Typically, when you hear about a 99-year lease, it usually means more than a lifetime of security.
Except in the case of an Arizona manufactured home community.
Per The Spectrum, Anasazi Palms, a community in the Arizona Strip community of Littlefield provided what most residents saw as a “perfect deal.”
Anasazi Palms originally opened in 1999 as Canyon View Estates, and residents paid a sum of $25,000 and, in return, received a share of the company as well as a place to live.
The owners of the community were, in theory, offering a sense of security to the residents, but the stock certificates they were given were useless if the company went defunct.
In February 2009, then owner David Fenn, advised by his lawyer, transformed the $25,000 holdings into 99-year leases. Now, due to a combination of bad deals, lack of oversight and lack of planning, the community is scheduled to close on May 31st.
Nicole and Mike Tabor, seeking some peace and quiet in retirement, left San Diego in search of it, and found it at Anasazi Palms.
“And, now, it’s less than a year later and we’re destroyed,” said Nicole Tabor.
Residents are working to make arrangements to relocate their homes to another community, abandon them, or leave them as is and take a check for a few thousand dollars, at most, from the state of Arizona for assistance.
“This park [sic] would have closed sooner or later because it was not sustainable,” said community owner Peggy Owen.
“When the business is broke, it’s broke.”
The Pain
Owen retired in 2007 and in 2014 came across the opportunity to buy the community. She met a partner, and in September of that year they purchased the community and renamed it.
For Owen, the community was a passive investment. She invested $500,000 coming from a self-directed IRA to buy the land — that was to be tended by the man. Despite knowing the man for only a few months, Owen said she trusted him to work with her to further develop the park.
“I didn’t ask the right questions,” said Owen. “Everybody who bought into this park, including me, we are all guilty of not doing our due diligence.”
Owen did not know that the properties had 99-year leases tied to them. She first saw the escrow documents associated with the sale after it was finalized.
When asked if she would have made the purchase if she knew about the leases, her answer was a simple one.
“No.” ##
(Image credits are as shown above.)
Submitted by RC Williams to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.
