Biography Of Receiver Mark Adams
Mark Adams and his company, California Receivership Group (CRG), recently celebrated 25 years as the most experienced health and safety receiver in the state. To date, Adams and CRG have worked on 415 properties in California, Tennessee, and, most recently, Texas, with a financial impact of $62.5 million in rehab loans facilitated and repaid.According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics formula, this level of construction investment has generated approximately 1,500 jobs over CRG&’s 25-year history an average of 60 jobs per year supporting local communities and economies.
CRG has cleared out hoarder homes, illegal cannabis grow houses, and unlicensed dispensaries, and has helped rehabilitate every kind of nuisance property imaginable. And Mark Adams is just getting started as he looks forward to the next 25 years transforming some of the worst properties in the Golden State and nationally into cornerstones of the community.
Adams Expands into Texas, Tennessee
Mark Adams, President of California Receivership Group, brought his experience and expertise to Texas with the subsidiary Texas Receivership Group, LLC (TxRG). TxRG has already received two appointments in Dallas.
Adams also formed the Tennessee Receivership Group, LLC (TRG) in 2019. TRG recently completed work on its 36th property in Memphis.
After the LA Fires, the California Receivers Forum Spotlights Adams’ Expertise
With his experience in remediating several fire-damaged properties over the last two decades, Mark Adams, Receiver, was asked to write an article in Receivership News, a publication of California Receivers Forum, in the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires that took place in January. In his article, “The Role of Receivership in Devastating Fire Recovery: Options in the Wake of the Palisades and Eaton Fires,” Adams explains how receivership can be used to facilitate recovery in communities impacted by major wildfires. He discusses how property owners, municipalities, and courts face immense challenges in stabilizing and rebuilding fire-damaged properties, particularly when owners are no longer in the area, are underinsured, or don’t have the funds to restore the land themselves.
Adams also outlines how court-appointed receivers can take control of the affected properties, secure them, and initiate cleanup and rehabilitation with court oversight. He explains that receivership enables timely action and reduces risks to public health and safety. Additionally, Adams advocates for greater awareness of this option among local governments and stakeholders as part of a broader wildfire recovery strategy, based on proven success in prior post-disaster scenarios.
Co-Founder, Vacant Property Receivership Consortium (VPRC)
Mark Adams, Receiver, and his nonprofit group, CRG Foundation, are among the VRPC cofounders. VRPC’s goal is to advance the practice of receivership and necessary state and local policies to support effective, efficient, and equitable use of this legal remedy. Adams presented at the plenary session on Super Priority in Receiverships at the VPRC Receivership Roundtable in June in Memphis.
Adams to Present at the CCP NLBN Summit
In addition, Mark, along with other VPRC members, will present at a session at the Center for Community Progress National Land Bank Network Summit (CCP NLBN Summit) in Detroit in September. The CCP supports communities with the policies, tools, and resources they need to address the full cycle of property revitalization.
Adams: The First Receiver Appointed under the California Health and Safety Code
A receivership under the Health and Safety Code is often the most effective remedy when standard code enforcement has failed. It addresses both financial and physical issues without taxpayer expense, allowing the property itself to fund its repairs through property equity and court authority.
Adams handles a wide range of distressed properties, including apartments, homes, hotels, and commercial sites. His expertise encompasses unpermitted construction, fire and seismic damage, abandoned or unsafe structures, hoarding, hazardous materials (HazMat), pest infestations, and properties lacking basic utilities.
In 1999, Mark Adams became the first court-appointed receiver under California’s Health and Safety Code, stepping in to remedy hazardous conditions at a 66-unit apartment complex after the tragic death of an infant due to a respiratory infection. Though the receivership remedy had long existed, this marked its first use in addressing nuisance abatement issues. Adams, who had learned of the legal tool in the early 1990s, saw its potential to solve the persistent problem of unsafe, uninhabitable properties.
Driven by frustration over neglected buildings and their impact on surrounding communities, Adams founded California Receivership Group to provide a complete, court-authorized solution. CRG was established to provide meaningful relief for neighborhoods plagued by problem properties when all other code enforcement methods had failed.
Over the past 25 years, Adams has become the most experienced receiver in the state of California. His work has earned recognition, including the “Distinguished EntrepreneurialAlumnus Award” from Loyola Marymount University and a family business honor from the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Founder of The CRG Foundation
Mark Adams, California Receivership Group, founded the CRG Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on advising communities on establishing their own receivership programs, fundraising to support projects in economically challenged areas, and advocating for legislative adoption of receivership laws in states lacking such statutes.
