Santa Barbara Landlord Claws Back $1.3 Million in Lengthy Apartment Repairs Lawsuit

During the tempestuous court hearings in the receivership of landlord Dario Pini’s ill-kept properties, which took place between 2018 and 2021, Judge Colleen Sterne would admonish his attorney at least once per hearing that the fight about overcharges would be heard at the appropriate time, once the repairs were finished. They were completed in 2021 and the subsequent trial and hearings over the charges have led to a $1.3 million verdict against receiver William Hoffman and his prior attorneys in a judgment filed on June 2.

In Santa Barbara’s tenancy world, Dario Pini has been a force unto himself, easygoing about who rented his apartments as long as the rent was paid and no one expected too much in the way of maintenance or repairs. It was a boon for many a renter but a nightmare for the city building safety department.

By 2017, the city stated it had amassed more than 3,000 code violations against more than a dozen of Pini’s properties downtown. Despite the pitched legal battle that ensued, eight of Pini’s buildings were put into the hands of receiver William Hoffman, who owned Trigild Holdings of San Diego. He became responsible for fixing roofs, railings, walls, stairways, kitchens, bathrooms, fire sprinklers, and all the mold, mildew, rot, rodents, and cockroaches that tenants had suffered for decades. It should be noted that one of the properties the city had pursued but did not add to the receivership was Pini’s own house.

Following the trial over the receiver’s fees in August 2025, Judge Stern issued a Statement of Decision in December in which she wrote that it came to light in 2019 that Hoffman had sold his company to a Texas group, named Trigild Partners, with the agreement that he would continue to handle the Pini properties and pass to the Texans the monthly receiver’s fee of $60,500. And, in reality, the repairs were being managed by a woman named Nancy Daniels.

Judge Sterne agreed with Pini that Hoffman acted improperly. “There was simply no excuse for failing to reveal the existence of the transaction,” Sterne wrote of the receivership sale, “except for fear that the change might result in loss of the receivership … and the concomitant loss of income to the purchaser….” Sterne also noted that during the hearing, “The testimony of Nancy Daniels … was at times uncomfortable to observe, as she struggled to support the assertion that Hoffman was continuously involved.” (During trial, Hoffman was represented by a Guardian ad Litem as he lacked “legal capacity to make decisions,” an Order stated.)

Though it was acknowledged that Pini resisted Hoffman’s early efforts, despite having nominated Hoffman to be receiver in the first place, and slowed the repair process, Sterne’s conclusion was that it benefited Hoffman and the Trigild Partners for the repairs to drag on. Early in 2020, Kevin Singer was appointed as receiver by the court. He made “substantial strides in less time,” according to Sterne, at a monthly fee of $37,000. Beyond the management fees, to bring the seven properties up to code — one property was sold — Pini spent more than $4 million on construction costs.

Hoffman never mentioned he planned to retire and intended to sell his business during the receivership hearings, Sterne stated, finding that fraud existed in the concealment of the sale of Hoffman’s business. Sterne’s June 2 judgment awarded Pini the receiver’s fee he’d paid to Hoffman for 14 months, or $847,000, plus prejudgment interest of $340,917. Another $91,904 in improper repair charges and $99,195 in wrongly charged attorney’s fees were to be paid by Hoffman and law firm CGS3, for a total $1,379,016 back to Pini.

Late on Friday afternoon, during attempts to contact the attorneys involved, only Pini’s attorney, Paul Burns, answered the phone. The landlord’s attorney throughout the long years of litigation, Burns was pleased with the outcome. “Once Hoffman was removed as receiver, Kevin Singer adopted a collaborative approach,” Burns said. “He got the whole project done in a relatively quick period of time.” Burns also noted that collaboration had increased with city building and zoning officers. “We got it done.”