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December 12, 2008

The Curious Case of 88 Lafayette Avenue

88-Lafayette-Avenue-1208.jpg
If townhouse prices in Fort Greene are down 50 percent, then someone forgot to send us the memo. Which is why the recent sale of 99 Lafayette Avenue for $850,000 caught our attention. You see, this four-story building changed hands for $1,700,000 as recently as July 2007. It also traded in 2005 for $975,000 and in 2006 for $1,050,000. A lot of activity for one house. Odd, isn't it?
88 Lafayette Avenue [StreetEasy] GMAP P*Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:51 AM | Comments (18)
Categories: Fort Greene, Sales

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Comments

Is it just a shell?

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 12, 2008 10:55 AM

We walk by this place daily and it is indeed only a shell with missing floors, windows and the roof is partially off. We even charted up the broker and backed off since the details appeared shady to say the least...then it was priced @ $950K.

Posted by: pierre de taille at December 12, 2008 11:05 AM

So was the $1,750,000 price a mortgage fraud?

Posted by: itsagas at December 12, 2008 11:07 AM

It's hardly even that. I looked at this house this summer the day after it was "listed" but I was told it was already spoken for. Good luck with that! It has no back wall whatsoever. And it's been wide open for a while. Someone started to renovate and gutted the place; I don't know if the removal of the back wall was deliberate or if it just fell down. Lots of violations. It keeps changing hands, but maybe people just get overwhelmed by the work needed and the labyrinth of violations and put it right back on the market.

I'm a single woman who has taken on the challenge of renovating five absolute wrecks in the past ten years, but this one was too much even for me!

Still, I sure hope it can be saved and was not bought just for the lot.

Posted by: dylanfan at December 12, 2008 11:15 AM

Itsagas we suspect fraud as well.

Posted by: pierre de taille at December 12, 2008 11:17 AM

It was at 950K when I "saw" it this summer. (For obvious
reasons, you can't "look" at it like a regular wreck). Pierre is right: it's missing more than the back wall. One of the websites I checked about the place this summer had a DOB violation that noted the back wall was missing a year ago. That note would coincide with the 1.7MM sale. There's a story here.

Posted by: dylanfan at December 12, 2008 11:23 AM

Wacky! Hope someone pursues this, dying to find out.

Posted by: mopar at December 12, 2008 12:29 PM

Clear case of mortgage fraud.

Posted by: nyc87 at December 12, 2008 12:43 PM

some interesting facts:
- narcarta holdings, which appears several times in the property shark transaction history is linked to Joyce, Don & Associates, 100% owned, at least in 2007, by Donna Daniels and Osmond Decoteau.
Decoteau is an indicted mortgage fraudster: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nye/pr/2008/2008oct23.html
- Narcarta was or is involved in real estate projects in Florida, including a multi-story, 42 units condominium project. In 2007, it filed, but was rejected for bankruptcy protection by the federal courts. The court didn't like Daniels or Decoteau: http://pacer.flmb.uscourts.gov/pdf-new/57156812.pdf
- Narcarta also shows up in the mortgage history of 92 lafayette (which sold for $2.4 million! in 2006) and 885 sterling place (where daniels and one evis stephens, also appear)
- stillwater asset backed fund is known for vulnerability to straw buyer and equity stripping transactions.

Posted by: i disagree at December 12, 2008 2:12 PM

From 2003 to the present, the whole market was a case of mortgage fraud.

***Bid half off peak comps (1700/2 = 850, yeah that's about right)***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at December 12, 2008 2:31 PM

you'd have a real hard time proving the level of knowledge and intent requisite to make fraud case against, uh, the whole market.

and who is the criminal and who the victim? where do you put people like miss muffett, who made hundreds of thousands as a result of the so-called fraud?

Posted by: i disagree at December 12, 2008 3:01 PM

I'd call them fortunate, but possibly foolish, for wanting to put that money back into the still-elevated real estate market.

Posted by: Heather at December 12, 2008 4:04 PM

Cool research, i disagree. There's a Law & Order episode in this!

Posted by: Brooklyn Chicken at December 12, 2008 9:52 PM

Very impressive. I wonder who was the real owner and what happened to them.

Posted by: mopar at December 12, 2008 11:27 PM

Shout out to i disagree for the nice research.

It inspired to look into an address near me. Its 260 Flatbush Ave, which also fronts onto Prospect Pl. as 89-91 Prospect Place. At some point in 2006, someone put up some building permits, they did a tiny bit of work, then it went quiet. "i disagree" inspired me to look into it a bit for the first time.

So far, I've found: In Aug 04, GNI Realty bought it for $2.2mm. In Dec 06, GNI Realty sold it to 260 Flatbush LLC for $3.98 MILLION. Chinese people seem to be behind 260 Flatbush. The LLC got a mortgage for $2.3 million from a Chinese bank. The bldg is a one-story comml bldg and they filed plans to ADD 7 stories of residential (add 16,300 sf). They did almost nothing.

On 10/30/08, 260 Flatbush LLC sold it to Thiri Han Inc for $230k ($230 THOUSAND). That's 6% of the last sale price! Propertyshark shows there was an "Agmt" between 260 Flatbush LLC and the bank on the $2.3mm mortgage. Not sure if the mortgage was paid off, don't see any Termination of Mortgage etc.

That is a very odd series of prices. A sale for $240k seems way too low, even in a bad market for a big comml rent and future expansion oppty to add 16k sf. Even 88 Lafayette went back to its 2005 price. 260 Flatbush went to 10% of its 2004 price and its in much better shape (still usable for comml tenant).

Does anyone know anything about this specific property or the parties involved? Or know anything about this pattern of facts? Thanks.

Posted by: renoishard at December 13, 2008 2:57 PM

Decoteau and Daniels are also behind 289 Gates Ave. Which is in foreclosure for the mortgage held by the seller, who sold it to buyer a
seller mortgage was never paid off and at closing the proceeds were wired to a decateau controlled account(fraudulent servicing company) . Hence Mortgage fraud / wire fraud and hopefully whatever else they can throw at this guy.
A little background on this moron and his cronies.
Decoteau came from Trinidad, no legitimate immigration status at the time of entry.
Daniels knew him from Trinidad as well, so its believed,
Came to this country for the sole purpose of committing wire fraud, money laundering, and mortgage fraud.
He would befriend lonely immigrant woman, make knookie with them, have a kid and get power of attorney, take out mortgages in their names, all the while continuing the knookie process until that persons credit was screwed up. He bought properties in their names, promised them the stars, and resold into his controlled entities repeatedly. The only question I always wonder is what ever happened to the original owners like the one Annette Sanders at 289 Gates Avenue. This property like the one at Lafayette amazes me how a mortgage was obtained in the condition its in. I bet 100% that the title company and appraiser played a huge roll in this scheme. Anyone knows how Donna Daniels escaped this disaster, as she is just a guilty as her Boyfriend Osmond .

Posted by: Old Realtor at December 27, 2008 1:33 PM

Oh Yea
a law and order episode would be so cool

Posted by: Old Realtor at December 27, 2008 1:34 PM

Old Realtor I really dont think it makes much sence to say things that you dont know. "It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." So please, HUSH!!!

Posted by: JAHKNOWS at December 30, 2008 12:33 PM

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