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SCAM ALERT Safeguard Properties + Forest City = Slavic Village Recovery - First House 'donated' by the County Land BankSubmitted by Gone Fishin on Thu, 06/20/2013 - 18:59.
The Cuyahoga County Land Bank has started the process of giving Safeguard Properties & Forest City (Slavic Village Recovery LLC ) up to 50 houses- with the possibility of 100's more.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Slavic Village, the Cleveland neighborhood often called "ground zero" in the nation's foreclosure crisis, might become the proving ground for a recovery.
A private-philanthropic partnership aims to acquire, renovate and sell or rent out 50 vacant houses in the southeastern city neighborhood this year -- and could tackle hundreds more.
Called Slavic Village Recovery LLC, the new business is backed by Cleveland real estate developer Forest City Enterprises Inc.; Safeguard Properties, a Valley View company that maintains foreclosed properties for banks; and a pair of local nonprofits.
The very first property given to Slavic Village Recovery LLC was on June 19, 2013 and is located at 3679 East 54th Street in Cleveland's Slavic Village area.
 According to county records, the county land bank sold this property to Slavic Village Recovery LLC for $2,495.
The county land bank has hoarded this property since May 2011 and has saved it for such a special occasion.
Safeguard Properties founder and chairman, Robert Klein, believes lenders will give away those troubled houses, starting in Slavic Village, to get the burden off their books. Klein's goal: Get a house for free or for very little money. Invest $40,000 to $50,000 in renovations, using Safeguard's national network of contractors to lower the cost. Then sell the house for $60,000, turning a small profit and providing affordable housing in a city neighborhood.
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Safeguard Properties should have no problem lowering the cost by using their own contractors since they don't like paying their contractors after the work was performed. Safeguard Properties is well known across the country for ripping off their contractors after their work was completed. I investigated Safeguard Properties for years and this company has received more complaints than any other company that I am aware of. Contractors across the country have resorted to creating their own websites to complain and spread the word about Safeguard Properties con game:
    Complaint Review: Safeguard properties
Safeguard properties This company owes me around 15,000 dollars, contractors beware stop while you dont have alot of money in to making them rich, because once they let you go and they always do. YOU WILL NOT BE PAID cleveland, Ohio
 Making sure "Safeguard Properties" is held accountable
Safeguard Properties Incorporated Safeguard's Bank / REO Clients Should Know The Truth! Internet
I fully agree that a class action law suit should be filed against Safeguard Properties, Inc. http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Safeguard-Properties-Incorporated/internet/Safeguard-Properties-Incorporated-Safeguards-Bank-REO-Clients-Should-Know-The-Truth-I-621380
Urge Safeguard Properties to come clean.
Safeguard Properties is based out of cleveland Ohio, this company has a horrible track record for keeping money that its contractors earn and charging them back on their pay if they so please. They also have thrown many people out onto the street, working closely with banks such as Bank of America, Citi Bank, Chase Manhattan, HSBC, to name a few. This housing and urban development(HUD) company is taking advantage of everyone that it hires, and is abusing its power by taking advantage of homeowners throughout the nation. Lets stop these corporate criminals and hold them accountable.
A few of the MANY websites can be found here http://www.ripoffreport.com/directory/safeguard-properties.aspx here http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/safeguard-properties-c265331.html and here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anti-Safeguard-Properties/119559144758948
If you google 'Safeguard Properties Complaints Lawsuits" you will find hundreds and hundreds of complaints and lawsuits.
Another major complaint regarding Safeguard Properties is with contractors entering occupied homes that are in the beginning stages of foreclosure. Contractors are hired in an attempt to secure these properties and protect the mortgage holder's interest.
Property owners across the country come home to their still LEGALLY owned and occupied homes , only to find locks changed and personal items stolen. No foreclosure was even granted in court. Some homeowners were completely wiped out by these thieves. THOUSANDS of property owners have complained about this issue.
Safeguard Properties Internal Documents Reveal Rampant Complaints Of Thefts, Break-Ins
Outside in the world, Safeguard Properties was supposed to be protecting millions of homes that had slid into foreclosure, shoring up and repairing abandoned properties for the banks that were responsible for tending to all this real estate gone bad.
But inside the offices of Safeguard’s complaint department, Kevin Kubovcik says he gained a starkly different perspective on his company's pursuits as allegations of incompetence, malevolence and larceny rolled in day after day.
