Channel 2's David Goldstein Finds "Affordable Housing" Scam
By Walter Moore, Chief Economist and Legal Analyst, L.A. Policy Institute.You really must watch the report by Channel 2's investigative reporter David Goldstein on how a "charity" used an "affordable housing" program to rip-off you, the taxpayer. To see it, click here.
Goldstein reports that the Esperanza "charity" obtained "surplus property" from Caltrans in order to provide "affordable housing" to "low-income" households. Sounds nice, doesn't it? But Goldstein caught the director of the "charity" living in one of those homes and, indeed, driving her beautiful new BMW out of the drive She admitted on camera, moreover, that her family is not a "low-income" household.
Goldstein also found that the tenants in two other houses who were purportedly paying modest rents -- $315 or so in one case, and $1000 or so in the other -- but who were also paying $1400 per month in "maintenance fees," which the "charity" did not bother to report to the state.
So the "affordable housing" program did not provide "affordable housing" to "low income" families. Instead, it provided an opportunity for an unethical enterpreneur to pocket a government subsidy, while charging market rates for housing.
The good news is, Goldstein found this particular scam. The bad news is, David Goldstein does not have time to check on every tenant of every "affordable housing" unit from now to the end of time. And no one else is going to check, either. When you subsidize "affordable housing," your money is going to developers, not the poor. Maybe they will play by the rules, maybe not. But you'll never know.
[Note: the picture above is NOT the house and BMW mentioned in the story.]
Posted by Walter Moore @ 2/18/2007 11:33:00 PM
43 Comments:
As far as thrifts go, Westside Savings and Loan Association is the most profitable in Los Angeles County, with a 2.12 percent return on average assets. Westside has a different strategy for success: real estate.
"We have a development subsidiary that did very well on some projects that started last year," says Evie Romero, executive vice president of the $70 million (assets) S&L. "We expect to do equally well next year because we have additional projects."
The arm of the thrift that takes in deposits and lends money -- the traditional businesses of a financial institution -- earned only about $71,000 in the company's fiscal year ended June 30, Romero says. The additional $1.1 million in net profits came from real estate developments in the West Los Angeles area and Oxnard, where demand for such development is great, Romero says
http://www.esperanzaservices.com/textonly.html
Esperanza Charities, Inc. is a private non-profit organization that provides Independent/Supported Living skills and Parent Education to individuals, families and parents with developmental disabilities.
Esperanza Charities, Inc. has been empowering people with developmental disabilities since 1998, by providing culturally competent, comprehensive services, that focuses on developing the client's innate potential for successful living.
Our team of professionals includes bilingual staff in Spanish, Tagalog and American Sign Language.
We specialize in parent education, housing resources, immigration issues and much more.
Mission Statement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Esperanza Charities, Inc. is an organization that has been created to provide the best possible instructional and support services to individuals with developmental disabilities.
Through collaboration and teamwork we define excellence in service every day with every consumer.
By working together we establish and maintain the highest standard for professionalism and quality of care.
We respect and advocate the individual's right to exercise all liberties afforded to them under the law.
Esperanza Charities, Inc. values and promotes the importance of each individual's right to have access to appropriate medical care, adequate and affordable housing, safe living, and the extensive use of all available generic resources.
Mailing Address:
Esperanza Charities, Inc.
