Preview
FILED
12/28/2023 3:44 PM
FELICIA PITRE
DISTRICT CLERK
DALLAS CO., TEXAS
Brandon Keys DEPUTY
CAUSE NO. DC-22-01643
QJ TEAM, LLC, § IN THE DISTRICT COURT
§
Plaintiff, §
§
V. § 44TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
§
HEB HOMES, LLC, §
§
Defendant. § OF DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS
PLAINTIFF’S OBJECTIONS AND COUNTER-DESIGNATIONS TO DEFENDANT
HEB HOMES LLC’S FIRST AMENDED DEPOSITION DESIGNATIONS
Comes Now, QJ Team, LLC, Plaintiff herein, and makes the following objections and
counter designations to Defendant HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations:
I. KIEU HANDOKO
A. Objections.
Page:Line – Page:Line Objections
34:19-22 Misstates the text message. The text message
does not say that “the retaining wall needed to
be fixed.”
58:17-59:2 Calls for a legal conclusion.
73:21-75:16 Irrelevant. QJ nonsuited its breach of contract
claim.
78:13-15 Calls for a legal conclusion. The document
speaks for itself.
80:1-4 Calls for a legal conclusion. The document
speaks for itself.
138:8-140:21 Irrelevant.
147:2-148:6 Irrelevant.
150:10-151:6 Irrelevant.
164:21-166:13 Asked and answered, cumulative, and
duplicative. See 57:11-58:16; 58:10-15
180:18-20 That testimony was corrected by the witness
in her executed errata sheet. It was 50 other
times not 500 other times.
Plaintiff’s Objections and Counter-Designations to Defendant
HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations Page 1
190:6-196:11 Hearsay. This excerpt is entirely questions
about an appraisal report marked as Exhibit
58 which is a hearsay document.
B. Counter-Designations.
Pursuant to TRE 107 (Rule of Optional Completeness), QJ counter-designates the portion
of the transcripts from the depositions of Kieu Handoko attached hereto as Exhibit A and
highlighted in purple. The key for the highlighting colors is: (a) yellow for QJ’s designations, (b)
blue for HEB’s designations, (c) green for overlapping designations, and (d) purple for QJ’s
counter-designations.
II. PATRICK GARDNER
A. Objections.
Page:Line – Page:Line Objections
81:13-19 Nonresponsive.
87:8-24 Lack of personal knowledge. Speculation.
94:14-19 Not responsive to any designated question.
Lack of personal knowledge. Speculation.
107:10-109:10 Lack of personal knowledge. Speculation.
The witness repeatedly testifies that he is
“assuming” certain communications occurred
but did not know if they occurred.
120:3-121:3 Irrelevant. The witness’ understanding of
what it means to buy property “as is” is not
relevant and ultimately calls for a legal
conclusion.
122:9-13 Vague and ambiguous. The witness clearly
didn’t understand what the term “retaining
wall” referred to in the context of the
question. The parties have pictures of the
backyard and everyone can clearly see that it
is not physically possible for a person looking
out of a window to see the damaged slope. A
person could only see the damaged deck with
tarps weighted down by sandbags.
Plaintiff’s Objections and Counter-Designations to Defendant
HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations Page 2
124:1-9 Speculation. Also, vague and ambiguous as
the phrase “issue with the retaining wall” is
not defined or described.
133:23-134:7 Calls for speculation.
B. Counter-Designations.
Pursuant to TRE 107 (Rule of Optional Completeness), QJ counter-designates the portion
of the transcript from the deposition of Patrick Gardner attached hereto as Exhibit B and
highlighted in purple. The key for the highlighting colors is: (a) yellow for QJ’s designations, (b)
blue for HEB’s designations, (c) green for overlapping primary designations, and (d) purple for
QJ’s counter-designations.
III. AMY GARDNER
A. Objections.
QJ has no objections to HEB’s designations of the deposition of Amy Gardner.
B. Counter-Designations.
Pursuant to TRE 107 (Rule of Optional Completeness), QJ counter-designates the portion
of the transcript of the deposition of Amy Gardner attached hereto as Exhibit C and highlighted
in purple. The key for the highlighting colors is: (a) yellow for QJ’s designations, (b) blue for
HEB’s designations, (c) green for overlapping primary designations, and (d) purple for QJ’s
counter-designations.
IV. TRAVIS DESERRANO
A. Objections.
Page:Line – Page:Line Objections
46:6-43:21 Vague and ambiguous designation. Plaintiff
assumes the designation is a typo, but cannot
infer what the true designation is.
Plaintiff’s Objections and Counter-Designations to Defendant
HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations Page 3
B. Counter-Designations.
Pursuant to TRE 107 (Rule of Optional Completeness), QJ counter-designates the portion
of the transcript of the deposition of Travis DeSerrano attached hereto as Exhibit D and
highlighted in purple. The key for the highlighting colors is: (a) yellow for QJ’s designations, (b)
blue for HEB’s designations, (c) green for overlapping primary designations, and (d) purple for
QJ’s counter-designations.
Respectfully Submitted,
THE PETTIT LAW FIRM
By: /s/ Julie Pettit
Julie Pettit
State Bar No. 24065971
jpettit@pettitfirm.com
David B. Urteago
State Bar No. 24079493
durteago@pettitfirm.com
2101 Cedar Springs, Suite 1540
Dallas, Texas 75201
Tel: (214) 329-0151
Fax: (214) 329-4076
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
The undersigned hereby certifies that a true and correct copy of the foregoing document
was served upon all counsel of record via E-Service on December 28, 2023.
/s/ Julie Pettit
Julie Pettit
Plaintiff’s Objections and Counter-Designations to Defendant
HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations Page 4
1 CAUSE NO. DC-22-01643
2 QJ TEAM, LLC, § IN THE DISTRICT COURT
§
3 Plaintiff §
§
4 v. § DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS
§
5 HEB HOMES, LLC, §
§
6 Defendant § 44TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
7 ------------------------------------------------------
8 ORAL DEPOSITION OF
KIEU HANDOKO
9 (Reported Remotely)
Volume 1 of 1
10 October 4, 2022
------------------------------------------------------
11
12 ORAL DEPOSITION OF KIEU HANDOKO, produced as a
13 witness at the instance of DEFENDANT, and duly sworn,
14 was taken in the above-styled and numbered cause on
15 October 4, 2022, from 1:01 p.m. to 4:34 p.m., before
16 Gloria Carlin, CSR No. 498 in and for the State of
17 Texas, reported by stenographic method, Via Zoom, at
18 the location of the witness in Dallas, Texas, pursuant
19 to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Notice, and any
20 provisions stated on the record.
21
22
exhibitsticker.com
23 EXHIBIT
24
25 Job No. 5436240 A
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1 A P P E A R A N C E S
2 FOR THE PLAINTIFF:
3 Kipp Marshall, Esq. (VIA ZOOM)
SILBERMAN LAW FIRM PLLC
4 108 Wild Basin Road S, Suite 250
Austin, Texas 78746
5 512.501.4148
kmarshall@silblawfirm.com
6
FOR THE DEFENDANT:
7
Colin P. Benton, Esq. (VIA ZOOM)
8 Zachary C. Farrar, Esq. (VIA ZOOM)
WICK PHILLIPS GOULD & MARTIN LLP
9 100 Throckmorton Street, Suite 1500
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
10 817.332.7788
colin.benton@wickphillips.com
11 zachary.farrar@wickphillips.com
12
13
14
15
16
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1 INDEX
2 Appearances .................................. 2
3 Stipulations ................................. 5
4 KIEU HANDOKO
5 EXAMINATION BY MR. BENTON.................. 6
EXAMINATION BY MR. MARSHALL................ 97
6 RE-EXAMINATION BY MR. BENTON............... 115
RE-EXAMINATION BY MR. MARSHALL............. 126
7
Signature and Changes ........................ 128
8
Reporter's Certification ..................... 130
9
EXHIBITS
10
***NOTE: EXHIBITS 3 AND 4 WERE NOT INTRODUCED***
11
NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE
12
Exhibit 1 Proof of Service dated 9-22-2022; 12
13 First Amended Notice of
Deposition of the Corporate
14 Representative of QJ Team, LLC
15 Exhibit 2 Plaintiff's Original Petition 25
16 Exhibit 5 HEB000056-0061 31
Text messages
17
Exhibit 6 HEB000017-0028 35
18 Project Analysis Report
19 Exhibit 7 HEB000062-0087 53
One to Four Family Residential
20 Contract between HEB Homes and QJ
Team
21
22
23
24
25
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1 REQUESTED DOCUMENTS/INFORMATION
2 NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE
3 None
4
5
6
7
CERTIFIED QUESTIONS/INSTRUCTIONS NOT TO ANSWER
8
NO. PAGE/LINE
9
None :
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1 THE REPORTER: We are on the record.
