A local mechanic with a long history of legal judgments by clients who claimed they were defrauded has lost a new lawsuit, while his business and wife still face allegations.
Godofredo “Lee” Quiroz, of Jefferson, with Canyon Auto Service, in Lyons, was ordered to pay $13,375 April 24 in Marion County Circuit Court to Salem resident Rachel Wolf.
Quiroz failed to respond to an amended complaint filed by Wolf in February and Judge Daniel Wren found Quiroz in default.
Wolf had requested triple damages on the grounds Quiroz’ actions were “reckless, willful, malicious, in bad faith or illegal.” Wren denied this request in his judgment and upheld his decision May 2.
Our Town has reached out to Quiroz for comment but received none by press time.
Quiroz’ wife, Tammy Quiroz, and the business remain defendants in the lawsuit. They have denied wrongdoing. Tammy Quiroz is represented by Salem attorney Arthur Cummins. Lee Quiroz and plaintiff Wolf are self-represented.
A trial date has not been set, but a hearing is scheduled for May 17 to consider the validity of Tammy Quiroz’s defense.
Wolf filed suit July 26, 2022, after Lee Quiroz dodged her efforts to collect on a prior legal judgment. She was awarded $8,180 in 2019 after Lee Quiroz was found liable for a botched engine replacement.
Wolf, a forensic accountant, acquired Lee Quiroz’ personal and business banking records in her attempts to collect. Her lawsuit said she unearthed evidence of numerous alleged crimes including negotiating bad checks, falsifying business records, obtaining execution of documents by deception, and tax evasion.
When filing she also took into account the many past legal actions taken against Lee Quiroz and claimed all of this amounted to a years-long pattern of fraud.
Those actions included:
• a 2009 suit for work performed when Lee Quiroz owned North Santiam Hi-Performance & Auto Repair, in Mill City. The court awarded the plaintiff $1,600.
• a 2016 suit when Lee Quiroz was operating C&E Performance, in Keizer. Evonne Alderete and Trent Standing were awarded $5,146 for the bungled upgrade of a 1972 Dodge Dart.
• a 2019 suit, when Lee Quiroz was sued by Kenneth van Devender, who said he paid the mechanic to restore a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air. When Quiroz did not respond to the suit, van Devender was awarded a $148,000 default judgment.
• a June 2022 suit, by Karen Libby, of Elma, Wash., who hired him in 2018 to rebuild a 1965 Ford Mustang. A 3 1/2 year saga ended with the Mustang being towed back to Washington from the property of the mechanic’s personal friend in Mill City “stripped of all parts, glass, seats, running gear, and more,” according to the lawsuit. Libby was awarded $10,000 and court costs.
At the time, Lee Quiroz worked for Valley Auto, a company opened by his former employee Patrick Neufeld in the same location as Valley Auto Works.
During a deposition in federal bankruptcy court in 2021, Lee Quiroz admitted to conspiring with Neufeld to open Valley Auto to shield himself from creditors. Neufeld was named in Wolf’s current lawsuit. After he failed to reply, a default judgment of $13,710 was entered against him Oct. 4, 2022.
In 2018, Wolf filed her original lawsuit. She had hired Lee Quiroz to replace the engine of her Saturn sedan. At the time, Lee Quiroz owned Valley Auto Works, a business he opened in 2017 at the same location as C&E Performance after the latter was dissolved as a business entity that year.
The engine was installed incorrectly which led to a critical failure. Wolf later learned she was charged for parts never installed.
After a trial Jan. 31, 2019, Marion County Circuit Court Judge David Leith ruled Lee Quiroz’ actions were “fraudulent” and awarded Wolf full damages.
After the judgments in favor of Wolf and van Devender, Lee Quiroz filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Oct. 17, 2019. After a trial Nov. 3, 2021, Judge Peter McKittrick denied Lee Quiroz’ request for protection and ruled Valley Auto was wrongfully used to hide assets.
Canyon Auto Service was registered in Oregon the day before the bankruptcy trial with Lee Quiroz as its owner. The day after the trial, the registration was re-filed with Tammy Quiroz as owner and Lee Quiroz as registered agent. Then on Nov. 12, 2021, was refiled with Tammy Quiroz as both owner and registered agent.
Wolf claims in her current lawsuit Lee Quiroz still operates Canyon Auto Service as though he is the owner, including signing paychecks and opening payment processor accounts. Wolf has asked the court for an injunction preventing further attempts by Lee and Tammy Quiroz to use a business to shield themselves from personal liability.
Tammy Quiroz denied these accusations in a Feb. 21, 2023 court filing, insisting she is the legitimate owner of Canyon Auto Service. She said Wolf failed to make any claim upon which the court could grant relief and asked for the suit to be dismissed.
The Feb. 21 filing on Tammy Quiroz’ behalf was in response to an amended complaint filed by Wolf Feb. 16, 2023.
The defendants, including Lee Quiroz, responded to Wolf’s July 2022 complaint on Aug. 29, 2022. In the response, Lee Quiroz claimed Wolf’s allegations were “twisted fabrications” by a disgruntled former client.
Note: This article was revised May 2, 2023, to correct the judgement against Lee Quiroz.