People with legal title to their property called to complain that Safeguard contractors had broken into their homes and carted off family heirlooms, valuable artwork and weapons, he recalled. People living next door to foreclosed properties complained that Safeguard mixed up the addresses and locked them out of their own homes.
Complaints came in seemingly without end. "I'd pick up the phone, put it down, and then it would ring again," Kubovcik said.
A recent Huffington Post investigation focused on Safeguard as the largest player in a little-scrutinized industry spawned by the American housing bust: the contractors tasked with the gritty work of maintaining a veritable empire of distressed real estate. Safeguard has been the target of dozens of lawsuits alleging that its contractors have wrongly broken into properties and carted off people’s property.
In response to previous questions from HuffPost about break-ins at occupied properties, Safeguard dismissed such incidents as "extremely rare" compared to the sheer volume of jobs the company manages. But Kubovcik, who logged and investigated complaints for more than two years until he left the company in April 2010, said his experience attests to precisely the opposite.
To Clean Up Foreclosure Mess, Banks Rely On Little-Known Industry Plagued By Fraud, Abuse
Last March, a 23-year-old bank contractor cut through the secured gate at the entrance to a farm in Little Rock, Ark., and proceeded to a small house on the property. There, according to a police report, he broke the lock off one of the doors and forced his way inside.
The man, who police would later identify as David Cole, was allegedly there on official business: He worked in a little-known but booming industry that maintains and inspects millions of foreclosed and abandoned homes owned by mortgage lenders in the wake of an epochal real estate bust. The bank responsible for this particular home had presumably decided that the home was another discarded mess, and Cole's company had been dispatched to shore the building against the ravages of weather and decay.
The owner of the property, a recently widowed woman named Marie Osborne, acknowledges that she was indeed in foreclosure. She was away when Cole arrived, she said. Still, the house was very much hers and far from abandoned, as even a cursory review would have made clear, according to a lawsuit she subsequently filed.
When she returned home, Osborne was "astonished" to discover that her doors had been padlocked and her belongings ransacked, she claims. A grandfather clock was missing, along with an antique gold mirror, several televisions and family photos, Osborne alleges.
Osborne filed the lawsuit against those she asserts are responsible -- Safeguard Properties, a Valley View, Ohio-based firm that has quietly become a giant in the business of tending to abandoned properties, and Daryl Cole, proprietor of Cole & Sons, a local business that was supposedly acting as a subcontractor.
Fraud, abuse, theft, larceny, incompetence and malevolence. Safeguard Properties will fit right in with the County Land Bank.
Safeguard has been working with the county land bank for years. It is no surprise to read about the County Land Bank's willingness to give this company taxpayer's property that the county land bank has hoarded from other possible investors. Again, another selective beneficiary of taxpayer property.
Renters, Homeowners & Investors: The Changing Profile of Communities
February 26, 2013
Renters, Homeowners & Investors: Panel 3
Well, one of the--I talked earlier about the Slavic Village partnership that we're working
on with--for ForestCity and Safeguard and quite frankly is that mix and match. Safeguard is
coming in, understanding that not every property is going to be turned over and become
homeownership but they're going to hold and that's where ForestCity comes into play. They're
going to hold the properties and put them into the rental portfolio. So, the key to the partnership
was that they want to be able to hit a 2,000 house block of--2,000 houses in a number of blocks
and touch everyone of them.
The plan was put in place a couple years ago:
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Major banks may give away discarded residences to cut losses
City sources said the representatives are from Safeguard Properties of Cleveland. Also in the meeting was James Rokakis, former Cuyahoga County treasurer who worked on foreclosure issues there. Spokeswoman for Safeguard Diane Fusco confirmed the discussions were under way.
And Robert Klein of Safeguard Properties has traveled the country on a 'demolition crusade':
Fernbacher’s company GSPS is a contractor for several property preservation firms. All they do is tear down homes. They are the last resort for many communities all over the country overrun with blight.
One of Fernbacher’s clients is Safeguard Properties, the Ohio-based property preservation firm. Its founder Robert Klein is taking Fernbacher around the country this year from conference to conference on a demolition crusade, to convince cities to pursue the clean slate their hardest hit communities crave.