2 Today's date is October 4, 2022. The time is
3 1:01 p.m.
4 This is the oral deposition of Kieu
5 Handoko as Corporate Representative for QJ Team, LLC,
6 and it is being conducted remotely. The witness is
7 located in Dallas, Texas.
8 My name is Gloria Carlin, CSR No. 498. I am
9 administering the oath and reporting the deposition
10 remotely by stenographic means from Tarrant County,
11 Texas. The witness has been identified to me through
12 photo ID.
13 Counsel, is this being taken pursuant
14 to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure?
15 MR. BENTON: Yes, ma'am.
16 THE REPORTER: Would counsel please
17 state their appearances and locations for the record,
18 and list any other persons who may be present with
19 them, starting with plaintiff counsel.
20 MR. MARSHALL: My name is Kipp Marshall
21 with Silberman Law Firm. I represent Ms. Handoko.
22 I'm in Austin, Texas.
23 MR. BENTON: Colin Benton, and I've got
24 Zach Farrar with me. We're with Wick Phillips, and
25 represent the defendant HEB Homes. We are in
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1 Fort Worth in our offices.
2 THE REPORTER: All right.
3 Ms. Handoko, would you raise your right
4 hand, please.
5 Do you solemnly swear or affirm that
6 your testimony will be the truth, the whole truth and
7 nothing but the truth?
8 THE WITNESS: I do.
9 THE REPORTER: Thank you.
10 Go ahead.
11 KIEU HANDOKO,
12 having been first duly sworn, testified as follows:
13 EXAMINATION
14 BY MR. BENTON:
15 Q. Ms. Handoko, can -- you had mentioned -- or
16 can I call you Kieu during this deposition; is that
17 okay?
18 A. Yes, please.
19 Q. And can you hear me okay?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And can you see me okay? Since we're taking
22 this remote, I just want to make sure we can hear and
23 see everybody.
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. If you have any technical difficulties, can
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1 you just speak up and let me know? If I try to show
2 you an exhibit, I'm going to be sharing my screen, and
3 if for some reason you can't see that, please let me
4 know and then we can work through that difficulty if
5 one comes up on the technical side of this. Can we
6 agree to that?
7 A. Yes.
8 Would you speak a little louder?
9 Q. Yes.
10 A. It's me. I can't hear well.
11 Q. No, that's perfect. I appreciate that. Can
12 you hear me better now?
13 A. Yes, I can.
14 Q. Kieu, is there anyone else in the room with
15 you today?
16 A. My husband, but he in another room.
17 Q. Okay. And did you bring anything with you
18 today for this deposition, anything sitting in front
19 of you?
20 A. Just a notepad and a pen, and my phone.
21 Q. And those notes, are they notes about this
22 case?
23 A. I'm sorry?
24 Q. Are those notes on your notepad in front of
25 you, are they about this case?
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1 A. (Moving head up and down.)
2 Just a little note on the day of the
3 contract date and the closing about a year and a half
4 ago.
5 Q. And those notes, I don't believe they've
6 been produced, so we --
7 A. No, no, this is my handwriting. It is
8 something -- I don't -- I don't have to have it. It's
9 just I couldn't remember the date that well, so I
10 don't -- I don't need it.
11 Q. Okay.
12 A. There you go, it's a blank page. I just to
13 know what you're saying or something. I just want to
14 make sure I don't miss anything. It's my first time
15 with the Zoom -- my second time with the Zoom so I'm a
16 little bit nervous.
17 Q. Understood. So let's talk a little bit
18 about the deposition. Because we've got a court
19 reporter here and we want to make sure that she can
20 take down everything I say and everything you say, and
21 if your attorney objects, and so one of the things
22 we'll need to try to do is speak clearly, I need to do
23 that and I'll try to. And if I'm talking, if you
24 could not interrupt me. And if you're speaking, I'll
25 wait, I won't interrupt you. If your attorney needs
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1 to make an objection, we'll let him make the
2 objection, and then we'll proceed. That way we don't
3 talk over each other and make the record difficult for
4 the reporter to take down.
5 Can we agree to all that?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Kieu, do you understand I represent the
8 defendants, HEB Homes, in this case?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. If I say HEB or HEB Homes or if you say HEB
11 or HEB Homes, can we agree we're talking about the
12 defendant in this case?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Now, you mentioned I can call you Kieu. Do
15 you have any other names or aliases that you go by?
16 A. No.
17 Q. Any nicknames?
18 A. No.
19 Q. And it's my understanding that you have been
20 designated here today as the corporate representative
21 of the plaintiff in this case, QJ Team, LLC; is that
22 correct?
23 A. Correct.
24 Q. And so today if we talk about QJ, QJ Team,
25 or plaintiff, that we're referring to the plaintiff in
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1 this case, can we agree to that?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And one of the things that is at issue in
4 this case is a house which is located at 174 East
5 Bethel Road, Coppell, Texas 75019. Today can we refer
6 to that as the property?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Now, just a few more ground rules. I've
9 already talked about if we could not talk over each
10 other, so we've covered that. If I ask you a
11 question, and either you can't hear me or if it
12 doesn't make sense, can you ask me to rephrase the
13 question so that I can ask a good question?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And I would like to try to get as much done
16 as possible. I certainly don't want to keep you here
17 all day, but if we could get some questions going,
18 then I think both of us will know when we reach a good
19 stopping point where maybe we want to take a break.
20 So if you get to a point where you need to take a
21 break or if I do, then we'll just say that. And if
22 we're in the middle of a question the only thing I
23 would ask is that before we take a break that you
24 finish answering the question. Then once we've done
25 that then we can take a break.
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1 Can we agree to that?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Part of you answering questions today, and
4 me also talking to you and asking you questions is we
5 have to speak clearly for the record and so we have to
6 say audible answers, yes, no. We can't shake our
7 heads no or shake our heads like that or say uh-uh,
8 just because it's very difficult for the court
9 reporter to take that down, so can we try to do that?
10 I'll try to do that too.
11 Can we say yes, no, and no head nods or
12 anything like that?
13 A. Yes, I try.
14 Q. Thank you.
15 And then I have to ask this. Is there
16 anything today that would cause you to not be able to
17 answer truthfully if I ask you a question? What I
18 mean by that, are you currently under the influence of
19 any medication?
20 A. No.
21 Q. And no drugs or alcohol, nothing that would
22 cloud your judgment, your ability to hear and
23 understand and answer a question?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Kieu, what have you done to prepare for this
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1 deposition today?
2 A. I -- this morning I looked at the contract
3 to look at the day, to make sure that I remember about
4 the time. I'm very bad with the dates, so that's what
5 I did, about 30 minutes ago. That's what I did.
6 Q. I understand. And have you looked at any of
7 the filings in this case to prepare for this
8 deposition?
9 Let me ask you a better question. Have
10 you looked at the -- what we call the Original
11 Petition that you filed, that your attorneys filed?
12 A. I have not. I have not lately. After they
13 filed and then I haven't looked at it, no.
14 Q. Have you seen the deposition notice for
15 today, with a list --
16 A. I don't -- I saw the link to get in the Zoom
17 meeting today. Is that what you're asking? I'm
18 sorry.
19 Q. No. Kieu, let me go ahead and pull up my --
20 I'm going to go ahead and share my screen. Let's try
21 this.
22 All right. Now, can you see that --
23 I've tried to share my screen with you so that you
24 could see. This is what's been marked as Exhibit
25 No. 1.
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1 Can you see that on your screen, Kieu?
2 A. Yes, but may I get the reading glass real
3 quick?
