INTERSTATE MAIL ORDER LAND SALES HEARING BEFORE THE St[BCOMMITTEE ON FRAUDS AND MISR]L- RIg3SENTATIONS AFFECTING THE ELDER{LY OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING UNITED STATES SENATE EIGHTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION PART 3 MAY 20, 1964 Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging <*. U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 34-56 0 WASHINGTON : 1964 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C., 20402 - Price 35 cents SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING GEORGE A. SMATHERS, Florida, Chairman PAT McNAMARA, Michigan EVERETT McKINLEY DIRKSEN, Illinois CLAIR ENGLE, California BARRY GOLDWATER, Arizona HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, li., New Jersey FRANK CARLSON, Kansas MAURINE B. NEUBERGER, Oregon WINSTON L. PROUTY, Vermont WAYNE MORSE, Oregon KENNETH B. KEATING, New York ALAN BIBLE, Nevada HIRAM L. FONG, Hawaii FRANK CHURCH, Idaho E. L. MECHEM, New Mexico JENNINGS RANDOLPH, West Virginia EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Maine EDWARD V. LONG, Missouri FRANK E. MOSS, Utah EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts RALPH W. YARBOROUGH, Texas J. WILLIAM NOaMAN, Jr., Staff Director JoHN Guy MILLEa, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON FRAUDS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS AFFECTING THE ELDERLY HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, Jn., New Jersey, Chairman MAURINE B. NEUBERGER, Oregon KENNETH B. KEATING, New York WAYNE MORSE, Oregon WINSTON L. PROUTY, Vermont FRANK CHURCH, Idaho HIRAM L. FONG, Hawaii EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Maine E. L. MECHEM, New Mexico EDWARD V. LONG, Missouri EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts RALPH W. YARBOROUGH, Texas WILLIAM E. ORnOL, Professional Staff Member GERALD P. NYE, Minority Professional Staff Member NoTm.-Hearings on interstate mail-order land sales were held and they are identified as follows: Part 1-Washington, D.C., May 18, 1964. Part 2-Washington, D.C., May 19, 1964. Part 3-Washington, D.C., May 20, 1964. II CONTENTS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Henry B. Montague, chief inspector, Post Office Department; accom- panied by William Callahan, Director, Division, Fraud and Mailability Page Investigations; and Adam G. Wenchel, Associate General Counsel -233 Alton W. Van Horn, Commissioner, New Jersey Real Estate Commission, Newark; accompanied by Robert R. Peacock, Secretary-Director, Livingston, N.J -247 John R. Hoffman, vice president, National Better Business Bureau -282 John C. Williamson, secretary-counsel, Realtors Washington Committee, National Association of Real Estate Boards -288 STATEMENTS Cromwell, James H. R., chairman of the board, American Realty & Petro- leum Corp -338 Shishkin, Boris, secretary, Housing Committee, AFL-CIO -301 Teets, Tom, resident of Sacramento, Calif., statement referred to Sub- committee on Housing for the Elderly - 359 Van Horn, Alton W., in behalf of the New Jersey Real Estate Commission 350 Williamson, John C., director, Department of Governmental Relations, NAREB -298 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Boom in the Desert-Why It Grows and Grows, U.S. News & World Report, May 25, 1964 - 352 Mail fraud convictions, 13 cases with a listing of particulars -242 National Better Business Bureau, material covering land advertising and selling -302 Pattern act for regulation of subdivided lands, NAREB License Law Committee -292 Promotional sales questionnaire and request for public report, New Jersey Real Estate Commission -258 Realtor's Headlines, clippings from issues of this weekly on land frauds --- 288 Regulating sales of real property located outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ---- ----------------------------------------- 312 United Steelworkers of America, Roland M. Sawyer, Housing Consultant, letter dated June 9, 1964 -302 m INTERSTATE MAIL ORDER LAND SALES WEDNESDAY, XAY 20, 1964 U.S. SENATE, SurcoMMmrEE ON FRAUDS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS AFFECTING THE ELDERLY OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING, Wa8hingto'n, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10:05 a.m., pursuant to recess, in room 4232, New Senate Office Building, Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (chairman of the subcommittee), presiding. Present: Senators Williams and Neuberger. Also present: William E. Oriol, professional staff member; Gerald P. Nye, minority professional staff member; Patricia Slinkard, chief clerk; Mary Keeley, staff assistant; and Marion Keevers, minority chief clerk. Senator WILLiAMs. Our subcommittee deliberations will come to order. Our first witness this morning will be Chief Inspector H. B. Mon- tague, of the Post Office Department, a very important man in the field we have been analyzing for the last 2 days. STATEMENT OF HENRY B. MONTAGUE, CHIEF INSPECTOR, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT; ACCOMPANIED