OPEN LETTER TO AFTF, what do you do?

[kernwatch]

OPEN LETTER TO AFTF

I am very frustrated that there is utterly no feedback from AFTF (Mayor's Anti-Flipping Task-Force) about Bflo flipping activity . . as it appears that Jessica Doucette (AWOL with 61 rental houses) is creating a new city-wide crisis on a scale similar to Robert Palano.

Has AFTF been monitoring her activity?

Is there any attention to Rental Registration, a potentially valuable management & monitoring tool, which appears to be in utter disarray?

How could the owner of 61 rental properties, many owned for a second year, escape detection while registering merely one property? (She has paid $40 oir less of an estimated annual total owed of $1800)
Has anybody monitored new Hamburg flipper Adam White (DBA: White Holdings of WNY LLC), who powerfully looks to be another hungry "bottom feeder"?

Has he paid any rental registration fees? He flips many houses so quickly that deeds are not publicly posted before a new owner has taken over.

Has he registered 494 Massachusetts, which he bought in terrible condition? It is one of few house he did not quickly flip, very likely because it is in such disarray.

Another interesting test case is White-flipped nearby HUD-foreclosed 48 19th, on the oft-flipped block where Harvey Garrett exerted so much energy with great media attention. It is also close to 458 Massachusetts, being rehabbed by PUSH Buffalo as co-op housing, directly opposite long-derelict 457 Mass, the failed-flip of flip-partners Ray Osland- Colleen Sardella, recently quietly sold by corrupt Ann Edwards realtor Sardella for $3K to a new California "investor" to remove it from the in-rem auction.

Is 48 19th, as well as 457 Mass, 'Rental Registered'?
Who are the local management agents?
Their addresses?

If flipping is ever to be slowed, there must be much better & more accessable public data to monitor who is good or bad & intervene more quickly into scams of the bad guys.

There are 34 Bflo foreclosures listed in today's Bflo News six-week-old-list of deeds. Foreclosures are a favorite place where scammers "refuel".

The city (& AFTF) has to fight harder! And be more accountable . . .

Dick Kern (in Mpls)

-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: Re: Jessica Doucette registered 1 of 61 rental houses, AWOL /// Adam White
Date: 1/26/2007 10:49:28 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: KernwatchMN
To: dgilmour@ch.ci.buffalo.ny.us



David:

Thanks for the info & follow-up.

As you may know, I have monitored low-income housing scams in Bflo for over a dozen years, always distressed that things rarely get better, as many low-income homeowners lose life savings in their homes.

Could you also check Adam White of Hamburg (DBA White holdings of WNY) , one of Bflo's newest flippers, who filed 45 deeds in 2006?

City records on-line are out-of-date by about 3 months, & Bflo News reporting of deeds is 6-7 weeks old, so that few learn of his buys as apparent "disposal agent" for other investor-scammers before he has flipped them again.

He is truly bad news & needs close monitoring. I have attached his deeds from the City website below, not all currently owned, but the County Clerk's website is down & has been down frequently lately so I cannot verify which are which.

His 494 Massachusetts was a cheap $8555 HUD foreclosure in very bad condition (raw sewage had been sump-pumped from the cellar down the driveway before it was abandoned. White has not flipped it despite owning it since 10/05, perhaps a good place to start.

Thank you

Dick Kern

COPY: city website: Property Information

SBL House Number Street Primary Owner
0994400005020000 89 CHENANGO WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
0994400005021000 91 CHENANGO WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
0995100003021000 364 FOURTEENTH WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
1017000005014000 112 GITTERE WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
0993600005035000 494 MASSACHUSETTS WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
1015500005006000 22 RUSTIC WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY, LLC View Information
1015700003054000 239 SUMNER WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

Originally Posted by kernwatch

OPEN LETTER TO AFTF

I am very frustrated that there is utterly no feedback from AFTF (Mayor's Anti-Flipping Task-Force) about Bflo flipping activity . . as it appears that Jessica Doucette (AWOL with 61 rental houses) is creating a new city-wide crisis on a scale similar to Robert Palano.

Has AFTF been monitoring her activity?