4 Q. Please.
5 A. Okay. I'm very sorry. There you go. Got
6 it. Okay. I got my glass on.
7 Q. All right. And can you see that Exhibit 1,
8 Kieu?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. I'm going to scroll down and try to go kind
11 of slow. That's a service page, and what that says is
12 that we served this on your attorneys, and it was on
13 September 22nd, and this is what's called a notice of
14 deposition and it's for the corporate representative
15 of QJ Team, and we have here the date and the time.
16 And then attached -- so I'm scrolling
17 kind of fast here, I'll stop right there -- these are
18 the list of topics that we would like to ask you about
19 today. And so you've been designated for QJ Team to
20 answer questions about these topics. Do you
21 understand that?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And the reason I ask, Kieu, is just to make
24 sure that we have someone who's knowledgeable from QJ
25 Team answering questions. In other words, is there --
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1 are you the best person to answer questions about
2 these topics for QJ?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Is there anyone else at QJ who would know
5 more about this than you?
6 A. No.
7 Q. So other than this lawsuit, has QJ ever sued
8 anyone or any company?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Has QJ ever been sued in a lawsuit?
11 A. Yes. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No.
12 Q. Have you ever given a deposition before?
13 A. No.
14 Q. Have you ever provided written testimony for
15 QJ Team as a corporate representative, through a
16 declaration or an affidavit, something written?
17 A. Repeat the question again, please.
18 Q. Have you ever given a written sworn
19 statement on behalf of QJ Team before? And what I
20 mean by a sworn statement, Kieu, is what we call an
21 affidavit or a declaration in a court proceeding.
22 A. No.
23 MR. MARSHALL: Hey, Kieu, I want to
24 step in here and make sure, if you don't understand
25 the way a question is worded, just say you don't
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1 understand, rather than trying to answer. Just let
2 Mr. Benton know you don't understand the question.
3 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
4 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) Please do that, Kieu. I
5 may ask a bad question, so if I do it would help if
6 you tell me that. So that's -- yep, that's great.
7 Could you tell me a little bit about
8 your business? What does QJ Team do?
9 A. We -- we buy -- how do you say, we buy ugly
10 homes, and we remodel it, and we either keep it for
11 rental or we resell it.
12 Q. And does QJ do that all over the state of
13 Texas?
14 A. Mostly in North Dallas. We do some in
15 Granbury, yes, and -- yes.
16 Q. Let me go back to what you had said, because
17 you mentioned that you buy -- I think it was you buy
18 ugly houses and then you fix them and sell them. Is
19 that sometimes called a fix and flip?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And that's part --
22 A. I'm not familiar with these things, sorry.
23 Q. And so part of what QJ's business is is what
24 we'll call a fix and flip, where they buy an ugly
25 house, fix it up, make it pretty and then sell it; is
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1 that correct?
2 A. That's correct.
3 Q. And you also mentioned that QJ will also buy
4 and then hold property and lease; is that correct?
5 A. That's correct.
6 Q. And you said that that's mostly in North
7 Dallas, in the DFW area. I think you also mentioned
8 Granbury. Do you do any of that in any other parts of
9 Texas?
10 A. Yes. We -- sometimes we -- we go where --
11 where the house is. I think we did it in -- gosh, I
12 forgot what the name of that city. I forgot the name.
13 Sorry. But it's pretty close to the North Dallas
14 area, Dallas, mostly Dallas. Gosh, I have it on the
15 tip of my tongue, and I forgot what the name.
16 Well, Coppell is that house.
17 Carrollton, Carrollton is another one. Gosh, I
18 have -- I have this name in -- but I couldn't
19 remember. Close by the Dallas area, yes.
20 Q. Is it fair then to say that the Dallas or
21 the DFW area is mostly where QJ buys these properties,
22 fixes and flips and then also leases?
23 A. Correct. Sorry.
24 Q. Does -- so the property in this lawsuit is a
25 residential property. Does QJ do any commercial
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1 properties, either fix and flip or lease?
2 A. Q -- no.
3 Q. Does QJ have a website?
4 A. Yes. Yes.
5 Q. What's the -- do you know the URL?
6 A. I don't.
7 Q. I notice that QJ is an LLC, it's a limited
8 liability company, and I know a lot of LLCs have what
9 are called members. Is that how QJ is structured,
10 does it have members?
11 A. It have only me and my business partner,
12 Johnny Nguyen.
13 THE REPORTER: I'm sorry, same the name
14 again?
15 THE WITNESS: Johnny Nguyen.
16 THE REPORTER: Could you spell it, the
17 last name?
18 THE WITNESS: N-G-U-Y-E-N.
19 THE REPORTER: Okay. Thank you.
20 THE WITNESS: Sorry.
21 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) So to come back to that,
22 it's you and Johnny are the two members of QJ?
23 A. Correct.
24 Q. And what is Johnny's role -- could you talk
25 about both of your roles in QJ? I think you mentioned
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1 he's your partner or business partner. What is --
2 what is his role in QJ Team?
3 A. We only work together. We are equal
4 partners in QJ Team. We go in, we buy the property,
5 we both put in 50 percent of the money, and we fix and
6 then we flip it and then we divide the profit. We do
7 almost everything together. I -- I'm the lead of the
8 projects. I -- I'm more in the controls of the
9 remodeling things. I make the decision that, you
10 know, we -- we move this wall or we put in this
11 granite countertop or those type things, mostly I make
12 the decision.
13 When I go, you know, the guy whose --
14 the sellers, they contact me mostly instead of Johnny,
15 because we -- you know, I'm the lead. I'm more like
16 the lead in the project, yes.
17 Q. Is Johnny more of -- he's a partner in a
18 financial sense, but you -- is it fair to say you're
19 the one who makes the day-in/day-out business
20 decisions, like you mentioned, whether to take down a
21 wall, to paint a certain color, to put down a certain
22 type of flooring, is that really how your roles are
23 different?
24 A. I -- I will be the lead. He just support
25 the team. There you go, yeah.
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1 Q. And if -- so it's you and Johnny, and so all
2 those decisions are going to be made jointly by you
3 two; is that correct?
4 A. That's correct.
5 Q. Is there anyone else for QJ that would make
6 a decision besides you or Johnny?
7 A. Only me and Johnny.
8 Q. Does QJ have any employees?
9 A. We have mostly contractor. Like at the end
10 of the year we give them the tax to do the income tax,
11 the 1099, I believe.
12 Q. So the answer is no, no employees?
13 A. No, no employee.
14 Q. Independent contractors. How many
15 independent contractors do you use?
16 A. I -- I don't know. Depend on the projects.
17 Most of our contractors, they have their own team.
18 Like -- like Jimmy, he have four guys working with
19 him, Omar sometimes have three, sometimes have four.
20 Those are the one that, you know, at the house all the
21 time, and then we also have contractor that come and
22 they do like, for instance, electrical, plumbing,
23 other things. So it depends on the project. We can
24 have 10, 15 different contractors. The granite guy is
25 a different contractor, the -- you know, the tile guys
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1 are the different contractor. So it depends how big
2 the project that need it. So we call them.
3 MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Benton, if you don't
4 mind if I step in one second? Is that all right?
5 MR. BENTON: Please.
6 MR. MARSHALL: Kieu, we talked earlier,
7 if you don't understand a question it's okay to say
8 you don't understand. If you don't know the answer to
9 a question, it's okay to say, "I don't know." If
10 you're asked about the number, and you don't know the
11 number, you can just say, "I don't know."
12 THE WITNESS: Okay, sorry, thank you.
13 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) So just to get a sense of
14 the scope of what QJ does as a business, how many
15 properties would you say QJ currently is in the
16 process of fixing and flipping?
17 A. Right now only -- only Bethel. Only the
18 property, the 174 Bethel.
19 Q. How many properties does QJ currently lease
20 right now?
21 A. I think one.
22 Q. And I had a question I forgot, I want to
23 come back to it. How long has QJ been in existence?
24 A. I think about three years. I'm not sure.
25 Q. In those three years, do you have an idea of
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1 how many properties QJ has fixed and flipped?
2 A. I don't know. I don't remember.
3 Q. Do you have a range? Is it more than --
4 more than one or two or three?
