It seems that everyone is taking for granted that the sociaty has made 1 billion in profit. Could anyone tell me why it would not be a posibility that the society had a large number of mortgages attached to these properties? Wouldn't that explain the latest monney grab from the congregations?
Could the WT have paid of large loans when it sold NY properties?
by StephaneLaliberte 10 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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insidetheKH
can you do the math?
they paid peanuts compared with what they get now for the real estate in Brooklyn. They bought lots of it when the market was bad and a lot of those properties were in very bad shape,.. so very cheap.
They sold/sell it when the market is way up and the buildings are in excellent condition.
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TTATTelder
insidethekh:
can you do the math?
they paid peanuts compared with what they get now for the real estate in Brooklyn. They bought lots of it when the market was bad and a lot of those properties were in very bad shape,.. so very cheap.
They sold/sell it when the market is way up and the buildings are in excellent condition.
That math has nothing to do with the possibility of outstanding loans mentioned in the OP.
I don't know if that info can be found in public records. It probably can.
The public info about this new luxury property in Wales says no mortgage.
I personally suspect that the borg is flush with cash, is downsizing, putting away as many millions as possible for the future support of themselves, and putting that money in multiple corp's spread out internationally and as out-of-reach as possible from lawsuits.
It seems that their financial "fears" are dominating the decision making. Are these fears justified? - only time will tell.
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confusedandalone
Most of the properties the WTBTS had in brooklyn the owned going back decades in time. The only one they could have owned money on would have been maybe Bossert or 90 sands and if I remember correctly those were paid out. Patterson and Walkill as well.
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redvip2000
You're kidding right?
The Watchtower moved into Brooklyn around 1908. I don't know how much each building was, but to put it in comparison, a home in Brooklyn around that time cost $10,000. The Brooklyn Bridge itself cost about $15 million to build from scratch.
Believe me, those properties were paid off decades ago. A stingy organization like the WT organization would not be paying interest with money laying around and available to pay off the properties.
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SadElder
To my knowledge the society doesn't mortgage anything. From the guys I knew in purchasing, they might buy stuff on time payments if they were offered something like 30-60-90 day payments at no interest. They have an aversion to outsiders knowing their business, mortgages require financial statements.
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LoisLane looking for Superman
Watch Tower Worldwide Real Estate Inc . is a Business. It is also a supposed Christian charity. No. What it is, is a money grab.
WT/GB serenades you with sweet nothings...
Armageddon is so close, stay with me. Don't get married, don't have children, don't go to college (WT/GB say it as if God has spoken).
Stay and be my slave.
As my slave, I want a portion of you to stay in the same building with me. Bethel. Clean my room, my toilet, cook my food, iron my shirts, cut my hair, wash my car, drive me in my car.. You get the picture. Be my slave.
I want another group of you to go out and do manual labor, work that will keep your mind off of what I am up too. Those jobs available are window washing, carpet cleaning, cleaning office buildings and other peoples homes, lawn maintenance. Now with what money you get, you gotta give "Mother" some.
Those of you who through sheer will power, have bettered yourselves, "Mother" will want more of your time and money too .
Some of you did not listen to us and went and got yourself married. Well! So what about the wives who don't work? If you are not slaving for me here at Bethel, or on the circuit work, then I want you to slave for me, going d2d, selling WT literature, be at all the meetings, make sure the house is clean, all the family's clothes are clean, pressed and in order, and don't forget to wash the car once a week. If you get money donations out in the field, or if anyone gives you money for gas, "Mother" wants her share!
I own you. Whatever you do, it is for my benefit. You slave for me!
This Christian Charity religion, has never been about you. Where ever would you even get that idea?
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Watch Tower has paid NO TAXES on any of it's worldwide real estate for over 100 years!
Turn the question around and ask yourself...
If I didn't have to pay taxes on what, 2 billion dollars worth of world wide properties... And everything was built with "free" labor, from free "donated" money, how much extra money would I have?
Does 2 billion dollars include all the insurance money, homes, and other saleable real estate, jewelry, stocks, bonds, automobiles, air-miles???, hotel room kick backs.
This has never been a local money grab. This is global.
Cha - ching ...
LoisLane
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Listener
It is a possibility. They could have used these properties as leverage. Many investors do it, they buy an asset then use the value of that asset to borrow money to buy another asset or invest in a money making venture. They continue to use the money making asset to borrow more money to invest further. Some people accummulate dozens of properties by this method and owe a lot of money.
If the WTBTS had done this and used the borrowed money to invest in hedge funds they probably lost a lot of money during the financial crisis.
In Australia it is a pretty easy thing to do a title search on a property but it costs money. The title search shows if there is or was a mortgage attached at some time to a property, they are recorded on the title to establish third party interests. The WTBTS would probably be reluctant for this information to be made permanent and would be unlikely do this.
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designs
Mortgage liens would have to be recorded with the county tax assessor's office.
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OnTheWayOut
Watchtower was not in debt and does not have mortgages on any of its corporate properties.
We have too many WTS former insiders here. We would know. They bought properties so long ago and did not refinance over and over again. They had virtually free labor to upkeep their properties.