Buyer beware

There are a multitude of properties for sale in the city of Trenton at this time.

Some are on the market due to the unfortunate realities in the aftermath of the real estate bubble burst.

Others are on the market because the owners simply want to get out. They want to cut their ties to a city whose municipal government is in crisis.

Either way, it looks like a buyer’s market if one is willing to take a leap of faith and invest in the city’s housing stock.

As with all investments, due diligence is needed.

Take for instance just two recent listings of properties for sale.

The first is located at 29 Hampton Avenue in the city’s Wilbur Section.

Here’s how the website reads:

Highlights and Description

• 2 stories
• In the Wilbur neighborhood
• Part of the Trenton school district

Investment opportunity. Two unit semi-detached property has fenced in backyard, plenty of space and did I forget to mention...Affordable! Seller is Very Motivated, make us an offer today!

It doesn’t show a photo of the property.

Because we are a full-service blog, we offer this image taken this morning.

And the asking price for this gem of an investment property: $55,000.

The property appears to be assessed at $44,900 and the taxes are just over $2,500 per year.

Not much into fixer uppers? Maybe you would this property at 245 Tioga Street.

The description on the website says: Single Family Home for sale by owner in Trenton, NJ 08609. Great opportunity for investors at this already low priced fully rented great income producer. Two story semi-detached property has fenced in backyard, plenty of space and did I forget to mention...Affordable! Seller is Very Motivated, make us an offer today!

This one even includes a photograph too.

The property is reportedly assessed at $40,200 and taxes are just under $2,300 per year.

Of course what the website doesn’t say is that a Lis Pendens has been filed on this property. A foreclosure is in the works. Also not noted is that there are two other creditors who have loaned the owners money with the property as collateral.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, both of these properties are owned by Trenton Mayor Tony Mack.

Buyer beware.

Is Tony Mack a gambler?

During last spring’s campaign, questions arose about Tony Mack’s personal finances. He hadn’t held steady employment for several years, his short-lived restaurant was closed and in debt, and there were rumors about pending foreclosure proceedings on his personal residence. The “icing” on this cake was the $20,000 personal loan Mr. Mack made to his campaign.

Where did the money come from?

Since taking office, the Mayor’s personal financial picture has come under scrutiny and criticism. Reports have surfaced about outstanding tax issues on the building at Calhoun and W. State Streets that served as Mack Campaign Headquarters. That building is owned by Foremost Development Construction LLC. Foremost is Tony Mack.

The Sheriff’s sale of the Mayor’s residence on Berkeley Avenue was postponed from August 25 to September 29. Beneficial Mortgage Company filed for foreclosure on the mortgage, delinquent water bills, interests and such that total some $319,457 due.

And now comes a report by the Associated Press that the money for the $20,000 loan to the campaign came by way of a mortgage on one of Mack’s rental properties. The mortgage is the fourth on the property and is held not by a bank or financial institution but by a Burlington County resident who states she “is not comfortable” discussing the loan.

The continuing saga of the Mayor’s personal finances indicate that he was willing to bet his already highly leveraged real estate portfolio on the fact that he would win the election.

While he did succeed in becoming the city’s top elected official, his salary has already been knocked down from $149,107 to $126, 460 due to a court decision in a case left over from the previous administration. That’s about a 15% decrease in anticipated salary to the sole bread winner for his family of four children and wife. There is no doubt Mack is heavily in debt and in danger of losing his home and his income properties.

And there is little doubt that his big ticket ($175 per person) Inaugural Ball slated for October, just before some 400 city workers are slated to be laid off is being targeted to refill his campaign coffers. This would enable him to pay back that loan “he made” to his campaign.

But what if he hadn’t won the election? Where would Mr. Mack be right now? How would he face his financial obligations?

Mack and his city paid spokesperson, Lauren Ira, are correct when they say his financial problems are “personal.” Correct, to a point.

Being willing to take such high stakes risk with his own money and his family’s security is one thing.

The city of Trenton is extremely serious financial trouble. Is gambling with what little resources we have the best approach to stabilizing the city budget?

We don’t think so.

That was the week that was

Or was it?

That was the week that was (or TW3) was a comedy show filled with political satire and parody that ran first on the BBC in 1962 and 1963 and then on NBC in 1964-65. The attitude of both the British and American versions was to illuminate the absurdities and foibles of contemporary culture and society by lampooning the establishment.

Last week’s three ring political circus in Trenton had similar, albeit unintended effect on the local government.

It began with the revelation that recently elected Mayor Tony Mack had nominated Carlton Badger, a convicted felon and admitted forger, to be the Director of Housing and Economic Development for the city. Mack tried defending his choice by saying Badger had paid for his past mistakes and should be accorded a second chance.

Few were buying it.

On the same day that the Times reported the above story, both papers ran advertisements that Mack’s Berkeley Avenue home was slated for a Sheriff’s Sale on August 25. The Mayor at first denied that he was in foreclosure. At a press conference two days later he claimed it was personal business and not for public consumption. And over the weekend Mayor Mack assured both the Times and the Trentonian that his finances were under control and “paid in full.”

At the same time, a story in the Bergen Record on Saturday delved deeper into Mack’s financial woes. It seems the Mayor has a history of financial difficulties stretching back several years and involving several properties. This includes two previous foreclosures on his residence.

There are also questions about his foundation, Tony Mack Cares, which hasn’t provided any reports on its operations or filed any tax returns since 2002.

The Mayor’s association with other questionable individuals does nothing to improve his image. The maximum contribution to his campaign (and long-time support) by the infamous Jo Jo Giorgiani and the financial issues of Pete Fields and Carla Hogan, Chairperson and Treasurer respectively, of the “Partners for Progress” Political Action Committee that helped fund the Mack campaign leave many wondering just what is going on.

And then there is the question of the $20,000 loan Mack made to his campaign in April.

Where did the money come from if Mack was already in foreclosure proceedings on his home, in arrears on rent for his business (Broad Street Grill, now closed), and he had no job?

Financial questions aside, Mack’s leadership continued to be questioned after he totally mishandled the dismissal of Deputy Clerk Cordelia Staton. It wasn’t just the rudeness of notifying Ms. Staton she was fired by leaving a letter on her desk chair while she was at lunch that was bad form. Someone, we can only presume the Mayor or one of his aides, called the police to have Ms. Staton physically removed from City Hall.

Mack’s highly public suggestion to city council that perhaps the calling of the police and the presence of local media personnel were planned did nothing for his credibility.

While we believe that Ms. Staton’s appointment in early June was done improperly, that misstep is nothing compared to the way the Mack Administration fumbled the attempt to dismiss her. Her removal now is most assuredly going to result in a lawsuit that will prove costly to the taxpayers of Trenton.

In an effort to defuse and disarm criticism of his personal and political missteps, Mack issued a hastily (and poorly) written press release touting his alleged successes of his first month in office. Unfortunately, the lengthy fluff piece is long on wishful thinking and short on actual substance.

What the events of the past week have demonstrated quite plainly is that Mayor Mack is not up to the task at hand. His decision making leaves much to be desired and shows that he is totally incapable of running the city of Trenton.

The only hope we have is for Mayor Mack to forget about appointing friends and cronies. He must…if he still can…surround himself with truly experienced and talented advisors and do as they direct him to do. Otherwise, he is going to sink the city deeper into debt than his predecessor did. Then will come the firestorm of ethics, if not criminal, violations.