Their first opportunity is a quiet place left even more silent after the housing downturn. In Slavic Village, a community located in Cleveland, Ohio, home prices plummeted from nearly $150,000 during the housing boom to roughly $39,000 today, according to data from Altos Research.
Safeguard and GSPS will start a pilot program this year to demolish 2,200 Slavic Village homes that are considered beyond saving. But it isn’t as simple as that.
Barbara Anderson was one of the first black homebuyers in Slavic Village. According to her Senate testimony in 2007, a broker approached her with a refinancing proposal and approved her for a loan at 8.5% through the now-defunct Conti Mortgage. Within four years, the rate jumped to 14.5%, pushing her monthly payment higher by nearly 60%. Her loan was sold 15 times over that time. Today, the result is apparent. Slavic Village is a ghost town.
Klein with community leaders and the local city council president in February with their solution.
Safeguard placed all Slavic Village properties into three categories. Owner-occupied homes fall into the first category, homes in need of rehabilitation but vacant are the second category, and the third category consists of ones that need to come down.
Most of the properties sit in either of the first two categories, but any progress waits on tearing down the ones in category three.
“No developer will come in when you have five occupied properties, five vacant properties and one that needs to be demolished. Those five properties are affordable, and can be rehabbed fairly cheaply. But nobody will come in until you’ve demolished that one property,” Klein said. “What we’re doing now is we’re putting together a model to make this thing work in Slavic Village. If it works in Slavic Village, we can do this anywhere in the country.”
Safeguard Properties had their dirty little hands in the county's land bank for a long time:
On a national level, two organizations are working to acquire REO properties and connect them to local organizations:The nonprofit
National Community Stabilization Trust was formed in 2008 by six national nonprofits with expertise in community development and
housing.The REO Clearinghouse, a for-profit agency formed by Safeguard Properties, was established in early 2009.Both agencies’ purpose
is to help stem the decline of communities with high concentrations of vacant and abandoned property by connecting national-level servicers
with local community development organizations, offering foreclosed properties to these organizations at discounted rates. Cleveland
was one of the first cities to work with both the Trust and the REO Clearinghouse. Although these organizations’ current efforts in northeast
Ohio are small in scale and strategically focused on very specific areas, they will help inform and direct broader efforts going forward.
REO CLEARINGHOUSE formed by Safeguard Properties is certainly 'clearing house' in Cuyahoga County:
Every day, Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis gets correspondence from new Cleveland real estate investors that makes him crazy.
Also with the company is Northeast Ohio’s Robert Klein, CEO of Safeguard Properties, one of the largest caretakers of foreclosures for financial institutions. Treasurer Rokakis says the county’s new landbank is looking at buying about 550 Cuyahoga County homes through REO Clearinghouse.
Jim Rokakis:The clearinghouse will be a logical place to go to acquire properties for the land bank not in groups of one or two or three or four, but a place to go to acquire properties in groups of hundreds.
REO Clearinghouse is piloting in Cleveland with plans to go national. http://www.ideastream.org/news/feature/26031/
Safeguard Properties has control over demolitions and county taxpayer's property in the land bank.
This is probably the biggest scam yet in Cuyahoga County. Much bigger than Jimmy Dimora being bribed with prostitutes.
Safeguard Properties should have used this 'donation' money to pay one of their many contractors that have been cheated out of their money:
Western Reserve Land Conservancy Donors
Visionaries
$25,000 and over:
Safeguard Properties LLC http://www.wrlandconservancy.org/pdf/2011AnnualDonorReport_000.pdf
It's time to free Frank Russo and Jimmy Dimora from federal prison. I would rather deal with those two corrupt thieves than this one that has devasted folks across the country.
This sums it up:
"Oh no.. Robert Klein is involved!!! Not a good thing for the City Of Cleveland. It comes down to cutting corners to make the most money possible. He has no intrest in helping the city it is just about how much money he can get out of the property. It makes his other company look good to the banks he works for by getting rid of the properties they have in inventory and let the city pay the bill to tear it down. Just keep a good eye on this guy. " http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/05/reo_clearinghouse_wants_to_act.html
*** UPDATE *** We are currently seeking other homeowners who were wrongfully evicted from their homes by Safeguard Properties or one of their vendors. Most states have a consumer fraud law that prohibits a banks and property managers from illegally breaking into one’s home, changing locks, falsely telling homeowners they can’t return and from stealing one’s personal possessions.
