Person St. Video: 29 abandoned houses

[kernwatch]

Below are links to the sobering video by Chris Byrd of 29 abandoned houses on sast side Person Street (crosses Broadway nr. Bailey), now linked to three websites:

Chris's original posting:
http://www.broadwayfillmorealive.org/

A second posting here:

http://wnymedia.net/index.php?option...2816&Itemid=82

David Torke lists all the owners from the city website here:

http://fixbuffalo.blogspot.com/2007/...s-no-plan.html

The street had nine houses for sale at the in-rem auction in October, but merely one sold for $1.5K. And six of the houses are under control of controversial NYS entity MBBA.

The street is a painful laboratory to explore solutions to a problem similar to scores of other ES & WS streets.

Torke links to the inspiring speech of Youngstown Ohio Mayor, who is advocating "smart decline" in another struggling shrinking city. Perhaps a debate between the thoughtful 35 year old mayor & David Franczyk could stimulate a more effective response to a longtime "fixed" crisis.

SEE:
http://fixbuffalo.blogspot.com/2007/...gstown-oh.html

Corrupt Realtors & neighborhood demise

I has never been politically correct in Bflo to expose corruption of local realtors & lawyers in nurturing housing decline

I have long battled the corrupt Parlato real estate family, who invented flipping speeding neighborhood demise, especially on the East Side. It would be interesting to research how many FHA-flip-scams the Parlato's sold on Person St.

But the evidence of newer scams by local realtors can be found at 68 Person, which is one of several East-Side flip-scam sales by Osland-Carter-Sardella.

Realtor Colleen Sardella secretly paid $5750 for 68 Person on 2/20/04, quickly selling it 3 1/2 months later to Elizabeth Schottenbauer of Arizona for $16K. Schottenbauer hired, then fired, Sardella's partners Ray Osland & Amanda Carter to rehab it.

After a long & sordid tale, 68 Person, shown in Byrd's film, just failed to sell at the in-rem auction. It is awaiting demolition after having profited a corrupt realter almost $10,000 . . .on a street with 29 abandoned houses. (Incredibly, it is assessed at $26K, as it actually has a negative value of $8-$10K).

Osland-Sardella also flipped 95 Richlawn to Schottenbauer for $12777 on 2/13/04, purchased by Osland the same day for $3.5K.

It is now owned by the city awaiting demolition, but incredibly it also is assessed at $21.5K.

Sardella also was forced to demolish a house on Fillmore near B'way, rehabbed by Osland, after failing to flip it.

Sardella is a dramatically corrupt local realtor, fired from both Polis & Farley Real Estate (then going to work at Ann Edwards Realty) after Michele Johnson & I exposed her secret flipping as a realtor, but her name has never been mentioned as an example of the criminality of local realtors & lawyers that fuels flipping & other housing scams.

Meanwhile, before disappearing, Osland rehabbed 5 houses on 3 parcels on Chenango, all now owned by 'foreign' investors. Both 89 & 91 Chenango were "disposed" by new local "flipper's agent" Adam White of Hamburg for a total of $48K after 'paying' Osland $18.5 for the pair several months earlier.

Osland has been portrayed as 'hero' of Chenango, but I have gotten no answers as to why Osland did not offer them to home owners with WSNHS mortgages for $10K each. That would have produced truly affordable home ownership with monthly mortgage payments of about $90, plus negligible taxes.

Doucette-East Coast Capital Mortgage Scam

Currently Rochester realtor Elizabeth Doucette (Homestar Realty) appears to be a major player in the evolving 60 house mortgage scandal totaling about $3 million.

Her 23 year-old daughter Jessica (& property manager son Joshua) purchased the 60 cheap foreclosed houses over an 18 month period, quickly getting ECC mortgages averaging 3X the purchase prices. They operated out of an office at 3329 Bailey, now closed. It had a "Homestar Real Estate" sign, although there was no realtor inside.

The inflated mortgages (averaging $50K each) were issued by now-disappeared East Coast Capital, which also has strong ties to questionable "investor" Moshe Friedlander, who buys 100's of cheap run-down houses & operates under dozens of business names.

The Doucette-ECC scam, totals about $3 million in fraudulent mortgages by now-defunct ECC a firm in repeated legal difficulty. It involved ECC's apparent promises of 9-13% interest paid monthly to investors on inflated mortgages averaging $50K on houses worth perhaps $20K.

