N.E. Tenants Win Battle to form Co-op

THE EXAMINER Washington

By Mike Rupert
Examiner Staff Writer

When Tawaunna Jones learned that the Northeast apartment building in which she had rented for 25 years was about to be sold and turned into condominiums in early 2004, she and many of the other 160 low-income residents of The Metropolitan feared the worst. Where would they go? How could they afford to stay in the District if they were forced from their rent-controlled apartments?

City agencies gave them "cookie-cutter" scripts to follow if they wanted to buy the building, but residents were worried they "would be pawns of developers," Jones said. Several area banks that have seen huge profits in recent years from condo conversions weren't interested in their proposal. Developers also turned them away, Jones said, and deals with local nonprofit organizations also fell through.

The tenants got so desperate they wrote a letter to President Bush, who referred them to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. "No company or bank wanted to help us," said Jones, who founded a tenants association shortly after the sale was announced. "We tried to turn over every stone there was."

After a nearly two-year battle, the parties closed a deal last week that makes most of the poor tenants first-time homebuyers. But it wasn't easy, Jones said.
The scenario doesn't surprise Peter D. Antonoplos, a partner at Shaffer, Bock & Antonoplos who helped broker the $7.2 million deal with Adams National Bank last week. The firm and the tenants sort of met through the "real estate" grapevine, a spokesman said. "The banks are really looking at [condo conversions] as big windfalls, while co-ops are considered little windfalls," Antonoplos said. "But this is really the socially responsible way to develop. ... They had the right to keep it."

For Jones and her neighbors, it's a huge sigh of relief. "We are elated," she said. "But also a lot of us are numb - sort of like battle fatigue. "One of the board members of the new co-op is 80, Jones said, and this is his first home purchase. Jones said she hopes others use their triumph as inspiration.
"When we first started, we came up with a slogan that said, 'Individually, we may be poor or living paycheck to paycheck, but together we can buy millions,' " she said. "When people bought into that, we became a community of people rather than just individuals in our units."


Con Artists By: Kymo Dockett

Fraud by telephone, internet and mail is a serious international problem. It steals your money, your identity and even your self-respect. Protect yourself by learning to recognize fraud. Believe it or not, there is no typical fraud victim, but research finds that fraud victims are likely to be educated, informed, relatively affluent, and involved in their communities. Scammers don't care about your age, race, income, or geographic location. They just want your money.

Thousands of people are defrauded each year. Scam artists use the latest trends and sophisticated techniques: professional marketing materials, well-crafted and researched telephone scripts, which are traded among criminals, a friendly tone and "generous" offer to put you at ease, and believable answers to your tough questions. An ability to impersonate legitimate businesses, charities, and causes and expertly using your own emotions against you are also common.

Identity theft is the fastest-growing type of fraud. Crooks can do bad things using your good name. Protect your precious personal information. Ask all marketing, research, or charity callers for: detailed and written information that you can check out yourself. Take time to think about the offer. Scam artists pressure you for an answer, saying the offer will expire or go to the next person if you don't act now. Valid references and a way to contact them and a call-back number are something you should as for. This is not fool-proof. Seasoned crooks are happy to give you a cell phone or unlisted number where a colleague is standing by to finish taking your number.

One scam I almost fell into: I received an email offering what at first glance seem to be attractive job offer. The email said that all I had to do is work for two or three hours a day... no special skills required... earn good money... help hundreds of people in need of medical assistance... and all I have to do is to receive payments into my bank account and forward the money onto “agents” via Western Union or Money Gram. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

After doing some research I found out that this “job advertisement” has been sent out by a gang of scammers who are on the lookout for unwitting accomplices to help them out in their scams. How does it work? Well, if you were to apply for the post of “Financial Manager”, the scammers would get their victims to transfer money into your bank account. You would then have to withdraw the money and forward it onto the scammers, in cash, via Western Union or Money Gram.

This is a wonderful setup from the scammers’ point of view: as soon as a victim realizes that they have been scammed, the only concrete information they will have to give to the police is details of your bank account. You would be the one with the police knocking on your door, not the scammer.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true. If a scam artist has contacted you or if you've been defrauded, contact the FTC at www.ftc.gov or 1-877-FTC-HELP. They gather evidence, identify fraud trends and alert law enforcement throughout the U.S., Canada, and abroad. By reporting your experience, you can prevent others from becoming victims and help put an end to fraud.