In feruary of 2004 I saw an TV commercial for PB Enterprises in albany ny. Their website is pbalbany.com
They advertise that they can help you buy real estate with no money down. I called them and set up an appointment. Somehow they get in the middle of a real estate purchase and take money from both sides. Yet, their names never appear on any of the paperwork. The deeds and settlement statements all have the previous owners names on them.
In late feburary they showed me a property. This was a 2 unit 3 story building. They showed me the building and said it was a great property in good condition and would be a great investment. Foolishly, I trusted them 100%.
PB Enterprises had it appraised for $85k (using their own shady appraier), they told the bank I put down 20% and got me a mortgage for $68k ("vice president" kevin O'connell is a mortgage broker). PB Enterprises paid the owners the asking price of $40,000 (which they kept secret from me throught the deal) and then took their profit of $28,000!!!
I fixed the place up and rented out the 1st floor unit. The 2nd floor was already rented at the time of purchase.
A few weeks later I get a letter from code enforcement notifying the new owner (ME!) of the 31 code violations (one being the crumbling foundation) and the "do not occupy" order on the 1st floor unit. I was flabbergasted.
I contacted PB Enterprises. They said..."We are very sorry to hear about the situation at Oakwood. We usually buy the houses quickly and sometimes dont notice these things. This is espescially true in properties that have tenants in them. Its hard to believe that a house that is occupied has that many violations but I guess its possible."
I fixed all but 3 of the code violations myself. Now PB enterprises is offering to pay for part of the $20k foundation repairs that the building needs. They wanted to split it but I said no way!
I'm currently getting estimates for the work. I've heard from 4 different contractors. They all were in the $10k to $30k range. I tried to get a work permit from the city. They told me I have to get a structural engineer to draw up plans before they will issue a permit. I have scheduled an engineer to come look at it on 5/15/04.
I contacted a lawyer and he said it would be very expensive to go after PB Enterprises.
Kevin Oconnell and his fat bald, cohort Mike dragged out the situation as long as they could. I finally had to hire a lawyer to go after them. After many months my lawyer forced them to purchase the property back from me for what I owed on it plus a portion of the money I spent to fix it up. I lost 100's of hours of my own labor though.
If you are thinking of becoming one of PB Enterprises "clients" I would STRONGLY suggest against it! Check them out on the BBB and you'll see they currently have 2 complaints. I'm sure more will be coming.
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