Shanna Welsh-Levin - San Diego, CA

Ms. Welsh-Levin skillfully handles real estate litigation and transactions. Her firm handles both commercial real property disputes and residential real property disputes. The majority of her clients are real estate investors, landlords, and real estate professionals. She was designated in several cases as an expert witness in litigation to testify on the subject of standard of care for real estate brokers.

Ms. Welsh-Levin is a member of the State Bar of California, and the San Diego County Bar Association. She is a member of the Real Property Law Section of the San Diego County Bar Association. Ms. Welsh-Levin is a California licensed real estate broker and an active member of the San Diego Association of Realtors.. She is also a member of the California Association of Realtors, and the National Association of Realtors. In 2008 through 2014, Ms. Welsh-Levin participated in many HOME Clinics in San Diego County, Imperial County, and Riverside County. The clinics were sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and attorneys who participated were called upon to consult with homeowners who were in distress because of their mortgages.

Ms. Welsh-Levin is the founder and a co-shareholder at Southern California Realty Law, APC, along with Rebecca Larson. She volunteers with Amikas, a local non-profit organization that serves women and children who are homeless and at risk of homelessness.

Ms. Welsh-Levin was instrumental in passing a new short sale anti-deficiency statute. Working with Senator Denise Ducheny's office, Ms. Welsh helped to introduce Senate Bill 931, to provide information at the committee level, and to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. When the bill went into effect on January 1, 2011, it created the new California Code of Civil Procedure §580e. In early 2011, changes to the statute were proposed by real estate, consumer, and bank lobby groups to clarify and expand the mandatory debt forgiveness provided under the statute. Ms. Welsh discussed these changes with lobbyists and helped to rework the statute. Her opposition to the proposal to expand the mandatory debt forgiveness to junior lien holders was heard by several local REALTOR® associations. Ultimately, the proposed changes were passed and Ms. Welsh-Levin counsels real estate professionals, negotiators, and sellers about the new rules for short sales.

Ms. Welsh-Levin worked for many years at the Law Offices of Michael Spilger, an exclusive real estate law firm. Before that, she worked for Federal Multi- District Litigation and class action attorneys at both the Pittsburgh and San Diego offices of Buchanan Ingersoll, LLP. Ms. Welsh-Levin spent a semester in Washington, DC, as a legal extern at the Federal Communications Commission, where she learned about administrative and communications law.

Ms. Welsh-Levin holds the degree of Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law in San Diego, California. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Jazz Music. She worked as a professional jazz and pop musician and taught private saxophone lessons for many years. She was encouraged by her music teacher, Dr. Nathan Davis, Ph.D., to pursue a career in law because of the leadership that she exhibited in the Pitt Jazz Ensemble. She graduated with honors from North Allegheny Senior High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.