5 A. More than -- more than three. I just don't
6 have exactly number.
7 Q. I understand. Is it 10? I just want to get
8 a range of how many in the last three years. Is it
9 more than five?
10 A. I -- I don't know. He told me that if I
11 don't know the answer, I better say I don't know.
12 Q. Understood, understood.
13 MR. MARSHALL: To clarify, if he asks
14 you for a range, you can give a range, but if you
15 don't know the answer to a question it's okay to say,
16 "I don't know," rather than having to, you know, just
17 guess at the answer. Sorry about that.
18 A. Yeah, because I don't know for sure, so I
19 don't want to make a guess.
20 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) Understood.
21 A. I'm very busy, like I'm constantly moving
22 and jump from one thing to the next thing, and I
23 don't -- I'm not -- I don't have very good memory with
24 the number. That's why I was looking at the number
25 this morning, okay.
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1 Q. So you're not sure exactly how many
2 properties QJ has fixed and flipped in the last three
3 years. I think you said at least --
4 A. Maybe around three, maybe more than around
5 three, correct, uh-huh.
6 Q. And on any of those properties that QJ has
7 fixed and flipped, do they always make money, are they
8 always profitable?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And could you tell me about that business
11 model? I think I understand it, but you mentioned
12 that you buy an ugly house, one that probably is a
13 lower price because it's ugly, and then if you can put
14 some work into it and then sell it, on the back end
15 you can make a profit. Is that the essence of how --
16 how the business works?
17 A. Yes.
18 MR. MARSHALL: Objection, form.
19 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) Is house flipping a risky
20 business?
21 A. Yes.
22 MR. MARSHALL: Objection, form.
23 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) And when I say risky, what
24 I mean is you could make money, you could lose money,
25 there's things that factor into how a deal goes. Is
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1 that fair to say?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Kieu, could you tell me about QJ's process
4 for how they decide what house to fix and flip, what
5 deal to do?
6 MR. MARSHALL: Objection, form.
7 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) Let me ask that question
8 better, Kieu.
9 Are there ever houses that QJ comes
10 across or that are presented to you that you choose
11 not to purchase?
12 A. Sorry, repeat the question again, please.
13 Q. Have you ever looked at a property or have
14 you ever had a property presented to QJ that you
15 decided not to pursue?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And can you remember one of those times when
18 you decided -- QJ decided not to pursue a property,
19 why not, what would be a reason why you wouldn't?
20 A. Location is the number one thing, the look
21 of the house is the second thing, and when I go in,
22 there's no room to make the changes to make the house
23 look the way it's supposed to be. The price of the
24 rehab budget, like we don't have enough spread to fix
25 the house, that also one of the factors.
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1 Q. And that decision about the -- you just
2 mentioned the spread. I think I know what you mean,
3 but what do you mean by the spread?
4 A. Normally when we say spread -- when I say
5 the spread, it means the price that you purchase and
6 the price that you sell. The spread in between that
7 is the difference in that, minus the -- with that --
8 like, for instance, let me give you example. Like,
9 for instance, we buy the house for a hundred thousand,
10 and we're going to sell it for 150, that's a
11 $50,000 spread. So that's what I call spread. With
12 the 50,000 I have to minus out the rehab budget, the
13 closing cost, the realty fee, the bank fee, all that's
14 in the profit are within that $50,000.
15 Q. Could you tell me a little bit about your
16 background? Have you always been into house flipping?
17 How did you start doing this with QJ?
18 A. I -- I was -- I was the -- I was the manager
19 of a clinic, a doctor's clinic, so I started out, you
20 know, I just have a little money on the side, and I
21 just want to do some investment in houses, rentals,
22 but that's how I start. So I quit the job there and
23 go out here and doing this work.
24 Q. I would like to pull up another exhibit, and
25 I would like to ask you about your lawsuit. Actually,
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1 before I pull that up, tell me -- tell me if I've got
2 this right, because my understanding in your lawsuit
3 is that you sued HEB Homes and your complaint is about
4 a real estate transaction between QJ Team and HEB
5 Homes; is that correct?
6 A. That's correct.
7 Q. And you contend, QJ contends that before HEB
8 sold this property to QJ that they bought it from the
9 Gardners, Patrick and Amy Gardner. Is that correct?
10 A. That's correct.
11 Q. And we can get into your petition in just a
12 second, your lawsuit, but your basic contention is
13 that HEB knew that the property had a defective
14 retaining wall and issues with trees and removal, and
15 there was a nuisance complaint from the City of
16 Coppell, and HEB knew about those things and they
17 didn't tell you before the sale; is that correct?
18 A. I need help. I'm not sure I understand your
19 question. Can you repeat that one more time, please?
20 Q. Let's do this, let me share my screen. I'm
21 going to show you -- I'm sharing my screen with you.
22 Can you see that -- you should have a screen that
23 shows what's been marked as Exhibit No. 2. Can you
24 see that?
25 A. Yes.
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1 Q. And I'll try to scroll down just a little
2 bit. This is the first page of the document, and you
3 can see, I'm going to highlight this. It's called
4 Plaintiff's Original Petition. Have you ever seen
5 this document before?
6 A. I am not sure.
7 Q. Kieu, I'll represent to you that this is the
8 lawsuit that QJ has filed against my client, HEB
9 Homes, and this is where QJ alleges what HEB
10 supposedly did. Have you seen this document before?
11 A. Our lawyer, Alex, is the one who filed this
12 thing. I remember he sent us a questionnaire to fill
13 out, and I think he's the one who sent it out, but,
14 like I say, I have to look through them. I couldn't
15 remember exactly.
16 Q. We'll go through the document in a little
17 bit. Let me just ask you some more questions about
18 the sale of the property from HEB to QJ.
19 What was the purchase price, do you
20 recall, what did QJ buy the property for?
21 A. It's -- I think it's 500 something, but I
22 couldn't remember for sure. I'm very sorry. Like I
23 say, it's been a year and a half ago, and I -- I
24 couldn't remember exactly the number. Yeah, 5 -- I
25 see that.
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1 Q. If you look at this Exhibit 2, your original
2 petition, I'm going to highlight right there and it
3 says -- I'm going to highlight this whole line and I'm
4 going to read it. It says, "On or about April 14th,
5 2021, QJ purchased the Property from HEB for an agreed
6 purchase price of 582" -- "$582,250."
7 Is that correct, did I read that right?
8 A. I believe it's correct, yes.
9 Q. And do you recall who was the listing agent
10 for HEB Homes?
11 A. Travis.
12 Q. Is it Travis DeSerrano?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And it says here in paragraph 6 that this
15 was April 14, 2021. Is that when you entered into the
16 purchase contract with HEB Homes?
17 A. Yes, April the 14th, correct.
18 Q. And that's when you entered into the
19 contract. Do you recall when the closing date was?
20 A. I believe it's April the 30th. Normally
21 they give us like two-week closing, so I think it's
22 April the 30th, I believe.
23 Q. Now, you entered into the contract
24 April 14th and the purchase price was $582,250. Did
25 QJ get an appraisal of the property done before
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1 closing?
2 A. No.
3 Q. Let's go up to paragraph 4. I'm still on
4 Exhibit No. 2, QJ's original petition, and I'm going
5 to highlight this paragraph. It says, "Upon
6 information and belief, Patrick Gardner and Amy
7 Gardner, spoke with representatives of HEB, informing
8 the former of major structural damage to the retaining
9 wall in the backyard, tree damage and removal issues,
10 and a nuisance complaint from the City of Coppell
11 regarding these issues."
12 Did I read that correctly to you?
13 A. Yes, you read it correctly.
14 May I say something?
15 Q. Well, let me keep asking you the questions.
16 Just one second.
17 A. Okay.
18 Q. Now, I read that correctly, is that accurate
19 that that is QJ's contention in this case?
20 Let me -- let me ask again, does QJ
21 contend that there was major structural damage to the
22 retaining wall in the backyard that HEB knew about?
