WARNING to BUYERS of MHP Partnerships

mobile home university
1

There is a person advertising partnerships in Mobile home parks right now that is not above board. THey advertise as a Christian Business Man but that is so far from the truth. Please be warned if you see any kind of partnership advertised especially with the words “Christian Business Man” be wary, due so much due dilligence your brain hurts. Ask to see partnership records, bookkeeping, receipts, speak to the partners, speak to former partners, speak to the original owners of the parks. Anything you can do, BE VERY CAREFUL.

There are some good/honest people out there but right now there are some MHP partnerships currently being advertised (not on this site but elsewhere) by a person that is not being honest. They have taken other people’s money and not put it into the property they advertised the partnership in. Lawsuits are being pursued at present.

One generally expects a so called Christian to be more than above board but sadly this is not always the case. As I can’t for legal reasons (lawsuits pending) put the offending party’s name in print you will have to contact me if you are contemplating entering into a partnership. Tell me the names involved and I will let you know if I or others have had a bad experience with that person. I would hate to see others going through what myself and few others are going through right now.

2

While I do not know of this person, it has always been my policy to be very, very, very cautious of folks who advertise partneships on line to people they do not know.

While I am a Christian I too have had to learn the hardway that often the folks that have to tell you that or advertise that they are Christian are using your beliefs to cloak their misdeeds.

People of faith don’t need to tell you that fact. It should be seen in their actions. If it is seen only in words then red flags should go up quickly as to me there is no greater lie.

While no one is perfect and people of faith will fall and fail, it is their motivations, heart and actions and not their boasts that you need to take into account.

You will quite often find tenants, buyers (on notes), salesman and others that hit you right away with over the top suggestions of their great faith I am sorry to say that most often these folks are well aware of their true lack of character that they feel compelled to try and overcome it with copious amounts of “faith” statements in the hopes that you will be deceived and overlook all of their actions to the contrary. Again, I can find no greater deception or lie.

I also admit that I have never been comfortable with “partnerships” but I do understand that many here are and have been very successful with them and on a scale far larger than I may ever come close to.

I am an admitted control freak when it comes to my money, my work and my future. With that said, I cannot fathom why anyone would partner with a stranger who advertises on the internet to “partner” with other strangers. Partnerships are much like a business marriage. We need to do our very best to choose our partners wisely. Remember that you will have to work with these folks daily for what could be many years. You will have to open yourself up and give up some control in your lives to these strangers. If they promise “easy money” in some form or large returns for little risk or effort this should send up red flags. Get to know these people by their past actions first. Find out what their true exprience is and who respects them in this industry and why. Even then you will find out that most all of us here have known people we thought were true investors and respectable friends who turned out to be crooks who stole money from our friends.

If an attorney and long time friend can steal over $500,000 from Lonnie Scruggs, I assure you a stranger can do that to you over the internet. “Investor beware.”

If you need to partner, then look at the folks here for example and see if their current partnerships are successful and fair. See if each party is doing their part and fulfilling their obligations to the partnership.

One of the concerns that I have always focused on is trying to point out folks that may be intentionally or even un-intentionally posting bad or dangerous information. One bad deal early on in an investment career can make people quit who otherwise would go on to do great things.

Trust your gut on these things and realize that sometimes our minds and enthusiasm overide our gut feelings, even to our own demise.

Tony

3

Tony. In the past I have avoided partnering up on many deals and anymore I won’t even consider a large deal without a partner.

The business partnerships that seem to work the very best IMHO are the ones where one partner will be strong where the other is weak. My 6 year partnership with TJ is best summed up in one sentence. I sell, he manages. This is probably simplistic sounding but that doesn’t alter the fact that it is the truth.

Another thing is trust. We often have 60-70K in our business accounts and either one of us can write checks for any amount…Never been a problem. One of the first things he said to me in 2003 was," My word is better than any contract your attorney can pen". As we were in a very heated discussion at the time these were powerful words and have been proven true multiple times over the years. Something elase that is often overlooked is during busy times you may spend more time with partners than actual family members.

The advantages to partner deals are very self evident…need time off? Partners got your back. Another advantage is I have become a better manager, and TJ has become a better salesman!!

There are some really slick snake oil salesmen out there and this downturn seems to bring them out of the woodwork. The flip side of this is there are some true bargains to be had out there right now.

Regards,

Greg

4

Hi there,

I did invest in a MHP where it was a wrap. I think I am about to lose my investment. This man advertises as a christian business man, but I just learned that he took someone else for $100,000.00. I hope you did not get tangled up in the same mess.

5

All the more reason I believe that true people of faith lead by their actions and those that lead by their words are most likely hiding something.

