Mitch Goldstein | Coach Mitch | December 24th, 2007Farm workers cemetery being neglected, some say
The Arizona Republic Dec. 19, 2007 Edythe Jensen
A 90-year-old cemetery for Hispanic farm workers, surrounded by the Fulton Ranch development, is being neglected in what preservationists worry is an attempt to justify moving the graves off valuable land.
The home builder doesn’t own the cemetery, but investors who bought it following a tax auction have told volunteer caretakers to stay out.
Shearer said it’s clear from the appearance that the latest owners are setting it up for relocation and development, and “that’s not how we should treat the people buried there.”
Florence vows to make sure they follow the rules before they move bodies. They must get permission from surviving family members of every grave occupant – an impossible task, she said. If the owners try to circumvent that requirement, “We’re watching, and the whole City of Chandler will be down their throats.”
Goodyear, a cotton farming community, thrived from 1916 to 1943 in what is now south Chandler. Little remains of its heritage except the cemetery in which farm workers and their families were laid to rest, Reynolds said. However, neither the city nor the Chandler Historical Society has been willing to seek ownership of the graveyard.
The cemetery used to be far out of town along a dirt road and hard to find until growth caught up to the area. In 2004 a group of Boy Scouts from Tempe cleaned up the cemetery and made new iron crosses for some of the graves as part of a service project.
The real problem for preservation came the same year when the plot was sold for back taxes by the Maricopa County Treasurer.
California tax lien investors foreclosed on what they thought was vacant land and put it up for sale. Representatives for the buyers at the time, INA Group LLC, said they didn’t know it was a graveyard.
In 2005, a proposal to have the city or the Chandler Historical Society take over the cemetery failed, and the land has changed hands at least twice since, county records show.
Florence said she has been trying to organize a group willing to take over the cemetery and negotiate with whoever owns it, but the task is daunting and laden with legal requirements. She said she also is trying to persuade Maricopa County to forgive the back taxes that caused the sale and to convince the state legislature that Arizona needs better cemetery protection laws.
See the full article: http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/1219cr-cemetery1219.html
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Coach Mitch’s REFLECTIONS
Caveat Emptor
No one cares about your money except yourself. If we don’t care enough to thoroughly investigate a potential investment, then, as the saying goes, “we deserve what we get.”
Famous last words
Buyers…said they didn’t know it was a grave yard. They thought it was vacant land. My guess is that the buyer’s representative either did not do any investigation of the property or they made an error.
It’s easy to make an error
You might misread a plat map. You might interpose any number of numbers. It’s easy. There are lots and lots of numbers that you deal with in this area of investing.
Just look at the property
The investor did not type in the address at Google Earth and view the property. You can see the satellite image of virtually any property in the US. You can see if the land is flat or if it is a ravine. You can see if it is covered by brush, trees or water. You can see if the land has road frontage or if it is landlocked. And you can easily see if the land is vacant or if the land is a graveyard.
You can do this business from your kitchen table. It is that easy. But, if you become complacent, then you will find yourself in a “situation.”
Due diligence is important
It is interesting that this property has changed hands twice since the tax deed purchase. I am speculating that the INA Group, LLC realized that an error occurred and decided to bail out of what could and probably would become a nasty situation. I am sure that their buyer’s representative got an earful.
I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when INA Group was selling the graveyard to the new investor. I wonder how they described the land. I’m guessing that some deceit occurred because, even more interestingly, the property was sold again. I wonder to whom owner number two sold this property too? I wonder what owners number three were told by owner number two? I wonder what owner number three is planning to do with the graveyard? I don’t really want to know, but I will bet that the rules for transferring graves can be onerous and that they can all be circumvented easily by a judge who is politically appointed. All it takes is the right donation to the right party. Now that is planning.
Coach Mitch’s “Ridiculously Simple System…” ensures that you do a good job on your due diligence. It is no accident that I have never lost money in a real estate transaction. With this system, you have almost total control. If you lose or if something negative happens, it is because you did not prepare, you did not investigate, you were lazy, you did not care, you presumed, you did not plan, etc. It is all up to you.
See Coach Mitch’s “Ridiculously Simple System…” ™ for details.
Do it well,
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