WINSTON ELTON, MBA, ASA
REAL ESTATE EXPERT WITNESS &
LITIGATION SUPPORT
Partnership disputes, bankruptcy, creditor committees, bank loan file reviews,
insurance defense, divorce, mortgage fraud, title issues, construction defects, sale
purchase disputes, appraisal, appraisal review, valuation, economics, market issues,
disclosure, business entity valuation, finance, debt restructuring, workouts, loan
reviews, loan modifications, receivers, trustees, marketing restructuring, turnarounds,
estate settlements, landlord tenant issues, development entitlements, land
development, home construction, class action, water damage
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
• Extensive experience in a wide variety of real estate issues since 1970: residential, housing
subdivisions, apartments, condominiums, mobile home parks, mixed use, office, medical office, industrial, R&D,
business parks, subdivisions, Master Planned Communities, retail, shopping centers, hotels, recreation facilities, golf
courses, rural properties, mini-storage, seniors facilities, active adult communities.
• Qualified as expert in courts of six Southern California counties, federal court and congressional committees in matters of
real estate investment and litigation.
• Cases in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, throughout Canada, Hong Kong,
Mainland China.
• Principal in charge of KPMG Appraisal Group 1989 – 1995.
• Retained by both defense and plaintiffs in civil matters.
• Assisted in composing discovery requests with specific documents requested.
• Assisted counsel in organizing, reviewing and arranging voluminous background material in situations going back 10
years earlier; developed and critiqued litigation exhibits.
• Assisted in arbitration proceedings
• Assisted counsel in preparation for examining other experts and witnesses.
• Assisted counsel in preparing for opposing expert cross-examinations.
• Deposed on several hundred occasions.
• Trial testimony in excess of fifty occasions.
• Assisted clients in final resolution of real estate issues in settlement conferences.
• Expert litigation support in bankruptcy reorganization, trustee, receiver situations.
• Investment analysis and market financial feasibility on behalf of banks, insurance companies, property owners, major
developers and homebuilders.
• Evaluated positions based on merger, acquisition and divestiture activities; developed, reviewed and critiqued business
and reorganization plans and assisted in defining economic, market and valuation issues.
• Guided corporate and institutional strategy with respect to optimizing highest and best use;
• Provided organizational direction and efficiencies, restructuring of real estate development companies, commercial and
residential
Winston Elton, MBA,ASA, Elton & Associates, 2433 San Clemente Avenue, Vista, CA 92084
760-940-0765 fax 760-940-0110 winstonelton@sbcglobal.net
CAREER ACTIVITIES
• Principal with KPMG Peat Marwick and Director of the Real Estate Group in San Diego from 1987 to 1995.
Responsibilities included appraisal and project supervision across U.S.; residential real estate; Master Planned
Communities; large mixed-use projects; and market and financial analysis of all types of real estate, including golf
courses, resort and recreational projects, and other specialty land uses.
• President of the Goodkin Group, a San Diego-based consulting organization, 1985-1987, prior to that group's merger with
KPMG Peat Marwick in 1987.
• Operated consulting and investment business for 15 years for a wide variety of clients across the U.S., Canada, Europe and
the Far East.
• Both General and Limited Partner in investments; formerly licensed as real estate broker, was principal owner of a small
residential and commercial construction company and is currently involved in several land development and home
building projects as investor and principal.
• Provided portfolio management and review services for billion dollar portfolios.
• Author of wide variety of articles and research reports; has served as Executive Director of the Mayor's Office for large
western city; and has worked for government and institutional interests on many occasions,
• Advisory committees for the Boy Scouts of America, California Center for the Arts, and the United Way.
EDUCATION
• Bachelor of Science - Brigham Young University
• Master of Business Administration - University of Alberta
• Advanced appraisal and valuation courses as well as specialized industry courses from NYU & Harvard.
• Instructor at both graduate and undergraduate levels.
• Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) with American Society of Appraisers since 1991.
• Former California State Certified General Real Estate Appraiser from 1991 to 2003.
Winston Elton, MBA,ASA, Elton & Associates, 2433 San Clemente Avenue, Vista, CA 92084
760-940-0765 fax 760-940-0110 winstonelton@sbcglobal.net
Curriculum Vitae of E. Winston Elton, MBA, ASA
Background
Mr. Elton has been involved in most aspects of the real estate industry since 1970. He was the
Partner in Charge of the Real Estate Consulting Group for KPMG Peat Marwick in San Diego from
1987 to 1995, leaving to form his own real estate consulting and investment group. In his capacity
with KPMG, Mr. Elton supervised an extensive staff both locally and nationwide of experienced real
estate experts in a wide variety of disciplines. Projects ranged throughout the United States and
internationally, from large Master Planned Communities and Mixed Use Projects to one asset
investment properties such as apartments, office buildings, and retail and industrial complexes. Mr.
