To the Guests of the Wedding of Ting Ting Ho (Kristin) and Steven Sun (Wedding Date: 1/21/2006)
INTRODUCTION
I am Lisa Sun, the mother of the groom, Steven Sun. I made an announcement about this Web site instead of attending Steven’s wedding ceremony because my son had already cut me out of his life and I wanted every guest to know why I did not attend his wedding.
Steven and Kristin showed total disrespect to me the whole time they were dating. I had never met or talked to the bride before the wedding. I remember one time about three years ago Steven came to visit me in Austin and when we were on the way to a restaurant, Kristin called. Steven asked Kristin whether she wanted to say hello to me. After a little while, I heard Steven said, “O.K., O.K. Bye!” I was so hurt and angry, but pretended that I didn’t hear anything. For all these years, Kristin has never visited me either in Austin or while I was visiting Steven in California. As a matter of fact, I was in Los Angeles in October 2005. Steven knew that, but they never made any attempt to visit me there. It was not until I refused to attend the wedding that I received an e-mail from Kristin saying that they were going to visit me. I WONDER WHY NOW? I didn’t respond Kristin’s e-mail because it was too little too late.
HISTORY
I was a single Mom. Steven was only six when I was divorced from his father. With $300 a month child support and my accounting clerk job, I raised Steven and his sister all by myself. I never remarried. We didn’t have much money, but I always made sure my children had the best that I could afford. I even moved from California to Texas during their high school year so they would be able to attend a good college that is more affordable.
Steven used to be a very caring and loving son, and we were very close to each other. Once he even flew from California to Austin to surprise me on my birthday. In the last couple years, Steven has changed a lot; he became distance and cold to me.
In early 2000, Steven bought a house in Rowland Heights, California and lived with his father. His father made the full down payment and Steven made monthly mortgage payments. In late 2002, Steven was laid off by Sapient. After a couple months, Steven had difficulty to make mortgage payments. I immediately offered help and loaned Steven money to pay off his mortgage, so he and his dad would not lose the house. Steven was very appreciative at the time, but not for long. Last year, after some disagreement over the sale of the house, he said he wanted to cut me off his life. I responded, “What? Why? What have I done to deserve this?” He never gave me an explanation.
In early 2005, Steven and Kristin jointly purchased another house in Irvine and moved out, and Steven’s father was planning to move to China. So, I decided it was time for Steven to sell the house and return my money back. (All this time after the house was paid off, he never made one payment to me on the loan.) However, Steven wanted to take advantage of me and keep the house as his rental property. Thank goodness I had insisted to put my name on the deed when I paid off the mortgage for Steven. Steven eventually had to agree to put the house on the market. That house was finally sold in October 2005. Steven received net profit of over $300,000 even though he did not put in one penny of down payment. How did Steven show his appreciation to me? Steven said in the e-mail, “I could careless about showing my appreciation to you for helping me pay off the mortgage. You only helped me because you did not want me to sell the house……………” The following was the actual e-mail exchanges between Steven and me regarding the sale of the house. I didn’t add, delete or edit one single word.
At the bottom was the Heritage Escrow Company’s proceeds wiring notice.
STEVEN AND MOM’S E-MAILS
From: LS0909@aol.com [mailto:LS0909@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 8:15 AM
To: steven@bookdude.com
Cc: LS0909@aol.com
Subject: about the house
Steven,
I spoke with your father yesterday and was told that he didn't want to live in United States any more. Your father said that he wanted to move back to China and settle down at there for his retirement. Do you know that your father still has a lot of relatives living there? Your father said that he felt so lonely living in such a big house all by himself.
Since your father has no desire to live in this house any more, we should put this house on the market for sale. If you want to keep the house, you can buy me out. Also, I want to remind you that your father had put down his life saving of $100,000 as the down payment in this house. Since your father now wants to purchase his own apartment in China, you should return his money back with his portion of profit.
Please let me know by the end of the month so I can plan accordingly.
Mom
In a message dated 5/20/2005 10:22:46 A.M. Central Standard Time, steven@bookdude.com writes:
i’m not going to sell the house for at least a year to make sure Ba does want to live in China. Just because he says he wants to live in China doesn’t mean he will like it. People change their mind all the time. If he wants to buy another place there, I will use my own money to help him first.
in the meantime, i’m going to rent it out. talk to me after a year is up!
