July 29, 2010 08:47 PM UTC

Romanoff Moving To Washington Either Way?

•  
• by: peacemonger

I took some grief for suggesting Andrew Romanoff was playing the sympathy card when he sold his house a few days ago, suggesting it was a “shameless media grab”.

I know I sound like hard-hearted Henry. Losing a home is a traumatic event. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been through foreclosure can attest to the devestation it causes. My sister lost her home after her divorce. A mother of four who had been married 31 years, she was not prepared when her husband found another woman and left her with the mortgage which was already near foreclosure. She and her youngest son, still in school, lived in their car. Relatives helped, but none of them could afford to pay her debts. Later, the mercy of strangers meant the difference between sleeping on a sofa and sleeping in the street, until she was able to sharpen marketable skills and get a decent job. She’s doing okay now, but those emotional wounds will be hard to heal.

When I first heard about Andrew Romanoff selling his home to finance his Senate campaign, my heart was heavy. I worried about the sensibility of such an act, and where he would stay in the meantime. I worried for his dog Zorro, a canine made famous during the primary. I’m a dog lover –does Zorro need a home?

Today, I ran across an article from “Face the State” about Andrew Romanoff selling his home to loan money to his Senate campaign. According to the article, the buyer, Greg Geller, stated, “Win or lose, Romanoff is going to move to Washington either way”. The story is here: Romanoff sells home to Denver’s King of Flips.

So I got to thinking, “Does Andrew Romanoff already have a great job lined up if he loses the primary?” Is this story about being homeless a little overplayed? Is there more to this story than we’ve been told?

The reporter of the “Face the State” article, Jared Jacang Maher, lists his contact information on the article, so I gave him a call. I asked him why his story wasn’t picked up by other Colorado and national blogs and news outlets, to which he replied, “I wish I knew”.

Maher went on to explain how he got the information (paraphrasing):

I heard a rumour Monday morning that Andrew Romanoff may have sold his home. I looked up property records on MLS, and couldn’t find anything. I received a copy of the bill of sale in some real estate documents, stating Andrew Romanoff sold the home on Friday, July 23rd.

I knew the buyer, Greg Geller, as the “King of Flips” — someone that can buy a house more quickly than anyone else in Denver. Many of his sales are fast transactions, with extremely motivated sellers. I called the campaign on Monday afternoon. The phone was answered by a woman who handed it to Roy Teicher, Andrew’s Communication’s Director. Roy told me they would appreciate it if I didn’t do anything about the story for awhile, to give Andrew a chance to return my call. He said Andrew would call me himself in a couple of hours.

While waiting for Andrew Romanoff to return my call, Michael Booth of the Denver Post broke the story on his internet blog “The Spot”.  

Maher went on to say the buyer, Geller, made it clear he had a contract with Andrew Romanoff to not discuss the details of the agreement until September. Maher added that Romanoff transferred ownership to a Power of Attorney, who in turn, completed the transaction, a move often used by people who want to make a very rapid transaction and do not have time to do it themselves. The sale of the home included a “lease-back agreement”, allowing Romanoff to continue to live in the home. Geller went on to say, “Win or lose, Romanoff is going to move to Washington either way”.

Maher goes into details about Romanoff’s personal finances and the sale of the home here. Romanoff Betting House and Trust Fund on Primary Win.

Questions Maher’s investigative reporting bring to mind:

If Romanoff’s home sale story is true at face value and not a “media grab”, why did the campaign ask Maher not to break the story right away? Clearly, Maher had the bill of sale. All he needed was a quote. Could it be because they were looking for an outlet with the most access to national contacts?

During the two hours Maher waited for a return phone call from Romanoff, how did the Denver Post find out about it?

In the Denver Post article written by Michael Booth which quotes Romanoff four times, the buyer was not quoted, according to Maher, and the reputation of the buyer was never mentioned. The sale documents clearly stated the name of the buyer. Was Michael Booth fed this information from another source, instead of getting it from public real estate documents, as Maher did? If so, from whom?

If Romanoff included a “leaseback” arrangement in the sale, why did he not release a statement saying he will continue to live in his home?  Supporters on the blogs and on facebook continue to speak sympathetically of Romanoff, suggesting he is sleeping on a sofa somewhere.

Why did Romanoff laugh on national television with Chris Matthews when Matthews said, “You’re homeless, buddy”?  

And to Andrew Romanoff: “Was this a desperate media grab playing on people’s concern for the homeless in order to get more donations to your campaign?” (I hope not.)

“If you really do have a place to stay, shouldn’t you be honest to your supporters so as not to diminish the real suffering of people who are currently homeless?”

“And, if you lose the primary to Michael Bennet, are you abandoning Colorado, as Greg Geller suggests?”

More information would be very helpful.