DESERT.
TONIGHT, A YEAR LONG
LARRY BARKER
INVESTIGATION SHOWS US
HOW A
LAND FRAUD SCHEME THAT
BILKED THOUSANDS ALMOST
A HALF
CENTURY AGO... IS TODAY
COSTING NEW MEXICO
TAXPAYERS MILLIONS
OF DOLLARS EVERY YEAR.
Mike Milam: "It pisses
me off because they )re
taking advantage of the
general public. . And
there )s a lot
of gullible people out
there that they )re doing
this to."
Anaya: "We were really
the wild west when it
came to land fraud."
Michelle Milam: "People
will cry, they will be
angry. They )re just
devastated."
Barker: "It )s a vast
weed choked chunk of
real estate larger in
area than Albuquerque,
Rio Rancho,
and Las Cruces combined.
Welcome to ground zero
at one of the largest
land swindles in New
Mexico history. The
scheme was centered in
rural Valencia and
Socorro Counties.
Thousands of land
purchasers were bilked
and taxpayers lost
millions."
YOU NEED TO GO BACK SOME
FIFTY YEARS WHEN THE
TUCSON BASED
HORIZON CORPORATION
BOUGHT UP MORE THAN 200
HUNDRED THOUSAND ACRES
OF DESOLATE GRAZING LAND
BETWEEN THE RIO
GRANDE AND THE MANZANO
MOUNTAINS. THE PROPERTY
STRETCHES FROM LOS LUNAS
SOUTH 24 MILES INTO
SOCORRO COUNTY.
ON PAPER HORIZON CARVED
THE DESOLATE LANDSCAPE
INTO
RESIDENTIAL PARCELS AND
PEDDLED THEM AS
INVESTMENT
OPPORTUNITIES. THE PLANS
INCLUDED STREETS,
SCHOOLS AND PARKS. THERE
WERE SUBDIVISIONS WITH
ALLURING NAMES LIKE RIO
DEL ORO AND RIO
GRANDE ESTATES. HORIZON
TOUTED ITS VALENCIA
COUNTY PROPERTY AS THE
BIGGEST LAND BARGAIN IN
THE NATION. THE
GOVERNMENT
HOWEVER CALLED IT
SOMETHING ELSE. TONEY
ANAYA WAS NEW MEXICO )S
ATTORNEY GENERAL.
Anaya: "They were
marketing these at fancy
dinner parties or any
way that they could
market them
around the country ...
and making it appear
like this was the next
gold rush, the land rush
in the Southwest
and making horrible
misrepresentations as to
what was what they were
actually selling."
NOW IF YOU LIVE IN NEW
MEXICO YOU WOULD KNOW
THE DEVELOPMENT
POTENTIAL OF THIS LAND.
Barker: "However,
Horizon marketed these
property to out of state
consumers living in
places like New
Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Consider this parcel on
a street Horizon called
Lepanto Court. If the
buyers
ever planned to move
here to build their
dream home they )d be out
of luck. You see, this
lot isn )t in
paradise, it )s in an
arroyo."
DESERI SICHLER IS
VALENCIA COUNTY )S
TREASURER.
Sichler: "Q. If you )re
the proud owner of a
quarter acre lot in Rio
Grande Estates what is
the reality?
What do you own? ... A.
Sage. You own some
sagebrush. Maybe a
couple of rattlesnakes,
cotton tails,
scorpions. Theres pretty
good sized tarantulas
out there."
Anaya: "Q. What was the
reality of the land in
Valencia county that
Horizon was peddling? A.
Most of it was barren
land. It was pasture,
range land. ... There
was nothing there."
IN 1976, ATTORNEY
GENERAL ANAYA SLAPPED
HORIZON WITH A LAWSUIT.
Anaya: "We alleged fraud
on their part. Deceit.
Misrepresentation." IN
1979, THE FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION FOUND HORIZON
HAD DECEIVED ITS
CUSTOMERS BY SELLING
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
WORTH OF
"WORTHLESS DESERT LAND"
AS BONAFIDE INVESTMENTS.
HORIZON WAS ORDERED TO
RE-PAY ITS CUSTOMERS
MORE THAN $14
MILLION.
Barker: "That was almost
40 years ago. Today, the
Horizon Corporation is
long gone, however, its
legacy of
misrepresentation
continues to wreak havoc
here." MICHELLE MILAM IS
VALENCIA COUNTY )S
ASSESSOR.
Michelle Milam: "One
gentleman I spoke with
some time back from New
Jersey was so excited to
own a piece of land the
first time he )d ever
owned anything in his
life was this piece of
land. And when he
came to the office he
was crying when he found
out what he had bought
because he knew he
couldn )t build his dream
home there."