Apparently the Doucette's paid nothing for the houses, while perhaps getting small rehab grants, but committing to paying high rates of interest on the inflated mortgages averaging about 3X the purchase prices. The plan was apparently to re-finance each house after 2 -3 years at even higher inflated values, repay the investments . . . & continue the house of cards.

But the house of cards has collapsed, and scores of neighborhoods will again pay the price of abandoned distressed houses.

Will AFTF reveal their analysis on this newest variation of the devastating Parlato, Palano, Hutchinson-Upcher, & Wooley-Julius mortgage scams?

Current AFTF "secrecy" approximates police knowing where bands of house thieves (and knowing their names!) are operating . . .but keeping it secret.

Dick Kern (in Mpls)

[FJB]

Let em all burn baby!!

[ghosthunter]

Let em all burn baby!!

Yep. They keep talking about the high cost of demolition - I say - make the property owners pay for the demolition costs or torch 'em all.

[kernwatch]

Please do not joke about a very serious issue urgently needing solution in Bflo's poorest neighborhoods.

The city has about 25,000 housing vacancies, which spawn flight of other owners who are losing hope. And unscrupled scammers profit at the expense of struggling owners. I am researching recent sales on Person St, which all appera to be among "foreign" investor-scammers.

Of nine Person St. houses at the October City In-rem Auction, only one was sold (#221 sold for $1.5K to Molly Wimberly, who already owns 198, 202, 204, 206 Person)

60 PERSON 220 10/23/2006 ADJOURNED
61 PERSON 220 10/23/2006 ADJOURNED
68 PERSON 281 10/25/2006 ADJOURNED
82 PERSON 220 10/23/2006 CITY
83 PERSON 411 10/25/2006 CITY
89 PERSON 220 10/23/2006 CITY
126 PERSON 281 10/25/2006 CITY
188 PERSON 220 10/25/2006 CITY
221 PERSON 210 10/23/06 BA ($ 1,500 WIMBERLY, MOLLIE R
204 PERSON ST)

Additional properties (6) are under control of controversial NYS MBBA (which controls about 1500 derelict properties citywide) for unpaid liens:

79 Person

124 Person

192 Person

252 Person

254 Person

265 Person

More to come,
Dick Kern (in Mpls)

[kernwatch]

See the current post above of troubling film coverage of 29 abandoned houses on Person St, which crosses Broadway about midway between Fillmore & Bailey.

Does anybody have more perspective on the data from www.homefinderExtra.com which I have listed below?

I am unsure whether there is any new home owner on dirt-cheap Person Street ever since early 2004 when corrupt Kenmore realtor Colleen Sardella & PNJ Holding "invested" on Person . .

It looks to be merely a playground for flippers, but even Flippers find Person risky.

Does anybody know Mollie Wimberly who lives at 204 Person, may run child care & keeps buying up her adjacent spaces. (at Oct In-rem auction #221, one of only 9 tax-foeclosed Person properties to sell, sold for $1.5K to Wimberly who already owns 198, 202, 204, 206 Person)

Is she a struggling hero?

Dick Kern (in Mpls)