1000 South Fremont Avenue
Suite 1102/1104 - Mail Sort 33
Alhambra, California 91803
Main Phone:
(626) 457-5242
Main FAX:
(626) 457-1402
Evie Romero
Executive Director
evie@esperanzacharities.org
Matthew Diaz
Human Resources and Administration Supervisor
matthew@esperanzacharities.org
Sandy Cabral
Supported Living Services Program Coordinator
sandy@esperanzacharities.org
Shellyn Aguirre
Independent Living Services Program Coordinator
shellyn@esperanzacharities.org
Sherly Wallace
Bookkeeper
sheri@esperanzacharities.org
Aaron Christian
Counselor/Staff Spokesperson
aaron@esperanzacharities.org
Nicole Ochoa
Receptionist
nicole@esperanzacharities.org
www.dustinnelsondds.com/evie-romero-video.htm
SOURCE: PUBLIC INFORMATION DRE
License Type:
SALESPERSON
Name:
Romero, Evie P
Mailing Address:
1000 S FREMONT AVE STE 1102 UNIT 33
ALHAMBRA, CA 91803
License ID:
01198911
Expiration Date:
07/18/07
License Status:
LICENSED
Original License Date:
07/19/95 (Unofficial -- taken from secondary records)
Former Name(s):
NO FORMER NAMES
Employing Broker:
License ID: 01174102
Borda, Joseph Louis
2299 HUNTINGTON DRIVE #B
SAN MARINO, CA 91108
Comment:
NO DISCIPLINARY ACTION
01/20/97 - CONDITIONAL LICENSE SUSPENSION. EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS NOT FILED.
06/21/99 - CONDITIONAL SUSPENSION REMOVED. EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS MET.
>>>> Public information request complete <<<<
Matthew Diaz
Human Resources and Administration Supervisor
matthew@esperanzacharities.org
HE WORKS WITH EVIE AT SAME BROKER OFFICE
License Type:
BROKER
Name:
Borda, Joseph Louis
Mailing Address:
2299 HUNTINGTON DRIVE #B
SAN MARINO, CA 91108
License ID:
01174102
Expiration Date:
05/08/07
License Status:
LICENSED
Original License Date:
05/09/95 (Unofficial -- taken from secondary records)
Former Name(s):
NO FORMER NAMES
Main Office:
2299 HUNTINGTON DRIVE #B
SAN MARINO, CA 91108
DBA
NO CURRENT DBAS
Branches:
NO CURRENT BRANCHES
Affiliated Licensed Corporation(s):
NO CURRENT AFFILIATED CORPORATIONS
Salespersons:
01702323 - Diaz, Matthew Joseph
01198911 - Romero, Evie P
Comment:
NO DISCIPLINARY ACTION
NO OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS
>>>> Public information request complete <<<<
MATHEW IS EL SERENO BOY! WONDER WHO LET HIM IN ON CAL TRANS PROPERTY OPPORTUNITY (OOPS SCAM!)
License Type:
SALESPERSON
Name:
Diaz, Matthew Joseph
Mailing Address:
3930 TAMPICO AVE
LOS ANGELES, CA 90032-1615
License ID:
01702323
Expiration Date:
07/29/09
License Status:
LICENSED
Original License Date:
07/30/05 (Unofficial -- taken from secondary records)
Former Name(s):
NO FORMER NAMES
Employing Broker:
License ID: 01174102
Borda, Joseph Louis
2299 HUNTINGTON DRIVE #B
SAN MARINO, CA 91108
Comment:
NO DISCIPLINARY ACTION
NO OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS
>>>> Public information request complete <<<<
IS HE RELATED TO DEBORAH BORDA OF LA PHILHARMONIC
VILLARAIGOSA BUDDY
ZUMA
LOOK INTO CYNTHIA RUIZ AND DIAZ FAMILY.
11:18 Sure S&L makes profit from taxypayers back.
Evie you're a Bitch Poverty Abuser
Could whoever posted all that stuff please translate it, synthesize it or otherwise explain why you bothered? Is your point that the "charity" is run by a real estate broker? If so, that's a good point. I'd just like you to 'splain it for us, please.
http://foundationcenter.org/
ORGANIZATION NAME STATE YEAR TOTAL ASSETS FORM PAGES EIN
Esperanza Charities Inc. CA 2005 $6,120,721 990 29 95-4580280
Esperanza Charities Inc. CA 2004 $2,949,789 990 19 95-4580280
Esperanza Charities Inc. CA 2003 $2,351,994 990 16 95-4580280
Esperanza Charities Inc. CA 2002 $1,981,608 990 19 95-4580280
Is your point that the "charity" is run by a real estate broker?
YES. PROVIDED PROOF. GRANTS. INCENTIVES.
Walter, Have you read this article?
I will post part of the article. Mr. Borda is the Founder of Esperanza Charities. How ethicals is that when his own business partners (Evie Romero) live in them. Is she disabled, poor, in need of housing?
