Mantria Corp (Spencer, Dunlap) - Ponzi scheme (Cookeville, Philadelphia: fit in, foreclosure)

[cqbdriver]

Mantria has two developments near my property in Spencer (Indian Trail & Iron Bridge). I was always suspicious because they kept moving completion dates back every year)

Look like my suspicions may be correct:

Wragg, Knorr ordered to halt Mantria operations - Philadelphia Business Journal:

Wragg, Knorr ordered to halt Mantria operationsPhiladelphia Business Journal -by Jeff Blumenthal Staff Writer
A federal judge in Denver late Monday granted the request by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a temporary restraining order against two Philadelphia residents accused of operating a $30 million Ponzi scheme.

Moderator cut: trimmed for copy write issues, please see link for full story

[yarddawg]

Not surprised. Some of the things that some of the developers promised in this area went beyond unlikely to the point of challenging the laws of physics. Knew there had to be some kind of scam going on.


Indian Trail - that's the one built squarely in the old artillery range isn't it? When the fed turned that property back over after WWII the deeds all had a restriction that the land was suitable for "Surface Uses Only" because of all the frag and unexploded ammo. Not sure how they got that off the deeds but several of the "gated communities" infringe on the area even though the Corps of Engineers is considering yet another cleanup because people are still finding live munitions at the ground surface. In the past few years artillery shells as large as 300 lbs have been turned up by loggers and a kid in Cookeville blew off most of one hand after carrying home a smaller shell found on a hike. They had a speaker at the local high school last year to tell the kids what to do if they find munitions. Yeah, great place for a subdivision, you know a quality outfit is behind that.

[cqbdriver]

My land is in the old Spencer Artillery Range. The Corp of Engineers resurveyed the land a few years ago. They came out with a report that shows the bad areas.

IIRC:
My land is clean (in range, but aways from impact areas). Indian Trail Phase II was next to impact area & the report recommended some restrictions. They can dig, but workers need to be trained on what to do if they find ordnance. However, Indian Trail Phase III was square in the middle of the impact area. Report recommended removing the top soil before using land.

However, after spending lots of taxpayer money, they just put up warning signs on all roads entering area.

[mbmouse]

Isn't it amazing that it is the out of state "developers" are the ones buying up TN land for these weird (to TN) subdivisions and "communities"? Have any of them been successful and not some kind of scam or supper over priced? It just amazes me.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Isn't it amazing that it is the out of state "developers" are the ones buying up TN land for these weird (to TN) subdivisions and "communities"? Have any of them been successful and not some kind of scam or supper over priced? It just amazes me.

You are so right!

I remember soon after I first started posting in this forum, several of us (you, hiknapster, me, and probably others) were warning all these out-of-state people who saw Eric Estrada on TV in Florida advertising these weird, gated communities in the middle of nowhere in TN for outrageous prices. We were slammed by people who were interested in those developments, they said that if they're willing to pay outrageous prices for land in Podunk Mountain TN, what business is it of ours? Now we see that some of them were nothing more than a scam.

And even if the other developments aren't scams, I still hope people will take a very, very hard look at them and wonder if it's worth all that money to buy into these developments that prey on unsuspecting out-of-staters who don't realize just how remote the developments are and just how inexpensive land can be in rural Tennessee.

[yarddawg]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Isn't it amazing that it is the out of state "developers" are the ones buying up TN land for these weird (to TN) subdivisions and "communities"? Have any of them been successful and not some kind of scam or supper over priced? It just amazes me.

After dealing with the Y2K people and the Planet X people nothing amazes me anymore. When you're on the backside of nowhere you draw a bit of the weirdo freak element. The stories I could tell....


Most of the large developments here are somewhere on the scam scale. Morally if not legally. When the land was sold at auction by the timber companies because the pine borers were decimating their tree farms the prices for some of the multi-thousand acre tracts worked out to less than $250 an acre. The developers added a couple of zeros and, since the county had no planning or codes, didn't do much else. So that's a pretty steep, logistically unstable markup for beat-up, strip mined, clear-cut mountain land with a few gravel or thinly paved roads and a vague promise about the county extending public water lines. Foreclosure auctions on unbuilt lots are advertised in the local paper at the rate of 5-10 per week and have been for almost two years now.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by JMT

You are so right!

I remember soon after I first started posting in this forum, several of us (you, hiknapster, me, and probably others) were warning all these out-of-state people who saw Eric Estrada on TV in Florida advertising these weird, gated communities in the middle of nowhere in TN for outrageous prices. We were slammed by people who were interested in those developments, they said that if they're willing to pay outrageous prices for land in Podunk Mountain TN, what business is it of ours? Now we see that some of them were nothing more than a scam.

And even if the other developments aren't scams, I still hope people will take a very, very hard look at them and wonder if it's worth all that money to buy into these developments that prey on unsuspecting out-of-staters who don't realize just how remote the developments are and just how inexpensive land can be in rural Tennessee.

Alleycat, too. He helped!

And we had a lot of alleged "buyers" that would come on and post once, gushing about their new "wonderful" property! Sometimes they posted more than once. Sometimes these "buyers" woud argue with us.

Those places were very, very remote. And you are correct, yarddawg and JMT, the price they bought that land for and what they sold it for is a disgrace. There's a couple that come to mind in south middle and middle Tennessee. Thank developer went bankrupt. No roads, no water. Lots of lawsuits. Nice.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Alleycat, too. He helped!

And we had a lot of alleged "buyers" that would come on and post once, gushing about their new "wonderful" property! Sometimes they posted more than once. Sometimes these "buyers" woud argue with us.

Yeah, I remember threads on two or three of those developments. I believe I called some of the posters sockpuppets "to their face" in one thread (which, of course, they were). It's been some time ago, but I believe in another thread one of the sockpuppets told me that if I couldn't post anything nice about the development I shouldn't post anything at all (it was hurting their feelings). ;-)

Really, for anyone who comes along to read this thread in the future, if several people who actually live in Tennessee warn you to be extremely cautious about a development or buying land in certain areas, my suggestion is . . . TO BE EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS! Most of us here are positive about living in Tennessee, and are glad to help possible new arrivals to our state (no matter where they come up); it isn't like we try to shoo people away or like to be negative about something happening here.

I have some personal feelings about the growth of the state (having to do with sprawl and the loss of the rural quality of some areas), but on an individual basis, until they prove otherwise, I assume anyone considering a move to Tennessee is looking for something we have here; can appreciate the positive things about Tennessee while realizing no place is perfect, including this state; will be able to "fit in" and be good neighbors and friends given half a chance. I like it when I see a post that starts, "I've been to Tennessee several times and fell in love with it and the people I met . . . now I'd like to move there and am looking for some help finding the right place for me . . . "

I'm alleycat and I approved this message. Okay, I'll get off the soapbox now. ;-)

[hiknapster]

Alleycat. You still rock on.

Sad to say, but we were all correct.

If someone is giving you steaks or Erik Estrada thinks it is a good idea, run the other way. They are going to stick you out in the middle of nowhere, have you buy a piece of property that is worth an eighth of what you paid, and you will probably never see a road or water. Or a hospital.

[mrs1885]

If someone is giving you steaks or Erik Estrada thinks it is a good idea

ROTFL!!

Funny, but true!

I'd love to see all sub divisions kept out of the rural areas of the state anyway. I didn't pay good money to escape them in Florida, just to wind up with them down the road from me here. The people that live in them are not the kind of neighbors I want. I like my big pieces of land, I like my privacy. If they want subs they need to go live in Florida or Nashville.