23 A. Based on the previous owner, Patrick, I text
24 him, I asked him did HEB know about the -- and I have
25 the text to show, that did you disclose the issue of
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1 the deck, the pool, the retaining wall with the HEB,
2 and he told -- he say
Preview
FILED 12/28/2023 3:44 PM FELICIA PITRE DISTRICT CLERK DALLAS CO., TEXAS Brandon Keys DEPUTY CAUSE NO. DC-22-01643 QJ TEAM, LLC, § IN THE DISTRICT COURT § Plaintiff, § § V. § 44TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT § HEB HOMES, LLC, § § Defendant. § OF DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS PLAINTIFF’S OBJECTIONS AND COUNTER-DESIGNATIONS TO DEFENDANT HEB HOMES LLC’S FIRST AMENDED DEPOSITION DESIGNATIONS Comes Now, QJ Team, LLC, Plaintiff herein, and makes the following objections and counter designations to Defendant HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations: I. KIEU HANDOKO A. Objections. Page:Line – Page:Line Objections 34:19-22 Misstates the text message. The text message does not say that “the retaining wall needed to be fixed.” 58:17-59:2 Calls for a legal conclusion. 73:21-75:16 Irrelevant. QJ nonsuited its breach of contract claim. 78:13-15 Calls for a legal conclusion. The document speaks for itself. 80:1-4 Calls for a legal conclusion. The document speaks for itself. 138:8-140:21 Irrelevant. 147:2-148:6 Irrelevant. 150:10-151:6 Irrelevant. 164:21-166:13 Asked and answered, cumulative, and duplicative. See 57:11-58:16; 58:10-15 180:18-20 That testimony was corrected by the witness in her executed errata sheet. It was 50 other times not 500 other times. Plaintiff’s Objections and Counter-Designations to Defendant HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations Page 1 190:6-196:11 Hearsay. This excerpt is entirely questions about an appraisal report marked as Exhibit 58 which is a hearsay document. B. Counter-Designations. Pursuant to TRE 107 (Rule of Optional Completeness), QJ counter-designates the portion of the transcripts from the depositions of Kieu Handoko attached hereto as Exhibit A and highlighted in purple. The key for the highlighting colors is: (a) yellow for QJ’s designations, (b) blue for HEB’s designations, (c) green for overlapping designations, and (d) purple for QJ’s counter-designations. II. PATRICK GARDNER A. Objections. Page:Line – Page:Line Objections 81:13-19 Nonresponsive. 87:8-24 Lack of personal knowledge. Speculation. 94:14-19 Not responsive to any designated question. Lack of personal knowledge. Speculation. 107:10-109:10 Lack of personal knowledge. Speculation. The witness repeatedly testifies that he is “assuming” certain communications occurred but did not know if they occurred. 120:3-121:3 Irrelevant. The witness’ understanding of what it means to buy property “as is” is not relevant and ultimately calls for a legal conclusion. 122:9-13 Vague and ambiguous. The witness clearly didn’t understand what the term “retaining wall” referred to in the context of the question. The parties have pictures of the backyard and everyone can clearly see that it is not physically possible for a person looking out of a window to see the damaged slope. A person could only see the damaged deck with tarps weighted down by sandbags. Plaintiff’s Objections and Counter-Designations to Defendant HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations Page 2 124:1-9 Speculation. Also, vague and ambiguous as the phrase “issue with the retaining wall” is not defined or described. 133:23-134:7 Calls for speculation. B. Counter-Designations. Pursuant to TRE 107 (Rule of Optional Completeness), QJ counter-designates the portion of the transcript from the deposition of Patrick Gardner attached hereto as Exhibit B and highlighted in purple. The key for the highlighting colors is: (a) yellow for QJ’s designations, (b) blue for HEB’s designations, (c) green for overlapping primary designations, and (d) purple for QJ’s counter-designations. III. AMY GARDNER A. Objections. QJ has no objections to HEB’s designations of the deposition of Amy Gardner. B. Counter-Designations. Pursuant to TRE 107 (Rule of Optional Completeness), QJ counter-designates the portion of the transcript of the deposition of Amy Gardner attached hereto as Exhibit C and highlighted in purple. The key for the highlighting colors is: (a) yellow for QJ’s designations, (b) blue for HEB’s designations, (c) green for overlapping primary designations, and (d) purple for QJ’s counter-designations. IV. TRAVIS DESERRANO A. Objections. Page:Line – Page:Line Objections 46:6-43:21 Vague and ambiguous designation. Plaintiff assumes the designation is a typo, but cannot infer what the true designation is. Plaintiff’s Objections and Counter-Designations to Defendant HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations Page 3 B. Counter-Designations. Pursuant to TRE 107 (Rule of Optional Completeness), QJ counter-designates the portion of the transcript of the deposition of Travis DeSerrano attached hereto as Exhibit D and highlighted in purple. The key for the highlighting colors is: (a) yellow for QJ’s designations, (b) blue for HEB’s designations, (c) green for overlapping primary designations, and (d) purple for QJ’s counter-designations. Respectfully Submitted, THE PETTIT LAW FIRM By: /s/ Julie Pettit Julie Pettit State Bar No. 24065971 jpettit@pettitfirm.com David B. Urteago State Bar No. 24079493 durteago@pettitfirm.com 2101 Cedar Springs, Suite 1540 Dallas, Texas 75201 Tel: (214) 329-0151 Fax: (214) 329-4076 ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE The undersigned hereby certifies that a true and correct copy of the foregoing document was served upon all counsel of record via E-Service on December 28, 2023. /s/ Julie Pettit Julie Pettit Plaintiff’s Objections and Counter-Designations to Defendant HEB Homes LLC’s First Amended Deposition Designations Page 4 1 CAUSE NO. DC-22-01643 2 QJ TEAM, LLC, § IN THE DISTRICT COURT § 3 Plaintiff § § 4 v. § DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS § 5 HEB HOMES, LLC, § § 6 Defendant § 44TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT 7 ------------------------------------------------------ 8 ORAL DEPOSITION OF KIEU HANDOKO 9 (Reported Remotely) Volume 1 of 1 10 October 4, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------ 11 12 ORAL DEPOSITION OF KIEU HANDOKO, produced as a 13 witness at the instance of DEFENDANT, and duly sworn, 14 was taken in the above-styled and numbered cause on 15 October 4, 2022, from 1:01 p.m. to 4:34 p.m., before 16 Gloria Carlin, CSR No. 498 in and for the State of 17 Texas, reported by stenographic method, Via Zoom, at 18 the location of the witness in Dallas, Texas, pursuant 19 to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Notice, and any 20 provisions stated on the record. 21 22 exhibitsticker.com 23 EXHIBIT 24 25 Job No. 5436240 A Page 1 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 FOR THE PLAINTIFF: 3 Kipp Marshall, Esq. (VIA ZOOM) SILBERMAN LAW FIRM PLLC 4 108 Wild Basin Road S, Suite 250 Austin, Texas 78746 5 512.501.4148 kmarshall@silblawfirm.com 6 FOR THE DEFENDANT: 7 Colin P. Benton, Esq. (VIA ZOOM) 8 Zachary C. Farrar, Esq. (VIA ZOOM) WICK PHILLIPS GOULD & MARTIN LLP 9 100 Throckmorton Street, Suite 1500 Fort Worth, Texas 76102 10 817.332.7788 colin.benton@wickphillips.com 11 zachary.farrar@wickphillips.com 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 2 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 INDEX 2 Appearances .................................. 2 3 Stipulations ................................. 5 4 KIEU HANDOKO 5 EXAMINATION BY MR. BENTON.................. 6 EXAMINATION BY MR. MARSHALL................ 97 6 RE-EXAMINATION BY MR. BENTON............... 115 RE-EXAMINATION BY MR. MARSHALL............. 126 7 Signature and Changes ........................ 128 8 Reporter's Certification ..................... 130 9 EXHIBITS 10 ***NOTE: EXHIBITS 3 AND 4 WERE NOT INTRODUCED*** 11 NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE 12 Exhibit 1 Proof of Service dated 9-22-2022; 12 13 First Amended Notice of Deposition of the Corporate 14 Representative of QJ Team, LLC 15 Exhibit 2 Plaintiff's Original Petition 25 16 Exhibit 5 HEB000056-0061 31 Text messages 17 Exhibit 6 HEB000017-0028 35 18 Project Analysis Report 19 Exhibit 7 HEB000062-0087 53 One to Four Family Residential 20 Contract between HEB Homes and QJ Team 21 22 23 24 25 Page 3 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 REQUESTED DOCUMENTS/INFORMATION 2 NO. DESCRIPTION PAGE 3 None 4 5 6 7 CERTIFIED QUESTIONS/INSTRUCTIONS NOT TO ANSWER 8 NO. PAGE/LINE 9 None : 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 4 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 THE REPORTER: We are on the record. 2 Today's date is October 4, 2022. The time is 3 1:01 p.m. 4 This is the oral deposition of Kieu 5 Handoko as Corporate Representative for QJ Team, LLC, 6 and it is being conducted remotely. The witness is 7 located in Dallas, Texas. 