In addition to homeowners who may have become victim to Safeguard, we are also seeking to talk to vendors or contractors who have knowledge of Safeguard’s practices.
For more information or to see if you have a potential claim, contact attorney Brian Mahany at brian [at] mahanyertl [dot] com or by telephone at (414) 704-6731 (direct). All potential client inquiries are protected by the attorney-client privilege and kept in confidence.
Post by Brian Mahany, Esq.
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Others across the country are alleging discrimination against Safeguard Properties relative to "significant disparities in the maintenance of foreclosed properties in communities of color compared to White communities."
The Cuyahoga County Land Bank is GIVING Safeguard Properties FREE property in the exact same neighborhoods in which Safeguard Properties was hired by lenders to maintain and 'safeguard' this property.
Now the property is 'distressed' and both the land bank and banks are giving Safeguard this property for free.
This is a major conflict of interest and waste of taxpayer's money.
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT OF
THE NATIONAL FAIR HOUSING ALLIANCE; MIAMI VALLEY FAIR HOUSING
CENTER; FAIR HOUSING CENTER OF CENTRAL INDIANA; TOLEDO FAIR
HOUSING CENTER; HOPE FAIR HOUSING CENTER; AND SOUTH SUBURBAN
FAIR HOUSING CENTER
AGAINST SAFEGUARD PROPERTIES
I. INTRODUCTION
The National Fair Housing Alliance, Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Fair Housing
Center of Central Indiana, Toledo Fair Housing Center, HOPE Fair Housing Center, and South
Suburban Housing Center (collectively, “Complainants”) bring this complaint based on
Respondents Safeguard Properties LLC and Safeguard Properties Management LLC’s
(collectively, “Respondents”) racial discrimination in their maintenance of foreclosed homes in
violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq. (“FHA”).
Confronted with a national foreclosure crisis, Complainants have turned their attention to
the maintenance and rehabilitation of foreclosed properties in an effort to ensure that all
communities are being treated equally by those responsible for maintaining foreclosed properties
and preparing them for resale. Far from equal treatment, there are significant disparities in the
maintenance of foreclosed properties in communities of color compared to White communities.
Respondents are Field Service Vendors (FSV) that have contracted with Fannie Mae to
provide property maintenance services at Real Estate Owned properties (REOs) owned or
controlled by Fannie Mae. Respondents have engaged in a pattern of discrimination through
their selective fulfillment of their FSV responsibilities based on race. Specifically, Respondents
maintain Fannie Mae properties located in White census tracts noticeably better than they
maintain Fannie Mae properties located in predominantly African-American and Latino
neighborhoods in the same metropolitan area. Respondents have engaged in such discriminatory
conduct in communities across the country, including Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana;
Chicago, Illinois; and Charleston, South Carolina.
The result of the Respondents’ unlawful behavior is deteriorating and neglected
structures in minority communities, as compared to well-maintained, attractive properties in
White neighborhoods. Respondents’ conduct has impeded neighborhood stabilization and
economic recovery, and harmed investors, homeowners, and municipalities by unnecessarily
depressing property values.
http://nationalfairhousing.org/Portals/33/2013-03-21%20Safeguard%20Complaint_FINAL.pdf
Safeguard Properties is allegedly "unnecessarily depressing property values across the country", so our county has decided to give them FREE property in areas which have depressed property value- which Safeguard Properties probably contributed to the depressed value in the first place.
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
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Slavic Village Recovery + Slavic Village Dev. = Safeguard scam
Slavic Village Development is now transferring property to Slavic Village Recovery , aka Safeguard Properties & Forest City.
Who would have guessed this was going to happen???? !!!!!
This is what happens when a con artist is control of the Cuyahoga County Land Bank http://realneo.us/content/gus-frangos-president-cuyahoga-county-land-bank-con-artist-jesus
A con artist who has committed several counts of MORTGAGE FRAUD http://realneo.us/content/cuyahoga-county-land-bank-president-gus-frangos-con-artist-forges-documents-obtain-2nd-mortg
The property located at 3672 East 54th Street in Cleveland, Ohio is the second house that has transferred to Slavic Village Recovery LLC.
Both properties are on East 54th Street.
And it gets worse. MUCH WORSE.