By empowering local stakeholders with the necessary tools and knowledge, the Foundation strives to eliminate nuisance properties and enhance the quality of life for residents nationwide.
A Mentor to Health and Safety Receivers
Mark Adams of California Receivership Group has mentored or trained most other health and safety receivers operating in the Golden State. He is a sought-after speaker at state and national housing conferences.
Co-founder, The Blue Ribbon Citizens Committee on Slum Housing
Before establishing CRG, Adams was the driving force behind and served on then-Mayor Riordan’s Blue Ribbon Citizens Committee on Slum Housing. He co-founded and helped administer the committee from 1998 to 2000, which served as the catalyst for the City of Los Angeles to expand its slum-housing inspection program substantially.
The committee’s findings revealed that slumlords often delayed significant repairs for years, without fear of city inspections or the threat of prosecution. They ignored leaking roofs, stoppedup toilets, rat infestations, a lack of heat and hot water, broken windows, and other conditions that made apartments unsafe, unhealthy, and unlivable. The 1995 census data revealed 156,000 substandard apartments in LosAngeles, with the situation particularly severe in the San Fernando Valley, Westside, Hollywood, and inner-city neighborhoods.
Adam’s experience with the Blue Ribbon Citizens Committee and his decades-long career in real estate finance provided the foundation for his initial receivership work.
Adams’ Bespoke Career
Before establishing CRG, Adams was a principal at Civitas Housing Company and Senior Vice President of De Miranda Management, responsible for affordable housing management activities for 4,400 apartment units in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. He also worked with various clients to arrange bank financing for real estate projects.
Adams also managed the Los Angeles operations for a nonprofit housing developer and served as Director of Public Affairs at Fannie Mae, where he was responsible for congressional relations in the nine Western states.
His career included four years as an attorney consulting on corporate and housing finance work for clients, including the Southern California Housing Development Corporation. Adams founded and managed Callie Mae, Inc., a mortgage banking company that sold over $500 million in home mortgage loans to California public pension funds and other institutional investors.
Mark Adams, Receiver, also worked in the policy development arm of California Governor Jerry Brown’s office from 1978 to 1982. He once wrote a law review article for the Hastings International and Comparative Law Journal on Governor Brown’s conception of what later became known as NAFTA.
His career began as an attorney with Ball, Hunt, Hart, Brown, and Baerwitz, where he was an associate in the litigation department. Former California Governor Pat Brown the father of Former Governor Jerry Brown was Adams’ supervising partner at the law firm.
Adams graduated magna cum laude from Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and then graduated from Georgetown University Law Center.
Building a Family Legacy: 35 Years of Marriage and Generational Achievement
Adams and his wife, Janis, have three children and six grandchildren. They, along with 30 of their closest friends, recently celebrated the couple’s 35 years of marriage.
All three ofAdams' children have college and advanced degrees from such prestigious institutions as the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA. Two of his children attended Harvard University, continuing a remarkable family tradition. His son enrolled at the university exactly 100 years after his paternal grandfather arrived in the United States from Greece at age 15, eventually
earning his citizenship by serving in the U.S. Army during World War I. The family name was anglicized at Ellis Island when an immigration officer heard “Soterios Adamopolous” and replied, “Sounds like Sam Adams,” and the name Adams was born. His daughter later attended the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she was honored as a John F. Kennedy Scholar.
Adams is also a doting grandfather. When his granddaughter attended her first sleep-away camp, he sent her a knock-knock joke every day for 14 days, which she performed at the camp’s talent show.
An LA Dodger Fan
A Chicago transplant living, working, and raising his family in Los Angeles, Adams is a huge fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and was thrilled when his team won their 8th World Series Championship in 2024.
But baseball isn’t the only sport he’s always followed. He religiously attended all his daughter’s high school volleyball games and was presented with an award for his loyalty.
Dedicated to Giving Back to Communities
Adams’s dedication to the communities in the Golden State extends beyond his work at CRG. From 2016 to 2022, Adams served on the National Board of Directors for the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, a nonprofit group that serves the needs of the poor and marginalized.
His monthly donations to St. Monica’s Catholic Church and Loyola Marymount University help support various communities. Mark was a founding director of the Chrysalis Center, now a wellestablished provider of homeless services in Los Angeles.
Adams’charitable work goes back decades. In 1986, Mark recruited an army of volunteers to raise $10,000 for Ethiopian Famine Relief for the Red Cross by passing a hat at the state Democratic convention.
He has served as the president of the LMU Alumni Board and as a member of the University's Board of Regents.
