From Bloomberg this morning:
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) — Representative Rick Renzi, a Republican from Arizona who isn’t seeking re-election, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in an alleged scheme to profit from a land deal.
Renzi, 49, who was first elected to the House in 2002, was charged along with James Sandlin, one of his political backers, and Andrew Beardall, an attorney who had worked as general counsel of Renzi’s family insurance business.
The U.S. alleged that Renzi offered to sponsor legislation to help a company seeking to swap land with the federal government if it purchased property owned by Sandlin. Renzi, who sat on a committee that had to approve such deals, told the company that he wouldn’t support the request if it didn’t buy the land, according to the indictment. No deal was made.
Later, Renzi pressured a separate investment group, also looking for approval of a land exchange, to purchase the property, prosecutors said. That group agreed to buy 480 acres from Sandlin for $4.6 million, the government said.
At the time, according to court papers, Sandlin owed Renzi $700,000. Renzi also was having financial difficulties, the government said.
Land fraud in Arizona— Sadly, a time honored tradition.
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What, no more op-ed Fridays?
Check out this from Florida, where lenders are having problems proving they still hold mortgages and the courts are refusing to foreclose: Banks Lose to Deadbeat Homeowners as Loans Sold in Bonds Vanish
And this from Ohio, last November, same theme: Foreclosures Hit a Snag for Lenders
NVMike-
I got out of the habit, but we do need an open thread— look for it next week.
That “Deadbeat homeowners” article reminded me of an email I got a couple of months ago. It was from an agent who had a REO listing, but the lender had gone under. She wanted to know if I knew who now owned the home. I wasn’t able to find out, and I didn’t hear back from her, so I don’t know if she could figure it out either.
If you throw a cup of water into a pitcher, how do you figure out which cup is yours later on? What a great time to be a RE attorney!
Thanks, t. I’ll look for it.
Arizona land fraud…. the memories… The Keating five… the proposed ‘tallest building in the world’ … the abandoned Greyhound racing park near Goodyear… the Phoenix ‘Planners Association’ … the destruction of the ‘Golden Gate’ neighborhood for Sky Harbor businesses… Symington’s downtown ‘developments’ …. the annihilation of all the Japanese flower farms on Baseline, for McMansions….. ahhhhhhh…….
But, not just Phoenix of course. Many years ago, my father was working for APS, and went down to Douglas to cost a project. He saw that some developer had started a ‘resort housing’ section between Douglas and Bisbee… they had a big ‘evangelists tent’ set up, with a bus shuttle running people out to the lot sites.
In the tent was food, drinks, and a loudspeaker system. The speakers blared out reports from ‘the field’ with the amazing news of how fast each lot was selling.
When my curious father took a bus ride out to see the sites, the carnies asked my Dad.. what do you think?
His polite reply… “Uh, it’s ok…” …
His nonplussed reply was reported back to the evangelist’s tent as, “Mr. Ernest Blackfoot has expressed tremendous interest in Lot number 78!!!” Just hyping the masses…
Land fraud. Hype. Carnies… Oh, the memories.
Yossarian-
Arizona…Grand Canyon….saguaro….sunsets…land fraud…
I long for the day when they aren’t considered synonymous.
When is McCain going to be indicted, and on what grounds? It looks like Obama will be indicted as part of the Rezko kickback scheme: Barack votes for the appropriation, the contract goes to a Rezko favorite, the favorite gives money to a front, the front donates to Obama.
Obama sat in the Illinois legislature for years as part of this machine, and is the “political candidate” referred to in the Federal complaint. It turns out Rezko’s chief assistant was wearing a wire for years.
So I think Obama is the Karl Rove stealth candidate, guaranteed to blow up a la Eagleton at the point it will do the most damage.
But what about McCain? I’ve heard for years that he’s as dirty as the bottom of your shoe. What investigations are going on in Arizona which might drag down that scumbag?
“Glengarry Glen Ross” will look more like a long news clip or documentary and less like a movie over the next few years.
When I went through the RE licensing classes, they had some great stories about AZ land schemes.
ie: selling pieces of land on the side of a cliff
I understand that there is now a law that states you cannot sell a piece of land in AZ that does not have access to it. (landlocked)
There is a good reason that it is now a law, but I don’t remember the whole story.
Asset Hunter:
“Always Be Closing” …. great movie, but I needed to take a shower, afterwards.