Former Packard Plant Owner Dies
Posted by RogerDetroit On 2020/6/13 10:31:50
This is a sad story.
Dominic Cristini, former owner of the PMCC Plant on EGB has died from cancer at the age of 61. Attached is an article from the Detroit News. Dominic fought the City of Detroit and won in court, but then lost it all.
This all began in the mid-1990s. Dominic was buying the PMCC building from the title holder/seller in what is known as a "land contract" - a form of seller financing. Seller holds title to the property while the buyer makes mortgage payments to them. Dominic's payment to the seller is principal, interest and real estate taxes. The seller is supposed to forward the tax money to the City and keep the title clear of tax liens. But that did not happen - instead the seller pocketed the money and tax liens piled up unbeknownst to Dominic.
Meanwhile, Dominic has over 90 tenants in the building producing a gross (before expenses/taxes) revenue of about $1.0 million annually. He spends some of the rent proceeds to repair the buildings, create more rental space and thus more rental income. At this point in time, the lobby and executive areas are nearly untouched - looking much as a time capsule from the 1950s.
But downtown, the tax liens are sent to the Legal Department for enforcement and foreclosure. This is where the City screwed up - they never did a simple title search before starting foreclosure. This would have revealed that Dominic had an ownership interest and been given a chance to clear up the tax problem, but that never happened. Instead, the City (illegally) sent in the Gang Squad to physically remove all the tenants. You may know Don Sommer of American Arrow - he was one of the tenants ordered out by the police. Worse yet was the City began demolition on parts of the building until that was stopped by court order. But the damage was done. The building was open the vandals, scrappers, and the elements.
Dominic fought this in court and won every time. The City would appeal and lose. Dominic would win monetary arbitration awards and the City would refuse to pay, appeal, and lose. The City demanded their taxes be paid and Dominic would counter with, "... you threw out my tenants, you damaged my buildings, you took away my livelihood - take the taxes from the arbitration award you owe me!" And the City would stall - to wait him out while his legal bills climbed.
Then Dominic screwed up big time. Don't for a second think I condone what he did. Dominic started to deal drugs. He was caught and spent 4 years in prison. Now he had zero chance of paying the taxes, the legal bills and regaining his property. His girlfriend committed suicide. In the end, the City won out.
Don't believe it? This was all shown in a documentary titled "Packard - The Last Shift" produced by Brian Kaufman, a photo-journalist with the Detroit Free Press newspaper.https://www.freep.com/story/news/documentaries/2019/04/02/packard-last-shift-free-press-documentary/3343452002/
Link to the article:https://www.detroitnews.com/story/obituaries/2020/06/11/former-packard-plant-owner-who-fought-city-property-dead-61/5342399002/
Attach file:
(125.07 KB)
Dominic Cristini, former owner of the PMCC Plant on EGB has died from cancer at the age of 61. Attached is an article from the Detroit News. Dominic fought the City of Detroit and won in court, but then lost it all.
This all began in the mid-1990s. Dominic was buying the PMCC building from the title holder/seller in what is known as a "land contract" - a form of seller financing. Seller holds title to the property while the buyer makes mortgage payments to them. Dominic's payment to the seller is principal, interest and real estate taxes. The seller is supposed to forward the tax money to the City and keep the title clear of tax liens. But that did not happen - instead the seller pocketed the money and tax liens piled up unbeknownst to Dominic.
Meanwhile, Dominic has over 90 tenants in the building producing a gross (before expenses/taxes) revenue of about $1.0 million annually. He spends some of the rent proceeds to repair the buildings, create more rental space and thus more rental income. At this point in time, the lobby and executive areas are nearly untouched - looking much as a time capsule from the 1950s.
But downtown, the tax liens are sent to the Legal Department for enforcement and foreclosure. This is where the City screwed up - they never did a simple title search before starting foreclosure. This would have revealed that Dominic had an ownership interest and been given a chance to clear up the tax problem, but that never happened. Instead, the City (illegally) sent in the Gang Squad to physically remove all the tenants. You may know Don Sommer of American Arrow - he was one of the tenants ordered out by the police. Worse yet was the City began demolition on parts of the building until that was stopped by court order. But the damage was done. The building was open the vandals, scrappers, and the elements.
Dominic fought this in court and won every time. The City would appeal and lose. Dominic would win monetary arbitration awards and the City would refuse to pay, appeal, and lose. The City demanded their taxes be paid and Dominic would counter with, "... you threw out my tenants, you damaged my buildings, you took away my livelihood - take the taxes from the arbitration award you owe me!" And the City would stall - to wait him out while his legal bills climbed.
Then Dominic screwed up big time. Don't for a second think I condone what he did. Dominic started to deal drugs. He was caught and spent 4 years in prison. Now he had zero chance of paying the taxes, the legal bills and regaining his property. His girlfriend committed suicide. In the end, the City won out.
Don't believe it? This was all shown in a documentary titled "Packard - The Last Shift" produced by Brian Kaufman, a photo-journalist with the Detroit Free Press newspaper.https://www.freep.com/story/news/documentaries/2019/04/02/packard-last-shift-free-press-documentary/3343452002/
Link to the article:https://www.detroitnews.com/story/obituaries/2020/06/11/former-packard-plant-owner-who-fought-city-property-dead-61/5342399002/
Attach file:
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