Aeon Financial fbo Capital Source Bank Tax Lien THIEVES transferred the property to Slavic Village Development:
This property transferred from Aeon Financial to Slavic Village Development to Slavic Village Recovery ON THE SAME DATE - June 25, 2013.
Prior to incompetent Cuyahoga County officials selling out the original property owner for petty delinquent property taxes, the former owner owned this property since December 10, 2004.
The property transferred to Aeon Financial fbo Capital Source Bank on February 18, 2011.
NO PROPERTY TAXES were paid by Aeon Financial since the February 18, 2011 transfer.
Aeon Financial Tax Lien THIEVES owed Cuyahoga County $ 1,881.14 in delinquent property taxes prior to 'donating' this property to Slavic Village Development.
The delinquent property taxes were wiped out and reduced to $0
Does this make sense to anyone?
Why does Cuyahoga County allow tax lien companies to foreclose on property owners for delinquent property taxes and not say a word when the tax lien companies do NOT pay their own property taxes on property that was foreclosed upon for delinquent property taxes?
http://realneo.us/content/plymouth-park-tax-services-aka-xspand-cuyahoga-county-victims-corruption-deserve-justice
http://realneo.us/content/aeon-financial-aka-capitalsource-bank-property-tax-foreclosure-thieves-does-not-pay-their-ow
Why is Gus Frangos in charge of all county taxpayer's property and millions of dollars?
Who appointed this incompetent person to be in charge?
Slavic Village Development is listed as a 'non profit' organization.
Slavic Village Recovery is a 'for profit' company, so the transfer had to go through Slavic Village Development first.
They had to wipe out those damn delinquent property taxes.
Slavic Village Development owns a lot of property in Cuyahoga County. One by one it will all be in the hands of Slavic Village Recovery.
I feel sorry for the Safeguard Properties contractors who will more than likely get ripped off after they work on all of these houses:
CLEVELAND
133-03-051 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEV 03598 E 74
CLEVELAND 134-07-022
SLAVIC VILLAGE DEV WEBB CLEVELAND
133-10-012 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEV CORP 07705 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
132-01-112 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEV, 03625 E 59 CLEVELAND
125-05-031 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEV. 03051 E 63 CLEVELAND
125-05-032 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEV. 03069 E 63 CLEVELAND
125-05-058 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEV. 03052 E 65 CLEVELAND
125-05-059 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEV. E 65 CLEVELAND
125-33-033 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT 06819 UNION CLEVELAND
133-03-053 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT 03588 E 74 CLEVELAND
131-20-089 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT 03416 E 52 CLEVELAND
131-21-055 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT 03412 E 53 CLEVELAND
132-07-091 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT 03720 E 69 CLEVELAND
131-21-100 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT 03427 E 52 CLEVELAND
131-22-084 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT 05628 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
123-31-028 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT 05019 BARKWILL CLEVELAND
123-30-001 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPEMENT CO BROADWAY CLEVELAND
125-26-145 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 05610 HAMLET CLEVELAND
125-05-054 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03080 E 65 CLEVELAND
125-36-072 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03444 E 76 CLEVELAND
125-01-020 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06409 FRANCIS CLEVELAND
125-28-005 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06107 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
125-33-080 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03445 E 69 CLEVELAND
125-12-111 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06515 PHILETUS CLEVELAND
125-26-002 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 05605 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
125-26-004 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 05619 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
125-26-009 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 05715 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
125-32-028 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06509 UNION CLEVELAND
132-09-018 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03802 E 52 CLEVELAND
133-03-045 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03628 E 74 CLEVELAND
132-06-028 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06622 FORMAN CLEVELAND
132-10-007 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT FLEET CLEVELAND
133-10-013 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 07723 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
133-10-014 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 07725 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
133-10-015 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 07731 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
133-10-016 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 07735 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
133-10-017 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT BROADWAY CLEVELAND
134-11-006 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 04301 E 71 CLEVELAND
133-10-053 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 07700 MARBLE CLEVELAND
133-19-061 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 07411 OTTAWA CLEVELAND
131-28-019 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03624 INDEPENDENCE CLEVELAND
133-05-018 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 07507 AETNA CLEVELAND
131-28-052 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03594 BEYERLE CLEVELAND
132-07-076 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06813 FORMAN CLEVELAND
132-10-165 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03843 E 55 CLEVELAND
133-05-109 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03606 E 76 CLEVELAND
132-14-085 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06608 GERTRUDE CLEVELAND
132-24-043 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06705 CLEMENT CLEVELAND
133-02-009 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT UNION CLEVELAND
133-02-010 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 07308 UNION CLEVELAND
133-02-051 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03576 E 74 CLEVELAND
133-03-012 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 07119 AETNA CLEVELAND
132-04-020 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06519 BAXTER CLEVELAND
125-32-012 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 03425 E 65 CLEVELAND
131-36-040 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 05805 HUSS CLEVELAND
132-24-002 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 06406 HARVARD CLEVELAND
133-10-008 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COR 07649 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
133-10-011 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COR 07655 BROADWAY CLEVELAND
132-13-049 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COR 06419 GERTRUDE CLEVELAND
131-37-031 SLAVIC VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COR 05505 FLEET CLEVELAND
CLEVELAND
Its a good thing Gus Frangos has a handle on the foreclosure crisis.
