License Denied, Melodie Scott back to work

By Janet Phelan

Melodie Scott, whose fiduciary license was recently denied by the Department of Consumer Affairs, appears to be back at work. She has changed the name of her business from C.A.R.E., Inc to Reliant Professional Services and moved her office across the street from her former location on State Street in Redlands . And in February of 2010, she filed for guardianship of a minor in San Bernardino Court .

Scott's license was first denied in August 2008 by the newly created Professional Fiduciary Bureau, lodged in the Department of Consumer Affairs, for making false statements on her licensing application. She appealed the decision and went into contested hearings in Oakland Administrative Court, which spanned from May to October of 2009. Along the way, further charges were added to the original complaint, including her continuing to act as a conservator/fiduciary after her application for a license was originally denied. A drunk driving citation was also listed as a cause for denial of license. In addition to the licensing issues, numerous allegations ranging from financial mismanagement of client’s funds to medical negligence, resulting in client’s deaths, have been levied against Scott.

Curiously, the name change of her business does not appear to be recorded by the Secretary of State or by the San Bernardino County Recorder. Reliant Professional Services is not listed at either of the registries as either a corporate entity or as a fictitious business entity. Such registration is mandated by State law.

A confidential questionnaire must be filled out in order for an individual to become a minor’s guardian. The questions include whether or not a restraining order has been filed against the prospective guardian, whether the prospective guardian has been charged with a crime deemed to be a felony or misdemeanor and whether the prospective guardian has abused alcohol. Also included is a question as to whether the prospect has ever been removed from a case as a conservator or fiduciary.

Neither Scott nor her attorney of record, J. David Horspool, responded to queries as to the legal registration of Reliant Services. Scott is represented in the new guardianship case by Lenita Skoretz, who served as court appointed counsel for a number of conservatees in cases in which Scott was the conservator, prior to her removal from cases for failure to achieve licensure.

Janet Phelan is an investigative journalist with over twenty years in the saddle. Her articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Santa Monica Daily Press, the San Bernardino County Sentinel, the American's Bulletin, Oui Magazine and elsewhere. She is best known for her article "Water As A Weapon" and her investigations on the war against the elderly and vulnerable through the conservatorship and guardianship programs in State Superior Courts. Janet was educated at Grinnell College and U.C. Berkeley, and studied journalism at University of Missouri -Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Her first book, "The Hitler Poems," was published in 2005.