8 My name is Gloria Carlin, CSR No. 498. I am 9 administering the oath and reporting the deposition 10 remotely by stenographic means from Tarrant County, 11 Texas. The witness has been identified to me through 12 photo ID. 13 Counsel, is this being taken pursuant 14 to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure? 15 MR. BENTON: Yes, ma'am. 16 THE REPORTER: Would counsel please 17 state their appearances and locations for the record, 18 and list any other persons who may be present with 19 them, starting with plaintiff counsel. 20 MR. MARSHALL: My name is Kipp Marshall 21 with Silberman Law Firm. I represent Ms. Handoko. 22 I'm in Austin, Texas. 23 MR. BENTON: Colin Benton, and I've got 24 Zach Farrar with me. We're with Wick Phillips, and 25 represent the defendant HEB Homes. We are in Page 5 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 Fort Worth in our offices. 2 THE REPORTER: All right. 3 Ms. Handoko, would you raise your right 4 hand, please. 5 Do you solemnly swear or affirm that 6 your testimony will be the truth, the whole truth and 7 nothing but the truth? 8 THE WITNESS: I do. 9 THE REPORTER: Thank you. 10 Go ahead. 11 KIEU HANDOKO, 12 having been first duly sworn, testified as follows: 13 EXAMINATION 14 BY MR. BENTON: 15 Q. Ms. Handoko, can -- you had mentioned -- or 16 can I call you Kieu during this deposition; is that 17 okay? 18 A. Yes, please. 19 Q. And can you hear me okay? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. And can you see me okay? Since we're taking 22 this remote, I just want to make sure we can hear and 23 see everybody. 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. If you have any technical difficulties, can Page 6 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 you just speak up and let me know? If I try to show 2 you an exhibit, I'm going to be sharing my screen, and 3 if for some reason you can't see that, please let me 4 know and then we can work through that difficulty if 5 one comes up on the technical side of this. Can we 6 agree to that? 7 A. Yes. 8 Would you speak a little louder? 9 Q. Yes. 10 A. It's me. I can't hear well. 11 Q. No, that's perfect. I appreciate that. Can 12 you hear me better now? 13 A. Yes, I can. 14 Q. Kieu, is there anyone else in the room with 15 you today? 16 A. My husband, but he in another room. 17 Q. Okay. And did you bring anything with you 18 today for this deposition, anything sitting in front 19 of you? 20 A. Just a notepad and a pen, and my phone. 21 Q. And those notes, are they notes about this 22 case? 23 A. I'm sorry? 24 Q. Are those notes on your notepad in front of 25 you, are they about this case? Page 7 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 A. (Moving head up and down.) 2 Just a little note on the day of the 3 contract date and the closing about a year and a half 4 ago. 5 Q. And those notes, I don't believe they've 6 been produced, so we -- 7 A. No, no, this is my handwriting. It is 8 something -- I don't -- I don't have to have it. It's 9 just I couldn't remember the date that well, so I 10 don't -- I don't need it. 11 Q. Okay. 12 A. There you go, it's a blank page. I just to 13 know what you're saying or something. I just want to 14 make sure I don't miss anything. It's my first time 15 with the Zoom -- my second time with the Zoom so I'm a 16 little bit nervous. 17 Q. Understood. So let's talk a little bit 18 about the deposition. Because we've got a court 19 reporter here and we want to make sure that she can 20 take down everything I say and everything you say, and 21 if your attorney objects, and so one of the things 22 we'll need to try to do is speak clearly, I need to do 23 that and I'll try to. And if I'm talking, if you 24 could not interrupt me. And if you're speaking, I'll 25 wait, I won't interrupt you. If your attorney needs Page 8 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 to make an objection, we'll let him make the 2 objection, and then we'll proceed. That way we don't 3 talk over each other and make the record difficult for 4 the reporter to take down. 5 Can we agree to all that? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. Kieu, do you understand I represent the 8 defendants, HEB Homes, in this case? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. If I say HEB or HEB Homes or if you say HEB 11 or HEB Homes, can we agree we're talking about the 12 defendant in this case? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Now, you mentioned I can call you Kieu. Do 15 you have any other names or aliases that you go by? 16 A. No. 17 Q. Any nicknames? 18 A. No. 19 Q. And it's my understanding that you have been 20 designated here today as the corporate representative 21 of the plaintiff in this case, QJ Team, LLC; is that 22 correct? 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. And so today if we talk about QJ, QJ Team, 25 or plaintiff, that we're referring to the plaintiff in Page 9 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 this case, can we agree to that? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. And one of the things that is at issue in 4 this case is a house which is located at 174 East 5 Bethel Road, Coppell, Texas 75019. Today can we refer 6 to that as the property? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Now, just a few more ground rules. I've 9 already talked about if we could not talk over each 10 other, so we've covered that. If I ask you a 11 question, and either you can't hear me or if it 12 doesn't make sense, can you ask me to rephrase the 13 question so that I can ask a good question? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. And I would like to try to get as much done 16 as possible. I certainly don't want to keep you here 17 all day, but if we could get some questions going, 18 then I think both of us will know when we reach a good 19 stopping point where maybe we want to take a break. 20 So if you get to a point where you need to take a 21 break or if I do, then we'll just say that. And if 22 we're in the middle of a question the only thing I 23 would ask is that before we take a break that you 24 finish answering the question. Then once we've done 25 that then we can take a break. Page 10 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 Can we agree to that? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Part of you answering questions today, and 4 me also talking to you and asking you questions is we 5 have to speak clearly for the record and so we have to 6 say audible answers, yes, no. We can't shake our 7 heads no or shake our heads like that or say uh-uh, 8 just because it's very difficult for the court 9 reporter to take that down, so can we try to do that? 10 I'll try to do that too. 11 Can we say yes, no, and no head nods or 12 anything like that? 13 A. Yes, I try. 14 Q. Thank you. 15 And then I have to ask this. Is there 16 anything today that would cause you to not be able to 17 answer truthfully if I ask you a question? What I 18 mean by that, are you currently under the influence of 19 any medication? 20 A. No. 21 Q. And no drugs or alcohol, nothing that would 22 cloud your judgment, your ability to hear and 23 understand and answer a question? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Kieu, what have you done to prepare for this Page 11 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 deposition today? 2 A. I -- this morning I looked at the contract 3 to look at the day, to make sure that I remember about 4 the time. I'm very bad with the dates, so that's what 5 I did, about 30 minutes ago. That's what I did. 6 Q. I understand. And have you looked at any of 7 the filings in this case to prepare for this 8 deposition? 9 Let me ask you a better question. Have 10 you looked at the -- what we call the Original 11 Petition that you filed, that your attorneys filed? 12 A. I have not. I have not lately. After they 13 filed and then I haven't looked at it, no. 14 Q. Have you seen the deposition notice for 15 today, with a list -- 16 A. I don't -- I saw the link to get in the Zoom 17 meeting today. Is that what you're asking? I'm 18 sorry. 19 Q. No. Kieu, let me go ahead and pull up my -- 20 I'm going to go ahead and share my screen. Let's try 21 this. 22 All right. Now, can you see that -- 23 I've tried to share my screen with you so that you 24 could see. This is what's been marked as Exhibit 25 No. 1. Page 12 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 Can you see that on your screen, Kieu? 2 A. Yes, but may I get the reading glass real 3 quick? 4 Q. Please. 5 A. Okay. I'm very sorry. There you go. Got 6 it. Okay. I got my glass on. 7 Q. All right. And can you see that Exhibit 1, 8 Kieu? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. I'm going to scroll down and try to go kind 11 of slow. That's a service page, and what that says is 12 that we served this on your attorneys, and it was on 13 September 22nd, and this is what's called a notice of 14 deposition and it's for the corporate representative 15 of QJ Team, and we have here the date and the time. 16 And then attached -- so I'm scrolling 17 kind of fast here, I'll stop right there -- these are 18 the list of topics that we would like to ask you about 19 today. And so you've been designated for QJ Team to 20 answer questions about these topics. Do you 21 understand that? