Another GOP Scandal - CA 52nd - Duncan Hunter Caught In Land Scam

[kpete]

By Jeff McDonald
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 8, 2006

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When Rep. Duncan Hunter set out to rebuild his home lost in the Cedar fire, it became clear the tax assessment had been wrong for years.

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The house in Alpine was in bad shape. Hunter and his wife, Helynn, looked past the leaky roof, water-stained drywall and torn-up floors and saw 2.7 acres of potential. They paid the $175,000 asking price and poured $160,000 into repairs and improvements.

Tax rolls listed the property as a two-bedroom, 2½-bath house with 2,946 square feet of living space. The property records were wrong.

According to Hunter's insurance carrier, the house was more than twice that size – about 6,200 square feet. The property also featured a 2,000-square-foot guest house, a swimming pool and tennis court.

much much much more at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20061008-9999-1n8duncan.html




MORE
BREAKING: Another GOP scandal brings CA 52nd into play
by Benjaminwise
Sun Oct 08, 2006Hunter got break on taxes for home

The scandal:

This is the important point. Instead of doing the right thing and reporting the real value of his new property, Duncan Hunter hid the facts and avoided thousands of dollars of taxes as a result!!

A county assessor visited the six-bedroom house soon after Hunter bought it and took pictures, the congressman said.

But the home's description wasn't corrected in the property file. The house was reappraised at $249,000 - above the sale price but below its market value.

It looks like the Congressman purposefully avoided paying thousands of dollars in property taxes. Better to let us regular working people pay those annoying taxes, eh Mr. Hunter?

The coverup:

Hunter refused to give assessors permission to discuss details about his property with The San Diego Union-Tribune, which has been examining the holdings of public officials since a bribery scandal last year sent former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to federal prison.

more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/10/8/1846/80425

[MadMaddie]

1. Wow....as always a Repug given the chance to tell the truth..

and once again they can't do it....

Why are they so fucking cheap....?

[maddezmom]

2. so he bought it from the gov't...hmmm very stinky

The house went into foreclosure in 1993, by which time the lender had been seized by the Resolution Trust Corp., the agency formed by Congress in 1989 to bail out hundreds of failed thrifts.

Hunter was among those who voted to create the Resolution Trust Corp., a bill that passed the House 201-175 and was signed by President George H.W. Bush.

The resulting sell-off of more than 700 savings-and-loan institutions and their assets was estimated by the government to cost taxpayers at least $325 billion.

According to county records, the Resolution Trust Corp. sold the 2.7 acres on Vista Viejas Road at public auction Dec. 15, 1993. State Street Bank and Trust paid $175,000 for the parcel and took title Jan. 4, 1994.

[magellan]

4. State Street Bank again, hm....

There's another thread in GD today about State Street Bank and a monies scandal that's about to bust wide open. It involves Andy Card's resignation:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2347614

[maddezmom]

5. kick

for the early morning crowd. :kick:

[Little Star]

3. I can't keep count!!!!

There is just way to much crap to keep up with. Hope some one does a good cartoon that organizes all this stuff.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

6. If Hunter goes to jail for this, will he get lemon chicken too?

:smoke: