Neil Siskind is the Founder & Chairman of The Fatherhood Assignment
Learn more at: http://www.neil-siskind-the-fatherhood-assignment.org/
Neil Siskind is the Conservator of the Neil S. Siskind Nature Preserve
The Neil S. Siskind Nature Preserve is over 7 acres of environmentally-pristine waterfront land in a magnificent setting along New York’s majestic Hudson River. The Preserve includes a variety of species of animal and plant life, and is a precious example of the thoughtful maintenance of New York’s priceless open spaces. The land’s uses are limited to outdoor recreation such as hiking and climbing, and the study of ecology, nature and land use. The Neil S. Siskind Nature Preserve allows for the intelligent contemplation of our valuable natural resources and the most effective ways to protect and maximize them.
Neil Siskind, Founder, “National Fatherhood Day”- March 29th
To encourage recognition of the needs of boys and girls who are living without fathers or father-figures in their lives.
Read about the non-profits and charities whose missions Neil Siskind supports at: www.neilsiskindsupports.com
You can read what clients and associates are saying about Neil Siskind at: http://siskindlawfirm.com/neil-siskind-bio/.
Neil Siskind’s Volunteer Work:
Volunteer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Donate to one of my needy public classrooms: http://www.donorschoose.org/NeilSiskindGiving
Help Neil Siskind make sick children’s wishes come true: Neil-Siskind/Help-Make-A-Child-Smile.htm
Help Neil Siskind help children with cancer to be more comfortable: http://mskcc.convio.net/site/TR?px=3182108&fr_id=2632&pg=personal
Champion Children– We seek to inspire people through stories of children who have overcome challenges: http://siskindlawfirm.com/champion-children/
Neil Siskind’s Pro Bono Work:
Protecting New York’s senior citizens from fraud and financial abuse www.savingseniorcitizens.com
Senior FreeStart Business- Pro Bono: We seek to help put senior citizens in the right direction so that they can face the challenges of the modern economy: http://siskindlawfirm.com/free-start-business/
Veteran FreeStart Business- Pro Bono: We seek to help put Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in the right direction so that they can face the challenges of the modern economy: http://siskindlawfirm.com/free-start-business/
Neil Siskind’s Philanthropic & Environmental Work:
-Hudson Riverfront Land Conservation: The Neil S. Siskind Nature Preserve is over 7 acres of environmentally-pristine waterfront land in a magnificent setting along New York’s majestic Hudson River.
-Founder & Chairman, The Fatherhood Assignment: A think tank to educate the public about, and advocate for the children of absentee fathers. http://www.neil-siskind-the-fatherhood-assignment.org/
-Founder and Developer of “National Fatherhood Day” (TM), observed annually on March 29th, to encourage recognition of the needs of boys and girls who are living without fathers or father-figures in their lives.
Neil Siskind’s Government Work:
-Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Boston, MA, 1994, Intern
-Office of Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Newington, CT, 1992, Intern
-Hartford County Department of Probation, Hartford, CT, 1991, Intern
Neil Siskind’s Community Assistance:
Established and operated a temporary legal clinic offering inexpensive legal services to struggling Long Islanders during the recession to help clients resolve debt, plan estate matters, organize finances, start small businesses and obtain governmental assistance such as Medicaid.
Neil Siskind’s linkedin URL: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/
Article:
On a recent re-run of The Profit about a company called Mr. Green Tea in which Marcus Lemonis invests, I took note of an issue on “a note”.
The company was trying to buy a building from a bank to use as a factory to make ice cream. They were failing to get the building for the price they wanted. Lemonis came up with the idea that instead of buying the building for more money than he wanted to pay, the company would buy from the bank the note secured not only by the building, but also by 3 other properties. The bank agreed to the transaction.
In the next scene, Lemonis says that 48 hours after talking to the bank and making the deal, he toured the building and was ready to sign the loan sale agreement and the building would be “officially ours”. But that’s not true. First, preparation of a contract for a note secured by mortgages on several buildings and the related due diligence normally takes weeks or months….but, in this case, where the company bought the note- and not the underlying real estate- not only do they need contracts and due diligence, to own the buildings there would need to be a foreclosure judgment and likely a foreclosure sale of some sort on every building. This can take months- or even a couple of years. Lemonis goes further to tell the company that he has a construction crew coming the next morning- the morning after the closing of the loan sale- to clean up the building. This is absurd. He had no right to do this prior to a foreclosure judgment and sale.
If the bank owned the properties due to their own prior foreclosure action, there would be no issues. There would have been straight real estate transactions and property deed transfers. But if the bank sold the note while the properties were still being foreclosed upon, then the bank does not yet own the actual real estate, and, thus, the note buyer does not yet own the real estate- the buyer only buys the bank’s position which gives the buyer of the note the right to foreclose- not ownership and the right to renovate a property.
If the bank only owns the note, which seems to have been the case, it makes it hard to understand how the company was negotiating to buy the “building” from the bank, rather than the note, in the first place. The same party can not own both the note and the property. If Lemonis and Mr. Green Tea had entered into a contract of sale for the property, the contract would have been unenforceable by the buyers, since the seller, the bank, had no title and no right to contract for the sale of that property or any of the other properties that secured the note. The situation, as presented, is perplexing.
I presume that for entertainment purposes, time frames were crunched. They would have to be. But if the show is to explain a business transaction properly and accurately, viewers should understand that you can not buy a note for four properties (or even for one) and suddenly own the properties. As the lender (or assignee or purchaser of a note from a lender), one would need to foreclose on the properties and effectively buy them at a foreclosure sale in order to actually own them. Foreclosures can be challenging, complex, expensive and take months, if not years. Even in the simplest of cases, they takes months. Likewise, before a lender can contract for the sale of property, it needs to own the property, which requires a completed foreclosure action, not just ownership of a non-performing note.
Business television is entertaining- but not always clear, communicative or accurate on the way things really work.
