|
Minneapolis Gets Court Order Appointing a Receiver for 141 Homes in North Minneapolis
April 16, 2008 (MINNEAPOLIS) -- Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council Members today announced that Hennepin County Judge Robert A. Blaeser has ordered the appointment of a third party receiver to take control of 141 residential properties in north Minneapolis that were owned or controlled by TJ Waconia and its straw buyers. The Order gives the court-appointed receiver the authority to manage the properties, a first step towards getting these homes into the hands of new, responsible owners.
This first of its kind court order was in response to a lawsuit filed by the City of Minneapolis and three north Minneapolis neighborhood groups seeking redress from TJ Waconia, which engaged in a complex and fraudulent residential real estate scheme that converted owner-occupied homes to rental units, most of which have since been foreclosed and many of which are vacant. TJ Waconia’s practices have left many north Minneapolis homeowners unable to sell their homes or owing significantly more for their homes than they are worth.
Plaintiffs in the case included the City, Folwell Neighborhood Association, McKinley Community, Webber-Camden Neighborhood Organization, Family Housing Fund, Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation and local residents.
“The partnership that has been fighting for the neighborhoods of north Minneapolis has gained an extraordinary and important victory today in our lawsuit against TJ Waconia,” Mayor Rybak said. “We fought for and we got the ability to take control of these properties. In the process, we’ve taken a huge step forward to rebuild these neighborhoods damaged by foreclosure fraud.”
“North Minneapolis’ most valuable asset is its housing stock and the fact that this housing stock has been preyed upon by these fraudulent investors has been very destructive to our community,” City Council President Barbara Johnson (Ward 4) said. “With this remarkable victory today we owe a huge debt of gratitude to our partners who helped us get this far and who we’ll need to see this process thorough.”
“This is a great day and a great victory,” said Council Member Diane Hofstede (Ward 3), who represents north and northeast Minneapolis. “With this victory we are sending a message that these types of investors are not welcome in our city. We’re aggressive in confronting fraudulent behavior and we will not tolerate it.”
“Today we demonstrate how committed we are to our neighborhoods and how aggressive we are in stopping fraudulent foreclosure predators,” said north Minneapolis Council Member Don Samuels (Ward 5). “We are showing that we are responding to this crisis and that we can have victories for our neighborhoods.”
From 2003-2006, TJ Waconia purchased and flipped 141 north Minneapolis homes, 88 in three neighborhoods of Folwell, Webber-Camden, and McKinley. TJ Waconia’s systemic, targeted, and intentional over valuation of these homes used fraudulent appraisals to falsely inflate property values in. Of 141 TJ Waconia homes, at least 108 are vacant and 89 are foreclosed.
|