LAND SALES IN REMOTE CALIFORNIA DESERT ARE QUESTIONED

Associated Press
San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA
Oct 4 2005

CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. – Seda Shadkamyan paid $39,500 for a patch
of vacant land in the remote Kern County desert, hoping to pass on
something of value to her three children.

The county assessor determined the land was worth just $2,040.

“I feel used,” said Shadkamyan, an Armenian immigrant who lives
in Glendale. “My husband didn’t want it, but I forced him. It was
my mistake.”

Shadkamyan bought the land from Silver Saddle Ranch and Club, which
buys tax-defaulted land in California City at auctions and sells it
for up to 50 times what the Kern County Assessor’s Office considers
fair market value, according to a report in the Bakersfield Californian
that cited public records.

Another company, National Recreational Properties Inc., which uses
actor Erik Estrada as its television pitch man, has had a similar
operation since 2003 in the area about 100 miles north of Los Angeles,
records show.

Silver Saddle customers told the newspaper that the company marketed
itself in Korean newspapers, on Armenian-language television and
through Tagalog and Mandarin-speaking callers offering prizes. NRPI
markets itself in English and Spanish language television commercials
featuring Estrada.

Properties’ assessed values are publicly available, and representatives
from both companies said their sales practices are legitimate and
sales prices are fair.

“That’s the market,” said Silver Saddle sales manager Robert Kvassay.

But California City Mayor Larry Adams and other officials said
Silver Saddle’s sales tours, which show off new development in the
9,400-resident city, do not reflect conditions where the properties
are located. Adams said there’s no plan to install water lines,
electricity or paved roads into the area where Shadkamyan’s quarter
acre of desert and about 20,000 other parcels sit.

Several other people told the Californian they believe the companies
overcharged them for land purchases.

After buying a property from NRPI for $18,000 in 2004, Anaheim resident
Domingo Gomez said he was stunned to learn that he could acquire a
bigger and better located lot from Coldwell Banker for $9,500.

He said he reached a settlement with NRPI but was forbidden from
disclosing the terms.

“The company is bad to Spanish people,” said Gomez. “We got a little
money together and somebody took it.”