BY WILLIAM CALLAHAN, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF FRAUD AND MAILABILITY INVESTIGA- TIONS, BUREAU OF THE CHIEF INSPECTOR; AND ADAM G. WENCH-EL, ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL Senator WILLIAMS. Mr. Montague, you have Mr. Callahan and Mr. Wenchel with you? Mr. MONTAGUE. Yes, sir. Senator WILLIAMS. These gentlemen are Director and Mr. Wenchel is the Mr. WENCHEL. Associate General Counsel. Senator WILLIAMS. Division of Fraud and Mailability Investiga- tions. Mr. WENCHEL. Mr. Callahan is Director of that Division in the Chief Inspector's Office. Senator WILLIAMS. We welcome you back before this committee. You have been helpful before and I know you will be helpful this morning. You may proceed, Mr. Montague. Mr. MONTAGUE. I have a statement, Senator. Is it all right if I read it? Senator WILLIAMs. Fine. 233 234 INTERSTATE MAIL ORDER LAND SALES Mr. MONTAGuE. The opportunity to again report to this committee concerning the -status of our investigations of alleged fraud in mail order land sales is appreciated. These investigations are made by us under authority of 18 U.S.C. 1341 and 39 U.S.C. 4005, which impose a duty on the Postmaster General to prevent the use of the Postal Establishment in the perpetration of schemes to defraud the public. There are many facets to these land fraud schemes. In most cases, the promoters launch a lavish advertising campaign in media through- out the Nation in which extravagant claims are made depicting nearly worthless land as suitable for homesites or retirement or investment purposes. The principal inducement to buy is usually a seemingly low price. Buyers are seldom near enough to the property to personally inspect it without spending more for transportation than the price of the land warrants. This, coupled with the appeal to the "bargain instinct" present in most people is an integral part of the scheme. A variation of this theme is practiced by some promoters who peddle worthless land at fairs, flower shows, and other similar public events at which the land is disposed of by a so-called free drawing in which practically everyone who registers is a "winner." Such "winners" are then separately notified that each has won a valuable lot which may be obtained simply by paying so-called nominal closing costs which actually represent far more than the land is worth. Based on the great number of victims these closing costs provide a vast profit for the promoters. Another gimmick frequently used in a promotion is the promise of improvements in the form of clubhouses, recreational facilities, roads, sewers, and utilities which are never furnished. Many instances have been found where promoters have skipped without fulfilling such commitments after disposing of the land. In other cases unscrupulous promoters have advertised and accepted pay- ments from victims for land to which they could not convey a clear title. The following statistics dating from July 1, 1962, are indicative of the scope of the land investigative program being conducted by the postal inspection service: Land fraud investigations authorized------------------------------------ 358 Cases closed----------------------------------------------------------- 165 Cases currently under investigation------------------------------------ 193 Cases presented to U.S. attorneys--------------------------------------- 35 Cases in which indictments returned----------------------------------- 22 Number of defendants indicted--______________________________________ 60 Cases in which convictions obtained-------------------------------------- 7 Number of defendants convicted--------------------------------------- 13 Cases wherein indictments are outstanding------------------------------ 15 Prosecutive action in these cases is closely coordinated with the Criminal Division, Department of Justice, and U.S. attorney through- out the Nation. In view of this committee's concern with frauds in general, many of which particularly affect the elderly, we should bring to attention that in the first 10 months of this fiscal year, through April 1964, postal inspectors made 548 arrests for mail fraud violations of all types. This was an increase of 7.2 percent over the same period last year. Also, while it is not within our jurisdiction to cause adjustments to be INTERSTATE MAIL ORDER LAND SALES 235 made, a total of $5,224,340 was restored to victims as a result of mail fraud investigations. Thank you. Senator WILLIAMS. How did these restorations come about? It is not within your jurisdiction. Was it voluntary? Mr. MONTAGUE. Some of them, Senator, were court ordered and others were voluntary. Senator WILLIAMS. You say 35 cases were presented to the U.S. at- torneys, the number of defendants indicted, 60 ? Mr. MONTAGUE. Yes, sir. Senator WILLIAMS. Is this more than 1 individual involved in the 35 cases or how do you account for that.? Mr. MONTAGUE. In some instances there was only one. In other in- stances there were as many as three or four or more. Senator WILLIAMS. I would like