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. And the reason I ask, Kieu, is just to make 24 sure that we have someone who's knowledgeable from QJ 25 Team answering questions. In other words, is there -- Page 13 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 are you the best person to answer questions about 2 these topics for QJ? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Is there anyone else at QJ who would know 5 more about this than you? 6 A. No. 7 Q. So other than this lawsuit, has QJ ever sued 8 anyone or any company? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Has QJ ever been sued in a lawsuit? 11 A. Yes. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No. 12 Q. Have you ever given a deposition before? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Have you ever provided written testimony for 15 QJ Team as a corporate representative, through a 16 declaration or an affidavit, something written? 17 A. Repeat the question again, please. 18 Q. Have you ever given a written sworn 19 statement on behalf of QJ Team before? And what I 20 mean by a sworn statement, Kieu, is what we call an 21 affidavit or a declaration in a court proceeding. 22 A. No. 23 MR. MARSHALL: Hey, Kieu, I want to 24 step in here and make sure, if you don't understand 25 the way a question is worded, just say you don't Page 14 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 understand, rather than trying to answer. Just let 2 Mr. Benton know you don't understand the question. 3 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 4 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) Please do that, Kieu. I 5 may ask a bad question, so if I do it would help if 6 you tell me that. So that's -- yep, that's great. 7 Could you tell me a little bit about 8 your business? What does QJ Team do? 9 A. We -- we buy -- how do you say, we buy ugly 10 homes, and we remodel it, and we either keep it for 11 rental or we resell it. 12 Q. And does QJ do that all over the state of 13 Texas? 14 A. Mostly in North Dallas. We do some in 15 Granbury, yes, and -- yes. 16 Q. Let me go back to what you had said, because 17 you mentioned that you buy -- I think it was you buy 18 ugly houses and then you fix them and sell them. Is 19 that sometimes called a fix and flip? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. And that's part -- 22 A. I'm not familiar with these things, sorry. 23 Q. And so part of what QJ's business is is what 24 we'll call a fix and flip, where they buy an ugly 25 house, fix it up, make it pretty and then sell it; is Page 15 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 that correct? 2 A. That's correct. 3 Q. And you also mentioned that QJ will also buy 4 and then hold property and lease; is that correct? 5 A. That's correct. 6 Q. And you said that that's mostly in North 7 Dallas, in the DFW area. I think you also mentioned 8 Granbury. Do you do any of that in any other parts of 9 Texas? 10 A. Yes. We -- sometimes we -- we go where -- 11 where the house is. I think we did it in -- gosh, I 12 forgot what the name of that city. I forgot the name. 13 Sorry. But it's pretty close to the North Dallas 14 area, Dallas, mostly Dallas. Gosh, I have it on the 15 tip of my tongue, and I forgot what the name. 16 Well, Coppell is that house. 17 Carrollton, Carrollton is another one. Gosh, I 18 have -- I have this name in -- but I couldn't 19 remember. Close by the Dallas area, yes. 20 Q. Is it fair then to say that the Dallas or 21 the DFW area is mostly where QJ buys these properties, 22 fixes and flips and then also leases? 23 A. Correct. Sorry. 24 Q. Does -- so the property in this lawsuit is a 25 residential property. Does QJ do any commercial Page 16 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 properties, either fix and flip or lease? 2 A. Q -- no. 3 Q. Does QJ have a website? 4 A. Yes. Yes. 5 Q. What's the -- do you know the URL? 6 A. I don't. 7 Q. I notice that QJ is an LLC, it's a limited 8 liability company, and I know a lot of LLCs have what 9 are called members. Is that how QJ is structured, 10 does it have members? 11 A. It have only me and my business partner, 12 Johnny Nguyen. 13 THE REPORTER: I'm sorry, same the name 14 again? 15 THE WITNESS: Johnny Nguyen. 16 THE REPORTER: Could you spell it, the 17 last name? 18 THE WITNESS: N-G-U-Y-E-N. 19 THE REPORTER: Okay. Thank you. 20 THE WITNESS: Sorry. 21 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) So to come back to that, 22 it's you and Johnny are the two members of QJ? 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. And what is Johnny's role -- could you talk 25 about both of your roles in QJ? I think you mentioned Page 17 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 he's your partner or business partner. What is -- 2 what is his role in QJ Team? 3 A. We only work together. We are equal 4 partners in QJ Team. We go in, we buy the property, 5 we both put in 50 percent of the money, and we fix and 6 then we flip it and then we divide the profit. We do 7 almost everything together. I -- I'm the lead of the 8 projects. I -- I'm more in the controls of the 9 remodeling things. I make the decision that, you 10 know, we -- we move this wall or we put in this 11 granite countertop or those type things, mostly I make 12 the decision. 13 When I go, you know, the guy whose -- 14 the sellers, they contact me mostly instead of Johnny, 15 because we -- you know, I'm the lead. I'm more like 16 the lead in the project, yes. 17 Q. Is Johnny more of -- he's a partner in a 18 financial sense, but you -- is it fair to say you're 19 the one who makes the day-in/day-out business 20 decisions, like you mentioned, whether to take down a 21 wall, to paint a certain color, to put down a certain 22 type of flooring, is that really how your roles are 23 different? 24 A. I -- I will be the lead. He just support 25 the team. There you go, yeah. Page 18 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 Q. And if -- so it's you and Johnny, and so all 2 those decisions are going to be made jointly by you 3 two; is that correct? 4 A. That's correct. 5 Q. Is there anyone else for QJ that would make 6 a decision besides you or Johnny? 7 A. Only me and Johnny. 8 Q. Does QJ have any employees? 9 A. We have mostly contractor. Like at the end 10 of the year we give them the tax to do the income tax, 11 the 1099, I believe. 12 Q. So the answer is no, no employees? 13 A. No, no employee. 14 Q. Independent contractors. How many 15 independent contractors do you use? 16 A. I -- I don't know. Depend on the projects. 17 Most of our contractors, they have their own team. 18 Like -- like Jimmy, he have four guys working with 19 him, Omar sometimes have three, sometimes have four. 20 Those are the one that, you know, at the house all the 21 time, and then we also have contractor that come and 22 they do like, for instance, electrical, plumbing, 23 other things. So it depends on the project. We can 24 have 10, 15 different contractors. The granite guy is 25 a different contractor, the -- you know, the tile guys Page 19 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 are the different contractor. So it depends how big 2 the project that need it. So we call them. 3 MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Benton, if you don't 4 mind if I step in one second? Is that all right? 5 MR. BENTON: Please. 6 MR. MARSHALL: Kieu, we talked earlier, 7 if you don't understand a question it's okay to say 8 you don't understand. If you don't know the answer to 9 a question, it's okay to say, "I don't know." If 10 you're asked about the number, and you don't know the 11 number, you can just say, "I don't know." 12 THE WITNESS: Okay, sorry, thank you. 13 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) So just to get a sense of 14 the scope of what QJ does as a business, how many 15 properties would you say QJ currently is in the 16 process of fixing and flipping? 17 A. Right now only -- only Bethel. Only the 18 property, the 174 Bethel. 19 Q. How many properties does QJ currently lease 20 right now? 21 A. I think one. 22 Q. And I had a question I forgot, I want to 23 come back to it. How long has QJ been in existence? 24 A. I think about three years. I'm not sure. 25 Q. In those three years, do you have an idea of Page 20 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 how many properties QJ has fixed and flipped? 2 A. I don't know. I don't remember. 3 Q. Do you have a range? Is it more than -- 4 more than one or two or three? 5 A. More than -- more than three. I just don't 6 have exactly number. 7 Q. I understand. Is it 10? I just want to get 8 a range of how many in the last three years. Is it 9 more than five? 10 A. I -- I don't know. He told me that if I 11 don't know the answer, I better say I don't know. 12 Q. Understood, understood. 