Jury Awards Call & Jensen Client $6.7 Million for Breach of Contract and Fraud

On May 1, 2024, a 12-person jury in Orange County reached a verdict of over $300,000 in compensatory damages and $6.4M in punitive damages in favor of Call & Jensen client Ten-X.

Ten-X, a commercial real estate auction platform owned by Co-Star, brought claims for breach of contract and fraud against Cody Lutsch and his related companies, who listed one of his commercial properties for sale on the Ten-X auction platform. A winning bid of over $2.5M for the commercial property ended the auction on a high note — until the winning bidder disappeared. The disappearance triggered an investigation, and Ten-X learned that the winning bidder was actually Cody Lutsch himself – the seller of the property – who created a fake account on the Ten-X platform (and forged bank records) to self-bid on his own property in order to artificially inflate its value.

After only a few hours of deliberation, the jury found defendants liable on all counts, and awarded Ten-X a total of approximately $6.7M.

Plaintiff Ten-X appeared at trial through its counsel Dave Sugden, Aaron Renfro, and Lisa Sandoval of Call & Jensen.   Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2021-01231127-CU-BC-NJC.  The case was adjudicated pretrial by Hon. Craig Griffin, and during trial by Hon. Shawn Nelson.   Defendant Cody Lutsch appeared through counsel Jason P. Koch of the Law Office of Jason P. Koch and Defendants Fat Property, LLC and Lemmings, LLC appeared through counsel Dana J. Oliver of the Oliver Law Center, Inc.