From: LS0909@aol.com [mailto:LS0909@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 1:04 PM
To: steven@bookdude.com
Cc: LS0909@aol.com
Subject: Re: about the house
Steven,
Your father told me that he did not want to live in this big house any more even he might change his mind and move back to the United States in the future. Your father wanted to have this house sold because he wanted to have his down payment of $100,000 back. He also told me that he was entitled to at least 1/3 of the profit. With all this money, your father will be able to buy an apartment and still will have a lot of money left for him to enjoy a comfortable retirement. It is your father’s wish and you should honor it.
And also, I don’t want to own this house any more. If you like to keep this house, you can buy me and your father out. Once you become the sole owner of this house, you can turn it into a rental property.
Please let me know by the end of the month so I can plan accordingly.
Mom
In a message dated 5/21/2005 4:02:03 P.M. Central Standard Time, steven@bookdude.com writes:
you seem to have a problem understanding what i said previously. i'm not selling it at least for a year. after ba lives in china for 1 year and knows for sure he wants to stay there then i will sell it. and if he does come back he'll still need a place to stay. i know ba is entitled to 1/3 the profit. didn't you say he should keep all of it before? you seem to say one thing before and say something different now. can you ever make up your damn mind?
i would make your plans assuming you won't get this money for at least 1 year. you are a mulitmillionaire aren't you? you surely can hold off on the money no? like you told me before... "why so eager to sell?"
like i said before..just mind your own business in texas from now on. do you not have anything better to do...
From: LS0909@aol.com [mailto:LS0909@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 5:55 PM
To: steven@bookdude.com
Cc: LS0909@aol.com
Subject: Re: about the house
Steven,
It seems that you have a problem understanding your father's wish. Let me repeat one more time - your father wanted to have this house sold now because he wanted to have his down payment of $100,000 back with his share of profit.
And also, I don't want to own this house with you any more; I want my money back.
You said that you wanted to turn this house into a rental property. As I know, you didn't put in one cent of down payment in this house. So, who is going to receive the rental income?
Mom
In a message dated 5/21/2005 8:08:12 P.M. Central Standard Time, steven@bookdude.com writes:
of course, me and ba will share the rental income. i told him if he needs extra money besides his monthly checks from the US govt, he can use the rental income too. duh.
so..since i didn't put a single damn penny into the house..does that mean i don't get to share anything? i can't share the rental income or any profit if i sell the house? tell me how you think the profit should be split huh?
your want your money back? like you said and like i said...the house is for ba. regardless of what he says now i will not sell until he's sure he wants to stay in china. if he ever gets sick then he will have to come back to the USA. Medicare/medical will not pay his bills in China and the Chinese govt isn't going to give him free medical care. so there is a possibility he might come back. do you think i'm going to make such big moves because ba says he won't come back? come on...he could change his mind for any reason. China is a much different world..he might not like it even tho he says he will. so go get a life!
From: LS0909@aol.com [mailto:LS0909@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 6:30 PM
To: steven@bookdude.com
Cc: LS0909@aol.com
Subject: Re: about the house
Steven,
Your father put in $100,000 down payment and I helped you to pay off the mortgage with $209,000 after you lost your job. You put in NOTHING, not a cent. So, why are you entitled to any rental income?
I am also the owner of this house. You have no right to turn this house into a rental property without my permission. The only way you can rent out this house legally is to buy me and your father out of this property.
You are my son. I helped you by paying off your mortgage after you lost your job. Is this the way you showed your appreciation? Please don't force me to take legal action against you.