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF
HORIZON BUYERS WERE
DUPED. WITH
NO ROADS, NO WATER, NO
ELECTRICITY AND NO
RESALE VALUE, MANY
STOPPED PAYING PROPERTY
TAXES AND ESSENTIALLY
ABANDONED THEIR
PROPERTY. AT JUST ONE
SUBDIVISION, RIO DEL
ORO, SOME 36,000 LAND
OWNERS OWE VALENCIA
COUNTY $6.9 MILLION
DOLLARS IN UNPAID
PROPERTY TAXES,
PENALTIES AND INTEREST.
Sichler: "Q. Does it
appear that that six
point nine million
dollars is collectible?
A. No."
EVERY YEAR THOUSANDS OF
COUNTY TAX NOTICES ARE
UNDELIVERABLE BECAUSE
THE OUT OF STATE LAND
OWNERS HAVE
EITHER DIED OR MOVED
AWAY.
Barker: "Among the
undeliverable tax
notices 250 lots owned
by a defunct Arizona
business. 780 lots owned
by some guy in
California who is
deceased. And 380 lots
owned by somebody on the
island of
Brunei off the coast of
Indonesia."
WITH MORE THAN A HUNDRED
THOUSAND UNIMPROVED
HORIZON LOTS SCATTERED
ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE,
TODAY THEY HAVE
LITTLE RE-SALE VALUE.
MIKE MILAM IS A LOS
LUNAS REAL ESTATE BROKER
Mike Milam: "I can put
it on the market but it
will not sell. Q.
Nobody )s going to buy
it? A. No. There hasn )t
been any sales in Rio
Del Oro except for one
in the last eight
years."
Barker: "But the lack of
marketability hasn )t
stopped some promoters
from picking up where
Horizon
left off. Consider Land
Ho, a New Jersey based
wholesaler that acquired
more than 3000 Horizon
parcels and peddles them
on weekly web auctions.
Even though Land Ho )s
Valencia County holdings
are mostly stark desert
land, you wouldn )t know
it by looking at their
ads."
FOR EXAMPLE CONSIDER
LAND HO )S LOT 4 IN THE
CANYON DEL RIO
SUBDIVISION. BUT TAKE A
CLOSE LOOK. THIS ISN )T
VALENCIA COUNTY. IT )S
NOT
EVEN NEW MEXICO. LAND HO
LIFTED THIS PHOTO OF THE
COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAINS
FROM THE INTERNET AND
USED IT TO DEPICT
DESOLATE VALENCIA
COUNTY RANGE LAND.
LAND HO USED THIS IMAGE
OF SHIPROCK TO DEPICT AN
UNDEVELOPED LOT 185
MILES AWAY IN VALENCIA
COUNTY.
JUDGING BY THIS IMAGE OF
THE CHAMA VALLEY YOU
WOULD THINK A
PRISTINE RIVER RUNS
THROUGH LOT 18. IN
FACT, THIS PARCEL IS A
PARCHED QUARTER ACRE OF
SCRUB AND SAGE. LAND HO
USES A TRANQUIL COLORADO
MOUNTAIN SCENE TO
DEPICT WEED CHOKED LOT
40.
LAND HO DESCRIBES LOT 33
AS AN UNBEATABLE
LOCATION IN VALENCIA NEW
MEXICO. THE PHOTO
HOWEVER IS OF THE
DRAGOON
MOUNTAINS IN ARIZONA.
LAND HO PEDDLES LOT 42
EAST OF LOS LUNAS WITH A
PHOTO OF THE
ORGAN MOUNTAINS EAST OF
LAS CRUCES. THEY SAY YOU
CAN WALK FROM LOT 42 TO
THE MANZANO MOUNTAIN
STATE PARK. WELL BETTER
GET OUT
YOUR HIKING BOOTS, YOU
SEE THE PARK IS ON THE
OTHER SIDE OF THE
MOUNTAIN.
A NEWS 13 INVESTIGATION
FINDS LAND HO
MISREPRESENTED
VALENCIA COUNTY LAND IN
DOZENS OF ADS.. A
SPOKESMAN FOR THE NEW
JERSEY FIRM SAYS LAND HO
WILL REMOVE ALL
DECEPTIVE PHOTOS
FROM ITS ADVERTISED LAND
SALES.. Barker: "In its
heyday, the Horizon
Corporation sold almost
139,000 individual lots
to consumers across the
world. Today, taxpayers
are owed almost $11
million dollars in
delinquent property
taxes."
SECRETARY JOHN MONFORTE
HEADS UP NEW MEXICO TAX
DEPARTMENT.
Monforte: "Q. How unique
is this issue in New
Mexico? A. It )s one of
a kind. ... It )s a
problem older than I am.
It )s
a unique problem."
Mike Milam: "Q. Look in
your crystal ball Mike.
When do you think there
will be roads, sewers,
electricity, telephone
lines in these
developments that we )re
talking about? A. Not in
my lifetime."
LARRY BARKER KRQE NEWS
13.
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