Elton was also National Partner in Charge of the KPMG Real Estate Appraisal Practice, with MAls
and ASAs on staff in Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois an California. He was a California State
Certified Real Estate Appraiser for twelve years, and has been an Accredited Senior Appraiser
(ASA) with the American Society of Appraisers since 1991.
Mr. Elton has been involved in a variety of litigation assignments, as well as bankruptcy-
reorganization- workout situations, investment analysis, and market and financial feasibility, on
behalf of banks, insurance companies, property owners, land owners, and major developers and
home builders. He has been responsible for guiding corporate and institutional strategy and
planning with respect to optimizing the highest and best use for various properties, organizational
direction and efficiencies, as well as principal expert witness in real estate litigation support
services.
Mr. Elton has over 35 years experience in real estate matters, as principal, investor, developer,
consultant, due diligence provider, appraiser, strategic advisor, organizational development
counselor, and market research and financial feasibility analyst
Professional Experience
Mr. Elton has provided expert testimony and supervised litigation support activities on many
occasions ranging from testimony to congressional committees, bankruptcy courts, and has qualified
as an expert in six Southern California counties. He has worked for both plaintiff and defendant
sides in civil damage matters.
Litigation services activities have included:
• Assisting in evaluating real estate legal situations and defining issues and strategies;
• reviewing and researching available documentation;
• conducting special investigation procedures;
• structuring and conducting historical market and valuation research in situations going back to
ten years earlier,
• assembling market and financial data;
• appraising investment properties, including large laud situations, Master Planned Communities,
large Mixed Use Development projects, apartments, retail complexes, industrial and R&D land
and buildings, golf courses, mini-warehouses, and other unique land uses such as ski resorts and
water recreation facilities;
• evaluating positions based on merger, acquisition and divestiture activities;
• reviewing and critiquing business reorganization plans;
• assisting in defining economic, market and valuation issues;
Winston Elton, MBA,ASA, Elton & Associates, 2433 San Clemente Avenue, Vista, CA 92084
760-940-0765 fax 760-940-0110 winstonelton@sbcglobal.net
• assisting counsel in preparing for examining other experts and witnesses;
• assisting in organizing, reviewing and arranging large volumes of background material;
• developing testimony exhibits; critiquing other exhibits;
• assisting in arbitration proceedings,
• depositions, trial testimony
• serving as expert witness;
• assisting clients in final resolution of real estate issues
Mr. Elton has been deposed numerous times, as well as having provided extensive courtroom
testimony. In serving his clients with respect to litigation matters, he has:
• Testified to a congressional committee and senior military panels concerning the disposition and
development of a $750 million project on the waterfront of a major coastal city;
• Testified on behalf of a bank in a dispute regarding damages related to an apartment to
condominium conversion foreclosure proceeding;
• Testified on behalf of a major national insurance company with respect to relief from stay and
foreclosure of an apartment-condominium proceeding, appraisal and valuation issues, and
management issues;
• Testified on behalf of a major apartment portfolio owner with respect to a class action suit
regarding rental rates, rental increases and investment impacts;
• Testified in a legal malpractice suit with respect to the untimely filing of a
Subchapter-S, resulting in additional taxes due upon sale of a portfolio of properties;
• Testified with respect to a legal malpractice issue concerning a bankruptcy filing and consequent
damages related to lost opportunity in real estate developments;
• Provided litigation support with respect to dissolution of a real estate partnership involving a
$200 million golf course/estate lot project;
• Provided due diligence and litigation support documentation for dissolution of $900 million real
estate portfolio involving multiple complex legal issues such as foreclosure/bankruptcy
proceedings, environmental issues, market and financial risk;
• Provided support in foreclosure of $ 1.7 Billion West Coast residential land and commercial
building portfolio for mid-west investor client
• Provided counsel to legal advisors in a $650 million reorganization of a major East Coast land
developer and homebuilder,
• Provided counsel to East Coast banking group involved with $350 million credit
reorganization of major national homebuilder.
EDUCATION
Mr. Elton has a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University, and a Masters Degree
in Business Administration from University of Alberta. He has taught research methods, marketing
principles and management strategies at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He was a California
Certified General Real Estate Appraiser for twelve years while supervising an extensive staff of other
appraisers across the country, and is an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) with the American
Society of Appraisers responsible for reviewing and final approval of appraisals throughout the U.S.
He has completed advanced appraisal and valuation courses in residential, income property, and
business valuation. He has taught appraisal methods, and taken advanced courses on industry
specialized topics from institutions such as New York University and Harvard.