13 MR. MARSHALL: To clarify, if he asks 14 you for a range, you can give a range, but if you 15 don't know the answer to a question it's okay to say, 16 "I don't know," rather than having to, you know, just 17 guess at the answer. Sorry about that. 18 A. Yeah, because I don't know for sure, so I 19 don't want to make a guess. 20 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) Understood. 21 A. I'm very busy, like I'm constantly moving 22 and jump from one thing to the next thing, and I 23 don't -- I'm not -- I don't have very good memory with 24 the number. That's why I was looking at the number 25 this morning, okay. Page 21 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 Q. So you're not sure exactly how many 2 properties QJ has fixed and flipped in the last three 3 years. I think you said at least -- 4 A. Maybe around three, maybe more than around 5 three, correct, uh-huh. 6 Q. And on any of those properties that QJ has 7 fixed and flipped, do they always make money, are they 8 always profitable? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And could you tell me about that business 11 model? I think I understand it, but you mentioned 12 that you buy an ugly house, one that probably is a 13 lower price because it's ugly, and then if you can put 14 some work into it and then sell it, on the back end 15 you can make a profit. Is that the essence of how -- 16 how the business works? 17 A. Yes. 18 MR. MARSHALL: Objection, form. 19 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) Is house flipping a risky 20 business? 21 A. Yes. 22 MR. MARSHALL: Objection, form. 23 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) And when I say risky, what 24 I mean is you could make money, you could lose money, 25 there's things that factor into how a deal goes. Is Page 22 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 that fair to say? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Kieu, could you tell me about QJ's process 4 for how they decide what house to fix and flip, what 5 deal to do? 6 MR. MARSHALL: Objection, form. 7 Q. (BY MR. BENTON) Let me ask that question 8 better, Kieu. 9 Are there ever houses that QJ comes 10 across or that are presented to you that you choose 11 not to purchase? 12 A. Sorry, repeat the question again, please. 13 Q. Have you ever looked at a property or have 14 you ever had a property presented to QJ that you 15 decided not to pursue? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. And can you remember one of those times when 18 you decided -- QJ decided not to pursue a property, 19 why not, what would be a reason why you wouldn't? 20 A. Location is the number one thing, the look 21 of the house is the second thing, and when I go in, 22 there's no room to make the changes to make the house 23 look the way it's supposed to be. The price of the 24 rehab budget, like we don't have enough spread to fix 25 the house, that also one of the factors. Page 23 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 Q. And that decision about the -- you just 2 mentioned the spread. I think I know what you mean, 3 but what do you mean by the spread? 4 A. Normally when we say spread -- when I say 5 the spread, it means the price that you purchase and 6 the price that you sell. The spread in between that 7 is the difference in that, minus the -- with that -- 8 like, for instance, let me give you example. Like, 9 for instance, we buy the house for a hundred thousand, 10 and we're going to sell it for 150, that's a 11 $50,000 spread. So that's what I call spread. With 12 the 50,000 I have to minus out the rehab budget, the 13 closing cost, the realty fee, the bank fee, all that's 14 in the profit are within that $50,000. 15 Q. Could you tell me a little bit about your 16 background? Have you always been into house flipping? 17 How did you start doing this with QJ? 18 A. I -- I was -- I was the -- I was the manager 19 of a clinic, a doctor's clinic, so I started out, you 20 know, I just have a little money on the side, and I 21 just want to do some investment in houses, rentals, 22 but that's how I start. So I quit the job there and 23 go out here and doing this work. 24 Q. I would like to pull up another exhibit, and 25 I would like to ask you about your lawsuit. Actually, Page 24 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 before I pull that up, tell me -- tell me if I've got 2 this right, because my understanding in your lawsuit 3 is that you sued HEB Homes and your complaint is about 4 a real estate transaction between QJ Team and HEB 5 Homes; is that correct? 6 A. That's correct. 7 Q. And you contend, QJ contends that before HEB 8 sold this property to QJ that they bought it from the 9 Gardners, Patrick and Amy Gardner. Is that correct? 10 A. That's correct. 11 Q. And we can get into your petition in just a 12 second, your lawsuit, but your basic contention is 13 that HEB knew that the property had a defective 14 retaining wall and issues with trees and removal, and 15 there was a nuisance complaint from the City of 16 Coppell, and HEB knew about those things and they 17 didn't tell you before the sale; is that correct? 18 A. I need help. I'm not sure I understand your 19 question. Can you repeat that one more time, please? 20 Q. Let's do this, let me share my screen. I'm 21 going to show you -- I'm sharing my screen with you. 22 Can you see that -- you should have a screen that 23 shows what's been marked as Exhibit No. 2. Can you 24 see that? 25 A. Yes. Page 25 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 Q. And I'll try to scroll down just a little 2 bit. This is the first page of the document, and you 3 can see, I'm going to highlight this. It's called 4 Plaintiff's Original Petition. Have you ever seen 5 this document before? 6 A. I am not sure. 7 Q. Kieu, I'll represent to you that this is the 8 lawsuit that QJ has filed against my client, HEB 9 Homes, and this is where QJ alleges what HEB 10 supposedly did. Have you seen this document before? 11 A. Our lawyer, Alex, is the one who filed this 12 thing. I remember he sent us a questionnaire to fill 13 out, and I think he's the one who sent it out, but, 14 like I say, I have to look through them. I couldn't 15 remember exactly. 16 Q. We'll go through the document in a little 17 bit. Let me just ask you some more questions about 18 the sale of the property from HEB to QJ. 19 What was the purchase price, do you 20 recall, what did QJ buy the property for? 21 A. It's -- I think it's 500 something, but I 22 couldn't remember for sure. I'm very sorry. Like I 23 say, it's been a year and a half ago, and I -- I 24 couldn't remember exactly the number. Yeah, 5 -- I 25 see that. Page 26 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 Q. If you look at this Exhibit 2, your original 2 petition, I'm going to highlight right there and it 3 says -- I'm going to highlight this whole line and I'm 4 going to read it. It says, "On or about April 14th, 5 2021, QJ purchased the Property from HEB for an agreed 6 purchase price of 582" -- "$582,250." 7 Is that correct, did I read that right? 8 A. I believe it's correct, yes. 9 Q. And do you recall who was the listing agent 10 for HEB Homes? 11 A. Travis. 12 Q. Is it Travis DeSerrano? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. And it says here in paragraph 6 that this 15 was April 14, 2021. Is that when you entered into the 16 purchase contract with HEB Homes? 17 A. Yes, April the 14th, correct. 18 Q. And that's when you entered into the 19 contract. Do you recall when the closing date was? 20 A. I believe it's April the 30th. Normally 21 they give us like two-week closing, so I think it's 22 April the 30th, I believe. 23 Q. Now, you entered into the contract 24 April 14th and the purchase price was $582,250. Did 25 QJ get an appraisal of the property done before Page 27 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 closing? 2 A. No. 3 Q. Let's go up to paragraph 4. I'm still on 4 Exhibit No. 2, QJ's original petition, and I'm going 5 to highlight this paragraph. It says, "Upon 6 information and belief, Patrick Gardner and Amy 7 Gardner, spoke with representatives of HEB, informing 8 the former of major structural damage to the retaining 9 wall in the backyard, tree damage and removal issues, 10 and a nuisance complaint from the City of Coppell 11 regarding these issues." 12 Did I read that correctly to you? 13 A. Yes, you read it correctly. 14 May I say something? 15 Q. Well, let me keep asking you the questions. 16 Just one second. 17 A. Okay. 18 Q. Now, I read that correctly, is that accurate 19 that that is QJ's contention in this case? 20 Let me -- let me ask again, does QJ 21 contend that there was major structural damage to the 22 retaining wall in the backyard that HEB knew about? 23 A. Based on the previous owner, Patrick, I text 24 him, I asked him did HEB know about the -- and I have 25 the text to show, that did you disclose the issue of Page 28 Veritext Legal Solutions 800-336-4000 1 the deck, the pool, the retaining wall with the HEB, 2 and he told -- he say