1373 Florence St

September 14th, 2006

This is an open letter to:

HUD
451 7th St S.W.
Washington DC 20410
Attn: Alphonso Jackson

re: 1373 Florence Street, Aurora, CO 80010

Attachments: photo essay, MLS Pg1, listing history, deed

My snail mail letter to Alphonso Jackson, dated 11/10/05, called attention to the 1300 block of Florence Street in Aurora, Colorado. I presented details about several of the properties on this block, including 1373 Florence.

Aegis Funding Corp made a $166,500 FHA loan on October 7th, 2004. It didn't take long before Manuel Gallegos (the homeowner/borrower) stopped making payments, and HUD foreclosed on the property. 1373 Florence is now on the market as an REO property - owned by HUD.

You might think the lender/owner would swallow hard, hold their nose, and price the property to sell quickly and get it over with.

Dead Wood

That would be wrong. This property has been on the market since December 20th, 2005 -- about a month after the publication of my letter.

I urge you to take a look at these recent photos. There are problems at 1373 Florence - including boarded up windows, trash, and a big dead tree in the front yard. There is a notice of violation of Aurora city code posted near the front door. The notice is dated 09/01/06 with a deadline of 9/11/06 to fix the problems.

Alphonso Jackson, in spite of all the problems at 1373 Florence -

if you price it right, it will sell.

In November of 2005, I said the market value of this property was about $120,000. I said so publicly.

The listing history is a stone cold sober dose of reality. In December, 2005, the initial asking price was $129,900. That was 8 months ago. The current asking price is $115,000. After 260 days on market, there is no reason to be optimistic.

How could "they" have missed so badly? What is the problem with selling this property?

There are 4 people with primary responsibility for selling this property.

Stephen R Burgraff - local real estate agent
Manager at HUD (John K Carson)
Manager at Michaelson, Connor & Boul - the M&M contractor
Appraiser

They are all incompetent boobs.

The "for sale" sign in the yard includes a reference to the website www.acclaimrealtyco.com. Presumably you can visit this website for additional information about the property or Acclaim Realty. I encourage you to click the link. On 09/04/06 it brings a message that says "coming soon". If they can't get the yard sign right, what does that say about the salesman?

The MLS listing says

Close to shopping and public transportation. Save on gas!

Public transportation means the bus stop. Close to the bus stop means noisy stinky buses, trash on the ground, people making noise, and the like. Nobody wants to live close to a ghetto bus stop.

The author of the MLS listing is Mr. Stephen R Burggraff. He was censured by the Colorado Real Estate Commission in 2001. He lied about his continuing education, and he got caught. Mr. Burgraff got the maximum $500 fine.

Alphonso Jackson - I urge you to do a careful review of the appraisal that was done to support the $166,000 loan in October, 2004. I urge you to suspend or revoke the FHA credential of that appraiser, and the person who hired him/her.

Alphonso Jackson and/or MC&B - It's been 9 months - this property should have been sold 5 months ago. The sad part is - while these idiots make a complete mess of the situation, the US taxpayer is picking up the tab. This debacle will cost the American taxpayer $100,000.

It's a good thing this doesn't happen very often. If the same idiots at HUD keep making the same mistakes on a large number of REO properties, it might be a serious problem. Right?

My advice to Aurora homeowners - bend over and grab your ankles.

Sincerely,

Philip G Rice
11268 E Linvale Dr.
Aurora, CO 80014
720-282-3376

Attachments: photo essay, MLS Pg1, listing history, deed

-- End of Letter --

Part 1 -- 1373 Florence / photo essay.
Part 2 -- 1301 Florence / photo essay.
Part 3 -- 1316 Florence
Part 4 -- 1332 Florence

1373 Florence St

Dead Wood

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