Hunter got break on taxes for home

[Zorro]

That's Duncan Hunter, troglodyte Republican representative from San Diego and one of Randy Cunningham's bosom buddies.

<snip>

Back in the winter of 1994, after reapportionment reshaped California's congressional districts, Rep. Duncan Hunter went shopping for a new home.

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. The seven-term Republican from Coronado headed east, to the foothills outside El Cajon, where he discovered what would become his quiet retreat from the vagaries of Beltway politics.

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.

<snip>

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

The San Diego Union-Tribune is behaving quite out-of-character lately. On Friday their editors called for Hastert to resign, and now this. I hope their reporters are smelling another Pulitzer Prize in the offing and have the goods on Duncan Hunter, who was also rumored to be well-connected to the same pack of crooks that were bribing Cunningham.

[AlCzervik]

1. how nice, Hunter only has to pay property taxes on the sale price of

$175,000 because he got a boondoggle from State street bank. Meanwhile i'm paying more in property taxes than he is and my house is 2000sf on a tiny lot. Prop 13 sucks.

[WCGreen]

2. Why does Hunter hate the children so?

Property taxes pay for schools so he was cheating the schools out of money...

[Hepburn]

3. Thanks for the info on this.

I was wondering if there had been a prior structure on the land that was either leveled or improved and the size greatly increased. IMO, on this one: The County Tax Assessor simply did not pick up the difference from what had been there and what was there. The original assessment for the prior stucture is still in place on the county tax rolls.

I dislike Hunter intensely...and he knew that there should have been a new assessment. But...with all the building booms in Southern California, I can tell you ~~ he is not the only homeowner who did not get re-assessed by the County on his property taxes for improvements done on his home/real estate where there was a prior existing residence/structure. The County tends to pick up new assessments when there is raw land and a new structure is put in place ~~ but on a tear down or a total remodel, they are slow. At least that has been my experience with them.

Interesting, tho, that the Trib is on his butt. Wonder if they are digging on other things about him. I certainly hope so.

[haele]

4. Funny, this has links to the Savings and Loan scandals of the 80's...

"Hunter's Alpine property was owned by the federal government months before he bought it, something he says he did not know at the time. "
....
"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 Resolution Trust Corp., which closed in 1995 and handed operations to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., had rules prohibiting insider trading and conflicts of interest as it sold off thousands of seized properties.

The Code of Federal Regulations prevented contractors from buying real estate they were hired to liquidate. The law also excluded “related parties,” described as key federal employees and others, from the government sales. "

....
So, not only was his appraisal screwed up in his favor (which actually is not unusual in East County - there's a history of quid pro quo out there), he wasn't supposed to buy the property in the first place.

I also heard on KLSD today from his congressional race opponent that there's some investigation into his business in Virginia - apparently, he is also running a Virginia real estate business and has been since he first got elected to office. There's some question as to his using his congressional office and links to help his business there out...


The most amazing thing about the article is that it was published in the San Diego U-T.

Haele

[magellan]

5. It does indeed. Plus Enron, pensions, short-selling stocks, pvt SSN

The list goes on and on, it's hideous and points straight back to Bush** and the GOP, but it may be about to bust wide open. See this thread:

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

Earlier this spring, reporters started nosing around into the background of Andy Card's connections with his high school pals, Ron Kaufman (architect of the Willie Horton ads in 88), and Ron Logue (CEO of the Bushiest Bank of them all - State Street Corporation, parent of State Street Bank & Trust).

Within days, Andy Card was no longer in contention for Sherman Adam's record for longest-serving White House Chief of Staff, but was being trundled out the door quietly.

[Gabi Hayes]

6. resolution trust, resolution trust.....that name rings a bell, doesn't it?

This is how scandals get started: Jean Lewis at the RTC ...'This is how scandals get started: Jean Lewis at the RTC - Resolution Trust Corp. official who implicated Pres. Clinton in Whitewater scandal - Cover Story' ...
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_n5_v28/ai_18285112 - 31k - Cached - Similar pages


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OrcinusThe only real quality that L. Jean Lewis exhibited at the RTC was her naked ... In sworn testimony before both House and Senate Whitewater committees, Lewis ...
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t is clear from this week's testimony of RTC employees Jean Lewis, Lee Ausen, ... Guaranty Savings & Loan Association and its relationship to Whitewater ...
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The eight top Savings and Loans in Arkansas that failed during the ...As part of the investigation, the RTC went to extraordinary lengths to trace real estate transactions involving Whitewater Development Corp. ...
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The Hunting of the President1979 -- The Whitewater Development company is formed, with ownership shared ... October 1993 -- RTC investigator Jean Lewis makes nine criminal referrals ...
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The ConsortiumLewis and Iorio were reinstated at the RTC, and testified against the Clintons in November l995 Senate hearings. Before the Senate Whitewater committee, ...
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AllPolitics - Whitewater - Timeline29, 1995 -- RTC investigator Jean Lewis resigns. Dec. 21, 1995 -- The White House turns over disputed Whitewater notes to avoid a federal court challenge ...
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[magellan]

7. I used to be a firm believer in the chaos theory

Then I learned about Republicans.

With my entire heart I hope the whole smelly lot of them get taken down over this. I have only one request: leave Bush** for last. Chip away at those around him. He deserves to sweat out the final two years of his term in increasing isolation for what he's wrought before he's impeached and sent on a nice long holiday to the Hague.