Winston Elton, MBA,ASA, Elton & Associates, 2433 San Clemente Avenue, Vista, CA 92084
760-940-0765 fax 760-940-0110 winstonelton@sbcglobal.net
Professional Activities
Mr. Elton has spoken to numerous nationally known organizations, including the Urban Land
Institute, Pacific Coast Builders Conference, East Coast Builders Conference, National MultiFaniily
Conference, Construction Financial Management Association, Building Industry Associations, State
Societies of Certified Public Accountants, World Property Conference in Hong Kong, International
New Town Association, Resort Development Conference in Hong Kong, National Association of
Homebuilders Conferences, Canadian Urban Development Institutes, Canadian Homebuilders
Association, and numerous other real estate conferences.
Mr. Elton was Principal with KPMG Peat Marwick and Director of the Real Estate Group in San
Diego from 1987 to 1995. His responsibilities included supervision of major and minor projects, with
emphasis on residential real estate, Master Planned Communities, large mixed use projects, and
market and financial analysis of all types of real estate, including golf courses, resort and recreational
projects, most forms of commercial real estate, and other specialty land uses. In his capacity as head
of the appraisal practice for KPMG, Mr. Elton had both ASA certification and California State
certification, which is no longer required for his current practice. Mr. Elton was President of the
Goodkin Group, a San Diego based consulting organization, in 1985 and 1986, prior to that group
joining with Peat Marwick in 1987.
Prior to becoming President of the Goodkin Group, Mr. Elton had owned and operated his own
consulting and investment business for the previous 15 years, conducting market feasibility,
extensive public opinion surveys, and economic and financial consulting for a wide variety of clients
across the US, Canada, Europe and the Far East. He has also developed, invested in, and sold a
variety of real estate projects on his own account, including land subdivisions, apartment, and office
projects. He has been both General and Limited partner in real estate investments, and has held a
real estate broker and salesperson license. He was principal owner of a small residential and
commercial construction company. He is currently involved in several land development and home
building projects as investor and principal.
Mr. Elton is the author of a wide variety of articles, research reports and marketing and organization
plans. He has served as Executive Director of the Mayor's Office for a large western city, and has
worked for government and institutional interests on many occasions. Mr. Elton has served on
advisory committees for the Boy Scouts of America, the California Center for the Arts, and the
United Way.
Winston Elton, MBA,ASA, Elton & Associates, 2433 San Clemente Avenue, Vista, CA 92084
760-940-0765 fax 760-940-0110 winstonelton@sbcglobal.net
Sample Past and Recent Litigation Assignments
Paul Hastings Janovsky & Walter - bankruptcy and foreclosure of Long Beach office complex.
Latham & Watkins - Mutual of New York foreclosure on Hollywood apartment/condominium.
Latham & Watkins - land development partnership sales agreement dispute in Ramona
Crahan Javalera - class action lawsuit against apartment portfolio owner in Santa Barbara
Jones Day Reavis & Pogue - review of major commercial mortgage portfolio in lawsuit against
five major banks for Pioneer Mortgage ^
Sorenson - expert testimony regarding hotel development investments in San Diego.
Rodey Law Firm - consulting and expert testimony on major retirement village lawsuit in Santa Fe
New Mexico, for Kansas City Insurance company investment, trial in Albuquerque.
Pachulski Stang - foreclosure of major golf course, hotel, land subdivision project in Rancho Santa
Fe area of San Diego; vs. Bank of America
Baker Mackenzie - foreclosure on major golf course, hotel, land subdivision in East San Diego
County area.
Mclnnis Fitzgerald - Prudential Real Estate - foreclosure on estate homes subdivision in
Welk Resort, Escondido; real estate advertising dispute in Rancho Santa Fe
Ritchey Fisher Witman & Klien - Palo Alto - (also Edwards White & Sooey, San Diego) -
partnership dispute on office buildings in La Jolla
Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps - San Diego - bankruptcy of land development multiple lot
subdivision in Temecula, borrower deficiency dispute, appraisal/valuation, critique of opposing
appraisal
Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps - Los Angeles - bankruptcy/cramdown on 475,000 square foot
office building in Los Angeles, multiple prospective and current valuation scenarios, critique of
opposing appraisals, review of borrower files, consultation regarding depositions of opposing
experts.
Bank of America (and five bank consortium) - Orange County - reorganization of major public
company, analysis of multiple real estate projects throughout Western U.S., market research, cash
flow projections, valuation opinions
Wells Fargo (and four bank consortium) - Los Angeles, San Francisco - reorganization of large
private company with multiple real estate projects throughout U.S.
Winston Elton, MBA,ASA, Elton & Associates, 2433 San Clemente Avenue, Vista, CA 92084
760-940-0765 fax 760-940-0110 winstonelton@sbcglobal.net