, repeatedly, and the law firms must do them at their own risk. e foreclosure law firms survive by providing excellence to the lending market, and excellence will always cost more than the cheapest alternative. How dare the state tell a law firm what quality it must hire or what sacrifices it should make to please the state. e clients were satisfied with the services they were receiving."

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