Is there any attention to Rental Registration, a potentially valuable management & monitoring tool, which appears to be in utter disarray?

How could the owner of 61 rental properties, many owned for a second year, escape detection while registering merely one property? (She has paid $40 oir less of an estimated annual total owed of $1800)
Has anybody monitored new Hamburg flipper Adam White (DBA: White Holdings of WNY LLC), who powerfully looks to be another hungry "bottom feeder"?

Has he paid any rental registration fees? He flips many houses so quickly that deeds are not publicly posted before a new owner has taken over.

Has he registered 494 Massachusetts, which he bought in terrible condition? It is one of few house he did not quickly flip, very likely because it is in such disarray.

Another interesting test case is White-flipped nearby HUD-foreclosed 48 19th, on the oft-flipped block where Harvey Garrett exerted so much energy with great media attention. It is also close to 458 Massachusetts, being rehabbed by PUSH Buffalo as co-op housing, directly opposite long-derelict 457 Mass, the failed-flip of flip-partners Ray Osland- Colleen Sardella, recently quietly sold by corrupt Ann Edwards realtor Sardella for $3K to a new California "investor" to remove it from the in-rem auction.

Is 48 19th, as well as 457 Mass, 'Rental Registered'?
Who are the local management agents?
Their addresses?

If flipping is ever to be slowed, there must be much better & more accessable public data to monitor who is good or bad & intervene more quickly into scams of the bad guys.

There are 34 Bflo foreclosures listed in today's Bflo News six-week-old-list of deeds. Foreclosures are a favorite place where scammers "refuel".

The city (& AFTF) has to fight harder! And be more accountable . . .

Dick Kern (in Mpls)

-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: Re: Jessica Doucette registered 1 of 61 rental houses, AWOL /// Adam White
Date: 1/26/2007 10:49:28 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: KernwatchMN
To: dgilmour@ch.ci.buffalo.ny.us



David:

Thanks for the info & follow-up.

As you may know, I have monitored low-income housing scams in Bflo for over a dozen years, always distressed that things rarely get better, as many low-income homeowners lose life savings in their homes.

Could you also check Adam White of Hamburg (DBA White holdings of WNY) , one of Bflo's newest flippers, who filed 45 deeds in 2006?

City records on-line are out-of-date by about 3 months, & Bflo News reporting of deeds is 6-7 weeks old, so that few learn of his buys as apparent "disposal agent" for other investor-scammers before he has flipped them again.

He is truly bad news & needs close monitoring. I have attached his deeds from the City website below, not all currently owned, but the County Clerk's website is down & has been down frequently lately so I cannot verify which are which.

His 494 Massachusetts was a cheap $8555 HUD foreclosure in very bad condition (raw sewage had been sump-pumped from the cellar down the driveway before it was abandoned. White has not flipped it despite owning it since 10/05, perhaps a good place to start.

Thank you

Dick Kern

COPY: city website: Property Information

SBL House Number Street Primary Owner
0994400005020000 89 CHENANGO WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
0994400005021000 91 CHENANGO WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
0995100003021000 364 FOURTEENTH WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
1017000005014000 112 GITTERE WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
0993600005035000 494 MASSACHUSETTS WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information
1015500005006000 22 RUSTIC WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY, LLC View Information
1015700003054000 239 SUMNER WHITE HOLDINGS OF WNY LLC View Information

White Holdings of WNY, LLC
266 Elmwood Ave., Ste. 278
Buffalo, NY 14222
(716) 444-1678
Fax: (716) 856-8628
Adam White, CEO
Real Estate Management

[WNYresident]

I"m just curious but who is in charge of the house flipping task force anyway? Why don't we fire thier ass if there is someone and put Dick K and MichelleJ in that spot?.. or is there really no department in the city that would acutally monitor that?

[Michele J]

Hi Res,
The AFTF website is [url]www.buffaloflipping.com..... kind of explains the AFTF's chain of command

[WNYresident]

Are those positions paid?

[Michele J]

yes they are.

[WNYresident]

are they doing a fair job for the amount of money they are paid? Are these what they consider appointments?