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Local media FINALLY reports on Safeguard Properties
I suppose the local media had no choice but to report on Safeguard Properties. This is old news and has already been reported across the country for many YEARS. It has been reported everywhere except where Safeguard Properties has its headquarters.
Investigation: Homeowners complain Safeguard Properties damaged their homes, trashed the belongings
Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/investigation-homeowners-complain-safeguard-properties-damaged-their-homes-trashed-the-belongings#ixzz2lvRLqpOq
Safeguard Properties Internal Documents Reveal Rampant Complaints Of Thefts, Break-Ins
Outside in the world, Safeguard Properties was supposed to be protecting millions of homes that had slid into foreclosure, shoring up and repairing abandoned properties for the banks that were responsible for tending to all this real estate gone bad.
But inside the offices of Safeguard’s complaint department, Kevin Kubovcik says he gained a starkly different perspective on his company's pursuits as allegations of incompetence, malevolence and larceny rolled in day after day.
People with legal title to their property called to complain that Safeguard contractors had broken into their homes and carted off family heirlooms, valuable artwork and weapons, he recalled. People living next door to foreclosed properties complained that Safeguard mixed up the addresses and locked them out of their own homes.
Complaints came in seemingly without end. "I'd pick up the phone, put it down, and then it would ring again," Kubovcik said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/safeguard-properties-complaints_n_3165191.html
Safeguard Properties is getting it's ass kicked across the country. Cuyahoga County should GIVE them some more FREE property and make them feel better.
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Federal $$$ is EASY $$$ for the mob
GREED: Rokakis, Frangos, Forest City, Safeguard - these are the folks behind the Land Bank and, prior to their fake front of the "Land Bank" - their engineering of tax lien sales to benefit outfits like GLS Capital and Plymouth Park - these folks don't have a life - they live to suck blood out of every living creature in Northeast Ohio.
I am glad Bill Faith is speaking out - more need to step forward:
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/06/flexibility_needed_to_fix_blig.html
Forest City Enterprises feeling the heat
Watchdog group accuses Forest City Enterprises of profiteering at taxpayer expense
A self-described nonpartisan non-profit government accountability organization in Washington, D.C., is accusing Forest City Enterprises of using its political clout to profit at taxpayer expense.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/08/watchdog_group_accuses_forest.html#incart_river_default
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Taxpayer's property goes to Forest City & Safeguard Properties
Three more properties added to the list of free or nearly free property handed over to Slavic Village Recovery ( Forest City Enterprises & Safeguard Properties ) courtesy of taxpayers.
No public bidding. No competitive process.
PROPERTY #1
This property transferred to the county land bank, and then to non-profit Slavic Village Development, and then on to for-profit Slavic Village Recovery:
Transfer History
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPERTY #2
Transfer History
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPERTY #3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweet deal!
Get the royal treatment for land bank property with no competition - for FREE or nearly free.
Spend a few thousand on repairs.
And sell the property for $60,000.
https://www.facebook.com/SlavicVillageRecoveryProject?ref=stream&hc_location=timeline
http://causeofaction.org/2013/08/02/political-profiteering-how-forest-city-enterprises-makes-private-profits-at-the-expense-of-americas-taxpayers/
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/cuyahoga_county_government_ove.html
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Another con artist making news - SAFEGUARD PROPERTIES
Another one of Cuyahoga County's finest (pieces of shit) is being sued by Illinois Attorney General.