****
Then-Caltrans Director James W. Van Loben Sels enunciated this same logic in a May 1995 memo. After a Los Angeles Times expose uncovered dozens of unneeded houses still in agency hands, the local Caltrans office argued they should hang on to all of them, presumably to play if safe in case the freeway path changed and they would have to pay top dollar for land they just unloaded at rock-bottom prices. Loben Sels disagreed: “It is imperative,” he said, “that Caltrans divest itself of any property not absolutely required. We should be looking at reason to dispose of, rather than retain property.”
He seemed to have won a half-victory. The 21 surplus houses have a market value of $5.7 million.
The majority of homes that Caltrans parted with were in South Pasadena and even there controversy shadowed it.
A dozen of them were released in a single batch to a non profit called Esperanza Charities, which had proposed using the structures for developmentally disabled tenants. Two homeowner groups and South Pasadena in 1997 sued to block the deal, claiming it lacked environment review, good judgment for the neighborhood and smart business practice since selling them en masse produced less than selling them individually.
In the end, Esperanza capitulated, making only two of the 11 in South Pasadena for disabled tenants. Despite speculation that Esperanza converted the homes to market-rate, all of them remain fixed in the affordable range, according to Joseph Borda, the charity's founder. “The houses were in horrible shape when he bought them,” he said.
*****
Source: http://www.caltranstenants.com/noplace.html
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/transprog/ctcbooks/2005/0405/085%20(2.4d3).pdf
Esperanza Charities offices are next to ELARC. Do they do business together?
Walter,
How can I find out if Esperanza Charities is the same Esperanza Charities on 5335 Granada Street Los Angeles Califoornia 90042
It received 75 thousand from city taxpayer money.
Did you f'n know our City of LA gives $$$hundreds of thousands of dollars to Day Laborer Centers-IDEPSCA?
Walter, I betya didn't know that.
Joseph Borda has Florida Connections, follow da Money.
Is Joseph Borda a slumlord?
I dunno
Read article.
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2006/1/24/140730.html
OK walter, gotta say this story is da bomb! Joseph Borda had long term business relationship with Evie Romero. Both worked at Western Savings and Loan.
5:09 Dear Walter,
Not only is the charity founded by the Broker but also subplants his brokerage employees into the charity as directors, vp, and Hr Reps.
How awful if this not for profit entity was a sham to scam caltrans and taxpayers. Wonder if somoene from caltrans was in on it. What do you think? Evie lives in the home that was purchased by Esperanza Charities, it smells bad. What can I do as a taxpayer to alert my gov of such abuse?
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Director Michael Govan
Salary: shrouded in mystery
Annual budget: $48.5 million
Bonus data: Govan, who starts this week, has a five-year pact. The county supervisors have agreed to pay him $124,600 a year and he gets use of a home near the museum that would otherwise rent for $9,000 to $12,000 per month. But wait, there's more: LACMA officials will substantially sweeten Govan's salary through the affiliated private, nonprofit Museum Associates. Govan's predecessor, Andrea L. Rich, received more than $330,000 from Museum Associates on top of her county pay. But LACMA leaders won't say how much they're paying Govan — even though the law requires them to disclose it within the next year or so.
Sincerely,
Eve
Los Angeles Philharmonic
President and Chief Executive Deborah Borda
Salary: $799,970
Annual budget: $74.8 million
Bonus data: By contract, orchestra players earn at least $112,840, with pay rising to $348,988 for concertmaster Martin Chalifour. And those page-turners who sit next to the pianists in Disney Hall? $40 per concert.
You have a problem with this.
Ask Zev.
zev.co.la.ca.us/scripts/whatsnew.htm
Any relation to Gloria Romero?
Do you want to see what Evie looks or sounds like?
see her video.
http://www.dustinnelsondds.com/vids/EvieRomero.html
If a customer needs privacy when discussing banking affairs, there are conference rooms in each of Farmers' 17 branches, but, says Walker: "They're rarely needed."