Mom
In a message dated 5/23/2005 1:35:37 P.M. Central Standard Time, steven@bookdude.com writes:
i don't need your permission for shit..only to sell the house. i don't see anywhere on our contract that says i need to ask your permission to rent the house out. is it in the fine print? you even told me previously that i should rent out as many rooms as possible. is that not the case? you didn't seem to care about the rental income then. why do you seem to care so much about it now? did i say it was all for me?
i could careless about showing my appreciation to you for helping me to pay off the mortgage. you only helped me because you did not want me to sell the house. that is the plain simple truth. you seemed to think that i will sell the house and take all the profit and leave ba to live on the streets. so the only reason you helped is to prevent that. it wasn't to help me...you just wanted to prevent what you thought was going to happen. it's pretty pathetic...just like how you think i wanted to kill you. even more pathetic.
also, i believe our contract says that the house will only be sold if ba dies. he ain't dead yet. like i said before, it is too early to sell the house until ba's situation is figured out. he may move to china and find out that he doesn't like it. i don't really care what he says about staying there cuz people always change their mind. just because you suddenly decide you want to sell the house doesn't mean that we sell it right away. doesn't work that way. and don't forget, you need to write me a check for the property taxes. since your name is on the title, you should help pay the taxes too. that is fair right?
go get a life.
From: LS0909@aol.com [mailto:LS0909@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2005 4:14 PM
To: steven@bookdude.com
Cc: LS0909@aol.com
Subject: Re: about the house
Steven,
The situation has been changed. By then your father had a wife, but now your father is alone and he has no desire to live in this big house any more. All he wants is to have his life saving back - $100,000 plus his share of profit.
I also have no desire to own the house with you any more; I want my money back - $209,000 plus 3.9% interest.
Since I am one of the two owners of this house, I have the right to object to turn this house into a rental property. The only way you can rent it out legally is to buy your father and me out of this property. Once you become the sole owner, you will have the right to do whatever you want with this house.
What? Do you expect me to pay property taxes? Are you trying to tell me that I am now also entitled to share the profit of selling the house, not just 3.9% interest? Have you forgotten about our agreement Item #3 - Steven Sun is responsible to pay property taxes, homeowner's insurance and association dues?
Your father helped you to purchase the house by using his life saving $100,000 as the down payment. Your mother helped you to pay off the mortgage with $209,000 after you lost your job. All you want is to take advantage of your parents. What kind of person you really are? I am really, really disappointed in you.
Mom
In a message dated 5/23/2005 6:34:14 P.M. Central Standard Time, steven@bookdude.com writes:
i could care less if you are disappointed with me. I thought you are disappointed because you "thought" i wanted to kill you. you are a complete joke.
there's nothing in the agreement that says that i can't rent the house. the problem is i've already rented the house to a renter and it is a 1 year contract. remember you are the one that insisted i rent out as many rooms as possible. why are you so eager to sell the house now? like i said before, ba might change his mind after a year. hell, if he can't renew the visa more than 2 times he can't live in China anymore. so go think about that stupid idiot. and remember..you can't evict me out of the house. it is my primary residence!
you're just like a bank who loaned me money. i can do whatever the heck i want to it. you don't like that, then it is too bad. you should have wrote that into the contract. btw, the term of the loan is when ba dies. is he dead yet?
how do you like that huh? isn't it ironic how you insist on selling now and i don't want too? seems all you care about is money! you don't really care about ba's future. so selfish and near sighted of you.
after the renter leaves i'll sell the house and see how ba's situation is. what happens if he changes his mind and wants to live in the house again? huh? huh? duh? huh?
in the meantime you can go file as many lawsuits as you need too! or be patient and wait for me to die first. but don't try to hire someone to kill me. you don't want to spend the rest of your pathetic life in jail!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Subj: about OUR house
Date: 5/24/2005 7:27:44 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: LS0909
To: steven@bookdude.com
CC: msun5@yahoo.com
Steven,
About two and half years ago you got laid off from Sapient. It was difficult for you to keep up the large monthly mortgage payments. At the time, I didn't want to see you and your father being forced to sell the house, so I offered to help you to pay off your mortgage. I did that completely based on my love to you because you are my son. At that time, you were much appreciated. Now you changed to a totally different attitude.
I didn't really act like a bank. If I acted as a bank, I would not charge you such a low interest rate of 3.9%. And also, if I acted as a bank, I would demand you to make monthly mortgage payment started from the day I paid off your original mortgage. Have you ever made any monthly payments to me? No, you didn't pay me back one single dime.
Now you own another house with your girl friend and your father does not want to live in this big house any more. Your father told me that he won't move back into this house even he came back from China in the future. Therefore, I wanted to sell this house, so that I can have my $209,000 back. If you want to keep this house as your rental property, you should buy your father and me out of this property first.
I am really disappointed at your ungrateful attitude towards me.
Mom