Illinois Attorney General is suing the thieves, and Cuyahoga County is giving them property. hhmmmmm......
Safeguard Properties of Valley View sued by Illinois attorney general over treatment of foreclosures
The Illinois lawsuit contends that Safeguard wrongfully barred residents from their homes by breaking in, changing locks and shutting off utilities before the foreclosure process was complete. Madigan's office filed the lawsuit in the Chicago area, in Cook County Circuit Court, and asked a judge to bar Safeguard from doing business in the state.
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/09/safeguard_properties_of_valley.html#incart_river_default
A federal racketeering - influenced and corrupt organizations - case was recently filed againt these thieves in Pennsylvania District Court
http://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuits/racketeer-influenced-and-corrupt-organizations/pennsylvania-western-district-court/528631/alexandra-hlista-and-anthony-hlista-v-safeguard-properties-inc-and-john-bradley-duvall/summary/
These lawsuits are two of many filed against Safeguard Properties, along with thousands of complaints from property owners and contractors.
And Cuyahoga County is giving or nearly giving Safeguard Properties up to several hundred properties via the county's land bank. Working with non-profit organizations to give for-profit companies property - MINUS any competitive process ( which is what Cuyahoga County is doing)- led to an FBI raid at the Indy County Land Bank in May 2013. http://www.ibj.com/fbi-searches-city-county-building-makes-multiple-arrests-in-land-bank-probe/PARAMS/article/41467
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Robert Klein and Gus Frangos: Birds Of The Same Feather
Robert Klein and Gus Frangos: Birds Of The Same Feather
The City of Cleveland has announced major plans for the Slavic Village area in Cleveland, Ohio. The county land bank will team up with Safeguard Properties, Forest City Enterprises, Neighborhood Progress, and Slavic Village Development to create Slavic Village Recovery LLC. No surprise that the criminally accused Member of the National Association of Mortgage Field Services, led by Eric Miller whom obscenely consumes nearly SEVENTY PERCENT of all National Association of Mortgage Field Services Members dues, would be involved.
http://foreclosurepedia.org/robert-klein-and-gus-frangos-birds-of-the-same-feather-2/
HUD 5.1.12.5: How Innotion Broke Away From Safeguard Properties
We are going to create an Archive of Complaints against Safeguard Properties (SGP) so that the Illinois (and the others waiting to file) Attorney General do(es) not have to get all knee deep in filing Discovery Requests. We are going to Publish a couple a day. I believe everyone remembers the last time we started this — yeah, TEN GRAND FOR THE HOMEOWNER.
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Illegal for Indy Land Bank but legal in Cuyahoga Land Bank?
The FBI has made it clear that this exact same scam with Cuyahoga County Land Bank , Safeguard Properties and Forest City Enterprises is illegal.
The FBI raided Indy Land Bank due to the corruption.
Exact same circumstances with a non-profit scam giving taxpayer's property to for-profit companies for free or pennies on the dollar led to the FBI raid in Indy.
For-profit Slavic Village Recovery LLC is selectively receiving 50 properties, with the possiblity of 100's more, and plans to 'touch' 2,000 properties.
Slavic Village Recovery LLC is working with several so-called non-profits and the Cuyahoga County Land Bank in order to obtain the 100's of properties - with a greedy desire to 'touch' 2000 properties.
Illegal for Indy Land Bank, but legal for the Cuyahoga County Land Bank?
I don't think so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Pair of Non-Profits carrying out the illegal scam
Slavic Village Recovery LLC, the new business is backed by Cleveland real estate developer Forest City Enterprises Inc.; Safeguard Properties, a Valley View company that maintains foreclosed properties for banks; and a pair of local nonprofits.
The group will focus on a 530-acre slice of Slavic Village, a community of 5 square miles and 22,500 people. Between 23 percent and 30 percent of the homes in the project area are vacant, according to data compiled by Neighborhood Progress Inc. and Slavic Village Development, the nonprofit groups. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/03/forest_city_safeguard_properti.html
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Merger NPI, CNDC and LiveCleveland
Wow - this has to really hurt - http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2013/07/neighborhood_progress_inc_merg.html.