As far as thrifts go, Westside Savings and Loan Association is the most profitable in Los Angeles County, with a 2.12 percent return on average assets. Westside has a different strategy for success: real estate.
"We have a development subsidiary that did very well on some projects that started last year," says Evie Romero, executive vice president of the $70 million (assets) S&L. "We expect to do equally well next year because we have additional projects."
The arm of the thrift that takes in deposits and lends money -- the traditional businesses of a financial institution -- earned only about $71,000 in the company's fiscal year ended June 30, Romero says. The additional $1.1
million in net profits came from real estate developments in the West Los Angeles area and Oxnard, where demand for such development is great, Romero says.
?????
Esperanza Charities Inc View Other Company Profiles
Address: 1000 S Fremont Ave Unit 1, Alhambra, CA, United States Map
Phone: (626) 457-5242
SIC: Administration of Housing Programs
Line of business: Supported Living Services For The Mentally Disabled
Esperanza Charities Inc - Detailed Company Profile
Year Started: 1996
State of Incorporation: CA
URL: N/A
Location type: Headquarters
Stock Symbol: N/A
Stock Exchange: N/A
Also Does Business As: N/A
NAICS: Administration of Housing Programs
Est. Annual Sales: $N/A
Est. Employees: 40
Est. Employees at Location: N/A
Contact Name: Evie Romero
Contact Title: Executive Director
8:03 Both Evie and Joseph worked for WESTSIDE BANK OF SO CAL in 90's
FDIC Bank Failures
(source: FDIC website)
37 WESTSIDE BANK OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (SAIF-insured bank). Total assets $82.3 million. Deposits assumed by Resolution Trust Corporation, which handled the bank's resolution (PR-116-93).
Wow! Did they scam the bank too?
In the Matter of
WESTSIDE BANK OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
(Insured State Nonmember Bank)
ORDER
TO
CEASE AND DESIST
FDIC-93-51b
Westside Bank of Southern California, Los Angeles, California ("Bank"), having been advised of its right to a Notice of Charges and of Hearing detailing the unsafe or unsound banking practices and violations of law and/or regulations alleged to have been committed by the Bank and of its right to a hearing on the alleged charges under section 8(b)(1) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act ("Act"), 12 U.S.C. § 1818(b)(1), and having waived those rights, entered into a STIPULATION AND CONSENT TO THE ISSUANCE OF AN ORDER TO CEASE AND DESIST ("CONSENT AGREEMENT") with counsel for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"), dated March 4, 1993, whereby solely for the purpose of this proceeding and without admitting or denying the alleged charges of unsafe or unsound banking practices and violations of law and/or regulations, the Bank consented to the issuance of an ORDER TO CEASE AND DESIST ("ORDER") by the FDIC.
The FDIC considered the matter and determined that it had reason to believe that the Bank had engaged in unsafe or unsound banking practices and had committed violations of law and/or regulations. The FDIC, therefore, accepted the CONSENT AGREEMENT and issued the following:
ORDER TO CEASE AND DESIST
I viewed video
http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_050023218.html
-Evie lied and should move out
-Ms. Wright pays $350 for a house in S. Pasadena. Take a look at her home, she don't look poor to me. Leather coutches, animal skin on couch? She is also abusing the system. Evict families and take away homes from Charity and return to Cal Trans for a fair and PUBLIC auction!
Looks Bad for Evie.
Thanks for all your comments. I'm going to suggest Mr. Goldstein take a look at them. Stay tuned!
splain? Damn Walter, that's a racist remark.
Walter:
Joe Borda is a slumlord in Florida.
Guradamteed.
If landlords have to make screening tenants the number one priority in their business, why cant government.
http://www.landlord2Landlord.info
Florida-different Joe Borda
Charities are similar to for profit businesses, and must generate positive cash flow to pay for their acivities.
This charity does good work despite accusations.
Too bad that Mr. Goldstein did not dig just a bit deeper..... it could have been GREAT!!!
The comments are very, very close.
Just hope that in the near future the smoke screen dissapates, and all is revealed. It will be a delight to see them get what they truly deserve.
What a scam! Evie Romero and her sham "charity" - Esperanza Charities should be ashamed.
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