[kernwatch]

Adam White's office listed at 266 Elmwood is the same "address" briefly used by notorious Long Island flipper-scammer Jesse Isaacs (DBA: United Property Management & Fairfax Management).

"Ste 278", very close to the "Office" listed on Isaac's "United Property Management website (now gone), is most likely another mail box in "Mailboxes R Us" (name?) in the former Stuyvesant Shopping Center, near the closed Quality Market at Elmwood & Summer.

I do not have a clue what AFTF staffer Holly Lindstrom, who has never returned a phone meassage or responded to dozens of emails giving her information on suspicious flip-scamming activity, does as chair of the Data Committe.

AFTF has repeatedly boasted in press releases of its high tech data-gathering & analysis endeavor with Hilbert College in Hamburg . . but never releases any results, which are "top secret".

Have they been watching Jessica Doucette's powerful similarity in her flipping of 61 houses to the H-U scandal, before she disappeared?

Reportedly, 8 warrants have now been issued for Doucette's arrest.

Dick Kern (in Mpls)



COPY:

White Holdings of WNY, LLC
266 Elmwood Ave., Ste. 278
Buffalo, NY 14222
(716) 444-1678
Fax: (716) 856-8628
Adam White, CEO
Real Estate Management

[joe d.]

Originally Posted by Michele J

yes they are.

MICHELE..according to HARVEY GARRET, (who works closely with AFTF), IN another blog, STATED these positions were volunteer, put the program was funded by taxpayer dollars. Did I misunderstand what he wrote?

[kernwatch]

Mr Garrett does not work closely with AFTF. And AFTF staff are not "volunteers". His lack of truthfulness is often a serious issue, especially because he seves as "officer of the Court".

About three years ago Mr Garrett befriended notorious eBay-flipper Ray Osland (& his corrupt-realtor-partner Colleen Sardella). Michele & I had spent many hours tracking their flipping on eBay.

Michele's detective work ultimately identified "Blueyedreamer", getting Sardella fired from Polis Realty after she secretly & unsuccessfully repeatedly tried to flip 457 Massachusetts on eBay. 'Secret flipping' is illegal for a Realtor.

Incredibly, after Osland & Carter moved to Bflo from either MD or CT where Osland was "CrazyCTcaterer" on eBay, Garrett took Osland's young girlfriend Amanda Carter to a flipping meeting with HUD Manager Steve Banko, where he introduced her as the "wife of a good investor".

Then Garrett leveraged my concerns about Osland's many unethical & illegal housing activities, including rehab of massive black-mold-infestation at 101 Chenanago, into threats that I would soon be prosecuted for "harasment" by Osland, who masqueraded as an attorney.

Having just won after 4 years of malicious proscution for exposing Parlato-style flipping by BMHA Commissioner Charles Flynn, I was utterly demoralized by the prospect of more prosecutions, this time blessed by a Housing Court Liaison. It was a major reason why I decided to leave Bflo.

Carter joined & was quickly fired from Polis Realty, Osland threated Polis, masquerading as "Attorney", Osland & Carter split up, and both disappeared.

More recently, Garrett has defended AFTF's refusal to show Michele & WNY Media's powerful "FLIPPED" at their seminars for realtors & lawyers as it was shown to housing officials in Cleveland. Interestingly, the documantary features Osland-Sardella customer Eliz Schottenbauer, who spent hours crying to Michele & me about her losses. She was hauled into Housing Court & had to demolish both houses she bought from Osland-Sardella. (95 Richlawn & 68 Person)

Garrett's endorsing AFTF is not necessarily a good thing. He has relently defended Osland, an unscrupled flipper. And helped drive me, a longtime flipper-watcher, out of town.

Dick Kern

[Michele J]

The AFTF has many volunteers ( law enforcement,attorneys etc..) But there are 2 paid positions..the Director ( Kathleen Lynch) and Assistant ( Holly L) are paid.. Who both work at the Western New York Law Center..If you go to the buffaloflipping.com website you can read the first yr report.