Slavic Village is the poster child CDC in the portfolio of community development corporations that are funded with public monies and through foundations that funnel money through Neighborhood Progress Inc.
http://www.guidestar.org/organizations/34-1344279/slavic-village-development.aspx
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2012/341/344/2012-341344279-08f25b0e-9.pdf
Director Marie Kitteredge makes somewhere in range of 80,000+ (all CDC directors pretty much make AT Least 80+)
Revenues And Support:
City/Council $822,859
Other grants $363,755
NPI/CNPP $251,440
Development and service fees $249,023
Property management $107,955
Operating $99,564
Fundraising $78,784
Other $91,228
Total revenues and support $2,064,608
Council reps also control CDCs through their NDA allotments. And, council reps can ALSO chose NOT to fund them.
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BTW - Thieving Communities aka Western Reserve Land Conservancy - does NOT report their staff salaries in their 990 - but overall salaries is over 2 million, and includes their pay out to former Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis - who does exactly what or WRLC???
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2011/341/571/2011-341571233-08463339-9.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBzcd1GRhbo&feature=youtu.be
SICK - my neighbor is walking away....
Land Bank scams
KCTA plans to run a social media campaign targeted at eductating the public about this crony government practice and highlighting the role that the Kent County Board of Commissioners had in violating their own policy for maximizing the taxpayers’ return on these properties. KCTA has begun a fund raising campaign to air a radio ad explaining the Land Bank and the reckless actions of the Board of Commissioners to the public.
http://www.kentcountytaxpayers.org/the-kent-county-land-bank-is-crony-government-gone-wild/
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Slavic Village Recovery receives 3rd property
The property located at 3610 East 54th Street has been in the ownership of University Settlement, Inc., since 1995.
As a non-profit group, NO property taxes have been paid for nearly 20 years.
The property was transferred to Slavic Village Recovery on July 12, 2013. According to fiscal records, the selling price was $0:
This third property sold or given to Slavic Village Recovery LLC is also on East 54th Street. All three properties are located on East 54th Street.
** Caution** Slavic Village Recovery LLC is in the process of OWNING East 54th Street-in cooperation with NON PROFIT Organizations.
According to on-line records, this property was formerly a medical facility:
Health Care Property
http://www.loopnet.com/Property-Record/3610-E-54th-Street-Cleveland-OH-44105/Xvv06fZ9Q/Property/
Slavic Village Recovery receives 4th property from non-profit
Non-Profit Slavic Village Development gave For-Profit Slavic Village Recovery LLC their fourth property on July 12, 2013:
According to county fiscal office records, the purchase price was $0.
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Political Whores give more taxpayer property to Political Pimps
Comment left on Cleveland.com regarding Forest City Enterprises:
More taxpayer property given to political pimps ( Forest City Enterprises & Safeguard Properties) by political whores ( land bank )
Transfer History
AND
Transfer History
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Slavic Village Recovery LLC
Two more properties transferred to Slavic Village Recovery LLC:
1.
This property transferred from a private owner to the county land bank on August 20, 2013; from the county land bank to non-profit Slavic Village Development on August 22, 2013, and then transferred to for-profit Slavic Village Recovery on September 9, 2013.
The former private owner failed to pay property taxes for years. The $ 10, 408.32 in delinquent property taxes were wiped clean prior to giving the property to Slavic Village Recovery.
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2.
This property transferred from a bank to the county land bank on August 22, 2013. The land bank transferred the property to for-profit Slavic Village Recovery on September 18, 2013.
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To date, for-profit Slavic Village Recovery has received the following property MINUS any competitive bids:
131-34-038 Slavic Village Recovery, LLC 03651 E 54 CLEVELAND
This information has been shared with CAUSE OF ACTION - who is currently investigating Forest City Enterprises for political profiteering. This is a classic example of political profiteering on the backs of taxpayers.
I hope this information appears in Part 2 of Cause of Action's investigative report.
Also, keep in mind the other partner in this scam is Safeguard Properties. Safeguard Properties was recently sued by the Illinois Attorney General, a private party alleging federal racketeering charges, and many other lawsuits filed across the country from homeowners to contractors.
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/09/safeguard_properties_of_valley.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/safeguard-properties-complaints_n_3165191.html
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/safeguard-properties-faces-lawsuits-in-five-states
http://foreclosurepedia.org/safeguard-properties-sued-under-federal-racketeering-laws/
http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=1081307&type=member&item=267706163&commentID=160358182&qid=9c633175-95f1-494f-888a-45c9678bef19&goback=.gmp_1081307
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*