Rezko's lawyer owns Obama's house

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December 16, 2008
Rezko’s Lawyer Owns Obama’s House
By DemocracyRules

This is another scandal that just keeps growing. When it first became known that Rezko helped Obama buy his house, Obama himself called the deal “boneheaded”.

Now things look much worse, because Rezko ‘s lawyer owns the house. His name is William Miceli, and Obama formerly worked for him.





Documents here Download 5046_Greenwood_AV_Lexus

Why would Rezko’s lawyer own Obama’s house?

There are several explanations, and none look good. Obama tried to buy the house because Michelle wanted it. “According to My DD: Direct Democracy, in 2004, Barack’s wife, Michelle, was on the board of the Commission of Chicago Landmarks and in this capacity, learned of a designated historical home in Kenwood that was for sale — the home and the adjacent land at 5046 South Greenwood.”

But the sellers were asking more than the market value. They also insisted on selling the adjacent empty lot at the same time. The house and the two lots together made an attractive package, because it became a corner property with a big yard.

House picture here



The price was too high for Obama, so he went to Rezko for help. Rezko’s plan was to buy the adjacent property on the same day Obama bought the house. Obama would still have to overpay, even for just the house. But once the whole deal was finished, the package would become a reasonably good deal.

Obama (or William Miceli) bought the house, and Rezko’s wife bought the adjoining lot. Then Obama got a strip of the lot from Rezko’s wife for about $100,000. This did two things. It expanded the house lot, which increased the house value. The picture shows a new fence that Obama had built along the new property line. It also made the adjacent lot so narrow, it’s unlikely anyone who bought it could make money building something on it. They might not even be able to get a building permit. So essentially the deal gave Obama a house and the use of two lots.

Michelle had the house she wanted, and the Obama’s had a house that looked “Senatorial”.

But the deal was unethical because Rezko had conferred a benefit by helping Obama obtain something he couldn’t otherwise afford.

And since Rezko’s lawyer actually owns the property, a benefit is still being conferred to Obama all the time he lives there.

But wait, there’s more! The mortgaged amount is very high. It’s so high it violates the ordinary lending rules for Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, which carries the mortgage. This is probably legal, because the owners set up a complicated land trust arrangement to bypass those rules. But why? And who pays this mortgage? Why would Obama pay a mortgage on a house he doesn’t own? Does he just pay rent, while Rezko’s lawyer pays the mortgage?

But wait, there’s even more! It’s now clear the adjacent lot was overvalued by Rezko’s bank. At the time, an appraiser said it was worth $500,000. But Rezko’s bank unilaterally upped the value to about $650,000. This enabled Rezko’s wife to get a bigger mortgage on the lot. Bank employee Kenneth J. Conner found out, and complained this was mortgage fraud. Overvaluing a property to get a bigger mortgage is against the law. Conner blew the whistle, but he was fired. Now he’s suing the bank.

Conner filed a civil complaint in October with the Illinois Circuit Court in Cook County alleging he was fired by Mutual Bank of Harvey, Ill., because he objected to land appraisals submitted on behalf of the Rezkos and the Obamas, with the complicity of the bank.

After he was fired, Conner told World Net Daily that the bank and the Rezkos were engaged in "fraud, bribes or kickbacks, use whatever term you want," to benefit the Obamas.

But wait there’s even more! Rezko borrowed money for the deal from his friend and backer Nadhmi Auchi, a British billionaire from Iraq who was mixed up in the oil-for food scandal. Auchi has a very complicated past, and he’s very litigous about any mention of his name.

Does Nadhmi Auchi effectively own or control the house Obama lives in?

Now there’s word that Patrick Fitzgerald is getting interested in these dealings. I sure hope he does.

Pro Patria

DemocracyRules on December 16, 2008 at 05:39 PM | Permalink