E & E Brown's properties up for sale again

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AndyK
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E & E Brown's properties up for sale again

Post by AndyK »

LYNNE TUOHY -- CONCORD, N.H. (AP) wrote: Federal officials are trying once more to sell properties formerly owned by a pair of tax militants that include a 100-acre parcel that might be booby-trapped.

The first auction 13 months ago of the properties seized from Ed and Elaine Brown failed to field any bidders, in part because potential buyers couldn’t tour the 100 acres around their fortress-like home in Plainfield. A second auction is planned for October.

The towns of Plainfield and Lebanon, where Elaine Brown’s former dental office is located, are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes and interest.

The Browns are now in their 70s. They were sentenced to five years in prison for tax evasion and staged a nine-month standoff in 2007 with U.S. marshals who came to take them into custody.

Both are serving sentences of more than 30 years in prison.

Deputy U.S. Marshall Brenda Mikelson, who ran the first auction, said Roger Sweeney of the Internal Revenue Service’s Property Appraisal and Liquidation Specialists is in charge of the second auction. He didn’t return several calls seeking comment.

The division specializes in liquidating seized property nationwide. Officials say this tactic will promote the properties to a broader audience.

The conditions, laid out in a recent court order, say successful bidders will have 45 days to arrange financing this time, up from seven. The minimum bids for both properties have been reduced by half — $125,000 for the compound and $250,000 for the office.

It remains to be seen whether prospective bidders will be allowed around the home beforehand. Concerns that booby traps and explosives may be buried on the densely wooded property kept it off-limits. Marshals also were concerned that Brown sympathizers, including Randy Weaver of the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff, would flock to the property if it’s showcased.

During his trial in 2009, Ed Brown testified that explosives in the woods were there to scare intruders, not hurt them. But in a radio interview during the standoff, he said if authorities came to kill or arrest him, “the chief of police in this town, the sheriff, the sheriff himself will die. This is war now, folks.”

Attorney Shawn Tanguay represents Lebanon, which is owed more than $324,000 in back taxes and interest. He said “there’s cause for optimism” about the likely success of a second auction. “They’ve cleaned up the Lebanon property quite a bit.”

In Plainfield, Town Manager Steve Halleran said the $196,000 in back taxes and interest amounts to half the delinquent taxes owed to the town of about 2,400 people. Plainfield’s annual budget is about $2 million.

“We’re becoming more frustrated than less with our federal government,” Halleran said. “The property’s not improving. “
Taxes are the price we pay for a free society and to cover the responsibilities of the evaders
NG3
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Re: E & E Brown's properties up for sale again

Post by NG3 »

AndyK wrote: Marshals also were concerned that Brown sympathizers, including Randy Weaver of the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff, would flock to the property if it’s showcased.
There's a man who paid the ultimate price for the stupidity found in these circles.

As a bit of trivia his son-in-law used to moderate at a forum that Dean Clifford, and other names known to quatloos, used to post on.

You'd think lessons would be learned.
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Re: E & E Brown's properties up for sale again

Post by The Observer »

The first auction 13 months ago of the properties seized from Ed and Elaine Brown failed to field any bidders, in part because potential buyers couldn’t tour the 100 acres around their fortress-like home in Plainfield.
Not a surprise. No one wants to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars without knowing what they are really getting.
The towns of Plainfield and Lebanon, where Elaine Brown’s former dental office is located, are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes and interest.
Attorney Shawn Tanguay represents Lebanon, which is owed more than $324,000 in back taxes and interest. He said “there’s cause for optimism” about the likely success of a second auction. “They’ve cleaned up the Lebanon property quite a bit.
And what the article fails to note is that according to the terms of an IRS auction, the cities will not be collecting those taxes from the IRS. They will be collecting from the buyers. In other words, the winning bidder is going to have to fork over all of the city back taxes in order to receive clear title to the property. I am not sure who is going to bid on on properties where the apparent fair market value is already eaten up by superpriority taxes. Unless the cities are willing to cut a deal and compromise the liability, I have some doubts about the properties attracting serious bidders.

The safety issues are another factor and depend on whether bidders feel whatever "cleanup" attempts that have been made are worth the risk. As I have pointed out in another thread about the selling of the Brown properties, the government is not supposed to make any warranty or guarantee about property. This is truly an "as is" sale.
"I could be dead wrong on this" - Irwin Schiff

"Do you realize I may even be delusional with respect to my income tax beliefs? " - Irwin Schiff
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Re: E & E Brown's properties up for sale again

Post by The Observer »

I also forgot to mention that the other priority interest in the property that is in all likelihood ahead of the federal tax liens is the lender(s) on the property. Zillow is showing that the balance of that note is $288,000. That is probably not an accurate figure, but still something that a bidder will have to consider in buying the property - forking over $500 thou in addition to your winning bid is something every sane and serious bidder will have to consider.
"I could be dead wrong on this" - Irwin Schiff

"Do you realize I may even be delusional with respect to my income tax beliefs? " - Irwin Schiff
notorial dissent
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Re: E & E Brown's properties up for sale again

Post by notorial dissent »

I think they are all having severe NO2 delusions. The possible bomb issue would be the biggest factor to me, second probably to an unknown hazardous material possibility liability on the property, Ed is the sort of person who wouldn't have paid any attention to those laws EITHER. None of those will be covered by the IRS sale, since it will AS IS, and as it is I don't think it is worth either the danger risk or possible expense exposure. Next down the loop is the ever mounting property tax issue. I think the town and state had best just face reality and write it off and hope they can get someone in to actually start paying property tax again, or they will end up owning it for a good long time. I can't help but seeing this as a lose lose situation for all concerned. I can't imagine the mortgage holder is happy either and is stuck between losing the property to a tax sale or simply because they can no longer hold a toxic asset, and they may well have written it off at this point as costing more than it is worth. As a real estate investor friend of mine once told me, if it hasn't sold yet in this market, there is a reason and one you had best be wary of.
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