[kernwatch]

Mayor’s Anti-Flipping Task Force Response

Posted by: "moirai4500" monica@samhoyt.com moirai4500
Thu Feb 8, 2007 2:28 pm (PST)

The Mayor's Anti-Flipping Task Force (AFTF) is proud of its
accomplishments and wishes to use this forum to highlight our most
significant efforts and address erroneous statements and
misperceptions that have been sent to this group. The AFTF combats
the negative real estate practices of unethical and fraudulent
property flipping that contribute to neighborhood destabilization and
community disinvestment while simultaneously encourage healthy and
ethical investment in our city.

AFTF accomplishments:

• Introduced the Appraisal Reporting Statute to require appraisers in
Buffalo to submit quarterly reports of appraisals,
• Ongoing collection and standardization of state, county and city
property sales data for analysis, in order to identify fraudulent
property flippers,
• Coordinated with Hilbert College to develop iBase program, an
economic crimes relational database, to identify connections
between "bad actors" in the fraudulent flipping schemes,
• Created a website, www.buffaloflipping.com,
• Coordinated with Buffalo State College to generate maps of the
locations of fraudulent flips in Buffalo (located on
www.buffaloflipping.com),
• Instituted changes to the city's In Rem auction requiring
purchasers to sign and affidavit that prohibits property from being
sold at more than 120 % of the bid price for at lease six months AND
commits buyers to fix all housing code violations within six months,
• Attended the 2006 In Rem Auction – Kathleen Lynch from the WNYLC
and Judge Henry Nowak addressed the audience on all three days.
Members of the AFTF were present for the entire time all three
auction days,
• Produced a First Year Report, available on the website, and
• Held two professional seminars, "Flipping and Fraudulent Flipping
of Real Estate – Do You Know the Difference?" to educate participants
in real estate transactions and about the dangers of unethical and
potentially fraudulent transactions,
• Ongoing collaboratation with law enforcement to report suspected
fraudulent practices,
• Planning a workshop for community members, tentatively scheduled
for March 24th

The AFTF was formed in response to complaints by building inspectors,
community residents, government representatives, and real estate
professionals to address the serious and harmful practice of
fraudulent property flipping in the CIty of Buffalo. In fact, a State
Assembly hearing was conducted in December 2004 to address such
complaints. The history of this effort is documented in the AFTF's
First Year Report which is on the AFTF website
www.buffaloflipping.com.

The testimony at the hearing clearly indicated that a task force,
comprised of a variety of members with different perspectives,
experience, skills and resources, must be formed in order to
effectively combat the problem of flipping. Although groups of
concerned individuals had been meeting to discuss the impact of
flipping, there was no avenue to address the problem prior to the
formation of this task force. So - while the problem had been
identified, and there was information available, there was no
solution.

The Mayor's Anti-Flipping Task Force (AFTF) was formed in May 2005 to
perform exactly that task - find solutions to stop unethical property
flipping here in Buffalo. It is modeled after a similar effort
formed in Baltimore MD that was successful in curbing flipping. The
Baltimore effort was coordinated by the Community Law Center, an
entity similar to the WNYLC. The members of our task force, like the
Baltimore effort, include a variety of people with information,
skills and resources to combat the problem. Mayor Masiello appointed
Assemblymember Sam Hoyt and State Senator William Stachowski were
chosen to Co-Chair the AFTF and the Western New York Law Center
(WNYLC) was selected to coordinate the effort.

While the AFTF includes community members and works closely with
others, it has never presented itself as a grassroots organization.
It is essential to the success of its mission that the Task Force
conduct research, evaluate legal issues and evidence, and work with
law enforcement to identify fraudulent practices and actors. The
AFTF has a responsibility to conduct its work in a professional and
ethical manner. Its members cannot engage in character assasination
or operate on assumptions that have no basis in evidence. It is not
a McCarthy-like operation.

Furthermore, law enforcement investigations are, by their nature,
discreet. Law enforcement representatives would not work with an
entity that engaged in unreliable or irresponsible behavior. We do
not want to compromise investigations or potential cases.
To criticize the AFTF for not acting like a grassroots organization
simply makes no sense because it is not one. Community activists play
an essential role in an effort like this by identifying the practice
and providing information. However, they do not have the power to
prosecute predators.