COPY: HomefinderExtra.com

Erie County
Date Town Address Price
12/4/2006 BUFFALO 234 Person St. (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) Foreclosure? earlierParlato flip $40,384
6/26/2006 BUFFALO 18 Person (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) 1stLady flip to B.Zarsitko, only Bflo buy, no mortg $17,100
6/26/2006 BUFFALO 18 Person St. (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) to flipper-1st Lady $14,500
6/12/2006 BUFFALO 72 Person (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) Isaacs-flip to J.Marranzini, investor, only Bflo buy,no mortg $14,100
5/29/2006 BUFFALO 72 Person St. (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) to flipper Jesse Isaacs, DBA Fairfax $10,000
2/13/2006 BUFFALO 10 Person (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) C.Pratt, 2fam, AV$21K, only Bflo buy, no mortg, $8,000
2/6/2006 BUFFALO 86 Person St. (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) investor-Hansen, flipped 9/21/06 new-investor Micheal Orm $4K $5,900
10/17/2005 BUFFALO 56 Person (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) 1stLady flip to S. Patil, investor, also 162 Harvard fr. 1stLady, no mortgages $12,000
10/17/2005 BUFFALO 56 Person (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) to flipper 1st Lady $5,000
9/5/2005 BUFFALO 86 Person St. (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) Foreclosure $41,186
7/4/2005 BUFFALO 21 Person (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) Greenfield-flip to B Madinya, $20K Greenfield mortg, homeowner?? $25,000
5/16/2005 BUFFALO 21 Person St. (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) To Greenfield Assoc $9,500
1/13/2005 BUFFALO 215 Person (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) tax sale vac. lot, sold $30K 10/99 $300
9/28/2004 BUFFALO 241 Person St (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) to Delucca, 2 fam AV $10K, Occupied? $10000
9/16/2004 BUFFALO 126 Person St (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) Flip to?, now city, demolished? $11500
6/4/2004 BUFFALO 126 Person (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) Purchaser??? $5500
6/4/2004 BUFFALO 68 Person (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) Sardella-flip to Schottenbauer $16000
5/7/2004 BUFFALO 202 Person St (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) vac.lot to Mollie Wimberly, lives 204 Person, owns $250
4/5/2004 BUFFALO 18 Person St (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) ??? see flip above $1000
2/20/2004 BUFFALO 68 Person St (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) to corrupt realtor Colleen Sardella $5750
1/16/2004 BUFFALO 65 Person St (Street Map) (Erie County 2000 Tax Records) PNJ Holding, only Bflo property $5000
__________________
Richard Kern, MSW

[therising]

Serious question here - - when did this area become so bad??

[Linda_D]

I would say the real deterioration began in the last twenty years. I taught in a Catholic school on the East Side in the mid 1980s, and the neighborhood was poor, and somewhat rough, but not nearly as bad it became later.

Not all of the East Side is as bad as Person Street, either.

[Linda_D]

I clicked on the street map and found that Person Street is 2 blocks away from Schmarbeck Avenue which one of the Buffalo TV stations just featured because of its numerous abandoned houses. I bet the street between them, Rommel, is in just as sad shape.

[therising]

I would say the real deterioration began in the last twenty years. I taught in a Catholic school on the East Side in the mid 1980s, and the neighborhood was poor, and somewhat rough, but not nearly as bad it became later.

I've been in Buffalo less than 10 years, and this area has been bad as long as that. Meaning, it seems like it really happened in a period of 10 years, or so.

That's an incredibly quick time for an area to go from being just "poor" to destitute.

Was it just "White Flight"?

[mesue]

...
Dick Kern (in Mpls)

Just a thought ...
Are you as burdened for your current home town as you are for B-lo?

[nickelcityhomes]

234 Person is now available at the hud auction site for $4,000. The bidding is only open to owner-occupants until 2/26. If you've ever day-dreamed about blowing your savings on a money pit in the ghetto, this is your opportunity!

http://hud1.towerauction.net/cgi-bin...e=e10&state=NY

HUD provides a PCR (property condition report) for all homes they sell. These PCR's are notorious for underestimating repairs and potential problems. Apparently they found a somewhat competent inspector to perform this PCR because the entire house is listed in generally poor condition and the repair estimates are far greater than what the after repair value of the home would be.

This is a definate tear-down.

[nickelcityhomes]

216 Person is also available on the HUD site today. It's a relist, which means some sorry sucker actually bid on this house, but revoked their bid after someone knocked some sense into them.

http://hud1.towerauction.net/cgi-bin...e=e10&state=NY

Similar to 234 Person, this one isn't worth the cost of the repairs. Another Person St. dog.

[Michele J]

I spotlighted Person St in my documentary Flipped because of the amount of flipping that had taken place..predatory loans=foreclosures=flips=demo worthy properties..in most cases demo worthy properties is in between foreclosures & flips.

[kernwatch]

Here is the city record on 216 Person as a vacant lot , as HUD pictures 216 in their ad!

Who is wrong?

COPY:

Owner Name: Assess Address: Zipcode: SWIS: SBL:
WILLIAMS LEE R 216, PERSON 14212- 147012 1122300012003000
Prop.Description: Prop.Class: Front: Depth: Census #:
388.15 N Broadway RESIDENTIAL VACANT LAND

[Shovel ready]

This street is a great candidate for landbanking