VFW Post 3550
Land Stealing Con Artists

VFW Post 3550 conned my wife and I out of some of our land. Following this is a letter sent 8/16/08 to the AL state cmdr. The explains the details.

Dear VFW,

John Hancock, Quartermaster for the state VFW and Charles Gavin of VFW Post 3550 have conned my wife and I out of our land. It happened back in August when they approached us for help as they were going to build their new post adjacent to my property. As a life member of the DAV, I had no problem with that. My wife also thought it would be great to help the VFW, having met me while in the Army and her mother having served during WWII in the Army WAC and her father retired from the Army.

I work with a member of the Prichard City Council so we attended meetings with them and stuck up for them. When it came time for Post 3550 to get power to their new building, we gave up some of our land to Alabama Power so they could run the electrical service through. Then they asked us for what they said would be a temporary easement.

It was explained to us that it was only going to be for 6 months, probably less and that they needed it to get some permits.

Well, it turns out that the paperwork they asked us to sign was not for an easement but for ownership of the property. I did type my own agreement, however, stating that we were granting a temporary easement for approximately six months, which they signed and was notarized at the same time and place with their papers. I have enclosed a copy.

After six months had passed we asked them about it. They then explained to us that they were going to have problems with their loan and could we give them more time, so we agreed. It was the first time we had heard anything about a loan. (We are still paying for that property ourselves, including the part they took from us.) As more time went on, we lost contact with Mr. Hancock, as we did not know he had moved to Montgomery. Mr. Gavin kept stringing us along with excuses until the point where he stopped answering our calls or returning our messages. One night I ran into Mr. Gavin at our local Compac store. He got that oh crap' look on his face. I asked him about it again, reminding him that we have a balloon payment coming up and that we would need to be refinancing. He told me, and I quote, I think John's handling that, I will get a call into him tomorrow.

We have not heard from him since. Mr. Hancock finally contacted us only after I sent an email to Commander Pritchard. He stated that Mr. Gavin would meet with us and take care of the situation. That, of course, has never happened. My attorney, Walter H. Honeycutt, has sent emails to Mr. Hancock and Mr. Gavin and a certified letter to Mr. Gavin, none of which they will respond to. I have enclosed copies of these for you.

Is this behavior encouraged by the VFW to get what it wants, or is this just how they do it locally? I ask because this is my only experience with the VFW.

Company: VFW Post 3550
Country: USA
State: Alabama
City: Mobile
Address: 4201 Saint Stephens

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