The AFTF has the ability to identify and provide potential evidence
to law enforcement. WE DO NOT HAVE THE POWER, IN AND OF ITSELF, TO
PROSECUTE OFFENDERS. We are working very hard to use information
provided by a number of sources- community residents, witnesses to
flipping, building inspectors, real estate professionals, data
research and more- to accomplish this task successfully.

At the same time, we also understand that information and education
are key to combating this practice. Unfortunately, Buffalo has
earned a reputation worldwide as a place to conduct this activity.
So, our approach must contemplate sending our message that we will
not tolerate fraudulent flipping worldwide, while at the same time
being careful not to brand Buffalo as a hopeless and terrible place
that people should avoid. We want to encourage healthy investment in
our city.

The AFTF has targeted a number of global and more local forums to
accomplish this goal using the media and technology such as the AFTF
website, www.buffaloflipping.com, articles in the NY Times and other
publications, television shows locally and abroad, appearances at
educational programs in Buffalo and around the state for real estate
professionals, participation in national, state and local list
serves, as well as other efforts to get the word out that we will not
tolerate fraudulent flipping in Buffalo. We have made significant
headway as "investors" in these properties from far away states like
California, who feel they have been defrauded, are now contacting us
directly through the site. This information helps our investigations.
The AFTF is engaging in other important work such as evaluation of
local, state and national procedures, policies and laws that
encourage fraudulent flipping. This year's In Rem affidavit is one
example of such an effort. Again, this is not an easy task as we want
to make sure our recommendations truly solve the problem without
creating additional or unforeseen consequences. This effort requires
legal and practical evaluation and discussion with many different
parties.

Research, investigation, and development of recommendations all take
time to produce. It is a fact. When we began this effort, we
understood that we would have to work carefully, methodically and on
a number of different fronts to successfully combat flipping. It
seems that most people understand this reality. For those who do
not, we urge you to exercise patience.

Please continue to visit our website and to provide any information
that you think might be helpful directly to the AFTF. We are
confident that this task force, with the support of all in our City,
will succeed in its efforts to combat fraudulent flipping.

[nickelcityhomes]

Two points...

Introduced the Appraisal Reporting Statute to require appraisers in
Buffalo to submit quarterly reports of appraisals,

Please tell me how this is even remotely enforceable?

Instituted changes to the city's In Rem auction requiring
purchasers to sign and affidavit that prohibits property from being
sold at more than 120 % of the bid price for at lease six months AND
commits buyers to fix all housing code violations within six months,

Where can I read the entire language of this law? I'm assuming this is a just a practical joke. Even bureaucrats and well intentioned neighborhood activists are smart enough to realize how harmful this law will be to the city.

[nickelcityhomes]

OK, I found my answer in the annual report:

This proposal represents the most direct response to addressing the practice of real estate flipping. For a period of one year, a successful bidder at the city’s in Rem auction would be prohibited, by a provision in the sales contract, from selling or encumbering the property purchased for more than a specified percentage over the purchase price. This provision would make it less financially viable to flip properties for profit. It would combat the problem of fraudulent appraisals by limiting the sales price or amount of mortgage that can be taken against the property. A property flipper is less likely to purchase a property if they know they must hold for one year because among other things it gives the city a chance to cite the property for code violations. If the successful bidder is barred from quickly reselling the property, the financial advantages of flipping disappear. This provision will not affect bona fide purchasers as they generally don’t sell the property in the short term for considerably more than they paid for it. This provision in the sales contract would be based on a similar provision in a Fannie Mae contract. Provisions could be made for authentic investors, who wish to rehabilitate properties, to submit a completed work plan, together with permits, that will establish that the property has actually been improved and justifies an increase in price. The Corporation Counsel’s office is looking into the legality of this recommendation and will determine what legislation may be required to enact such a provision.

Phew [wiping sweat from brow]! For a second there I thought they were going to introduce ENFORCEABLE legislation. I'm relieved to see that the plan is to introduce legislation with a GAPING loophole! Even a five year old could legally circumvent this law.

Did someone say that people are being paid to sit on this board?

[WNYresident]

I wonder if they truely feel that they are accomplishing anything if nothing is enforcable over all.