Tony

6

I shudder to think of the fate of those souls who refuse the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ because of the actions of some crook.

7

It is the crook’s fate that is of concern I believe.

I point out here that the actions of that crook are not the actions of a person of faith and I believe anyone hoodwinked by such a person will understand that this person was using the cloak of faith to hide their intent to due them financial harm.

The person who gets hoodwinked still has the choice to move on both in business and faith because of or in despite of that crook.

No one is perfect. Good people of faith fall and make mistakes but you can see a pattern of character that is forged in action instead of just words. I don’t fault people for making mistakes. The hardest part may be to forgive ourselves for making mistakes but that is where faith comes in.

Tony

8

My biggest financial losses have been when I invested with “Christians” (and invested outside of real estate). I, too, am a Christian and so would be contacted by other Christians to get in these great deals. In one business deal a very respected national Christian leader put his stamp of approval on the deal but the actual people running it were well meaning crooks and we lost everything that we put into it.

9

Alan,

If you or others who feel they have been taken by this so called “Christian Business Man” would like to contact me personally and discuss your situation please do. If we are talking about the same person I can put you in touch with others who like me have an attorney and are going after the person legally. If we gather enough evicence of a pattern of intentional fraud. The more evidence we get the better our chances of putting them in jail so that cannot do this to anyone else.

For obvious legal reasons I cannot put a name here in this forum but contact me at tc4gold@pacbell.net and give me a phone number to contact you at. I will gladly try to help anyone who has been duped and will share my attorneys info incase you want to get legal help.

One of the other responders to this post mentioned about a partners word being better than any legal contract. My father once told me that without integrity you have nothing so always ensure your customers win before you do. Make sure you don’t deceive and he was an Athiest who had Christian friends but despised those who preached what they should have practised instead of practiced what they preached. I am only sad that this person and others like them are making it difficult for other true Christians.

10

Hello All,

It seems this person has taken more people than we could have imagined. He has been blocked from advertising on Mobile Home park Store. He is still advertising on other sites, we can’t take out an ad giving names of people involved as there will evetually be a lawsuit. All I and those that have been taken can do is to warn others that may be considerig investing to be extra careful. Again contact me if you have had or are having trouble and I will get you an attorney’s number who is working on this.

11

I would think that by now, in this day and age that most people would know that anyone who advertises that he is a Christian should be immediately suspect. I mean come on, what does religion of any kind have to do with business. Since the dawn of man, more people have been killed in the name of religion that almost any other calamity that has happened to mankind. That man probably is a Christian.

12

and through that one Man, Jesus, more lives have been changed for the better than any other in history.

13

Sorry Mobileguy, but you have a real twisted sense of history (talk about hijacking a post).

I’m not trying to get religious here, but the fact is that communism and fascism (both of which, btw completely disbelieving in a higher power, or the moral repercussions of doing wrong) have killed, murdered and caused the death of millions of people (I doubt you can disagree with the facts there).

Religion, while you would like to think has caused more, in fact, has caused the death of around 133,000 through the Crusades (if you are choosing to look at the crusades as a religious and not political excursion). The inquisition, about 30,000. Both of which are considered the largest atrocities perpetrated by religion. Is there some other atrocity or event I’m missing?

Want more facts?

  • Nazi Germany killed roughly 8-12 million in concentration camps (not including the 10-20 million killed during the war - 7.9 million soldiers alone in Russia)

  • Stalin killed an estimated 23 million in his purge (not including the Ukraine’s famine)

  • There were approximately 30 million (some say 49-78M) killed by Mao Ze-Dong and the revolutionary war

  • Pol Pot in Cambodia (approximately 1.7 million)

Hope this helps you to put things in perspective.

Post Edited (12-17-08 19:58)

14

Mobileguy,

Couldn’t agree with you more. If ever I even get a business card with that fish sign on it, I throw it away. When I rent my SFRs, the minute an applicant says something about being a Christian, I mentally tell myself I am talking to a future problem. Sorry to say but that has been my experience over the years with people who use their beliefs in some higher power to influence my decision.

What I can’t figure out is why it always seems to be “Christian” and never Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Animist, etc. Plus why does ANYONE feel compelled to even mention that as a reason to do business with them. Unless they’re crooks, that is.

Rolf

Wheat Hill

15

On the flip side, the folks that “walk the walk” of Christianity through their actions instead of just words are among the best people I have done business with in any fashion.

Crooks come in many forms and say many things. When people have to “tell me” how good they are I smell a rat. It is the ones who are humble and work behind the scenes who are the truely responsible people of character in my exprience. Those who give credit where credit is due while working hard to better themselves and others. Those folks still make mistakes but the difference is the reason you notice them right away… they take responsibility for the mistake and take action to correct it.

Tony