View Full Version : Oklahoma County Assessor Leonard Sullivan won't discuss his role in will



urbanity
06-16-2010, 01:01 PM
An Oklahoma County official won't discuss role in will which may not reflect deceased's final wishes | OKG Scene.com (http://tinyurl.com/24laekd)

Midtowner
06-19-2010, 03:04 PM
This is actually a pretty big deal if true. The most shocking (and perhaps most criminal) aspect of this is that he allegedly used his power as County Assessor to have the value of a house reduced from ~$100,000 to $35,000, then sold the property into his own trust, where I'm assuming he'll resell it at about a $70,000 profit.

I don't jump as quickly at stories of undue influence on wills--but a 70K drop in value and a sale? Yeah, that doesn't quite pass the smell test.

Hopefully, the D.A.'s office will look into this.

sgray
06-19-2010, 03:43 PM
WOW! So, it's not enough that he gets the majority of the dough in this deal, but he goes after the caretaker in court for $50,000?!?!?!?!? But he didn't go after the banker at NBC bank...interesting.

Question for anyone that knows: Is it common (outside or inside OK) for county assessor's to 1) be allowed to buy and sell real estate while also acting in the role of assessor; and/or 2) be allowed to assess their own properties or properties they hold an interest in?

Midtowner
06-19-2010, 03:47 PM
A trust controlled by him bought the property, so you'd add that wrinkle to the question.

Midtowner
06-19-2010, 03:57 PM
And off the top of my head, that'd violate the oath of office. Someone (anyone) could bring a writ of quo warranto against Sullivan over that.

The oath is as follows:


§ 1. Officers required to take oath or affirmation - Form.

All public officers, before entering upon the duties of their offices, shall take and subscribe to the following oath or affirmation:

"I, . . . . . . . , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, and that I will not, knowingly, receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing, for the performance or nonperformance of any act or duty pertaining to my office, other than the compensation allowed by law; I further swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge my duties as . . . . . . . . to the best of my ability."

The Legislature may prescribe further oaths or affirmations.

Here, if the allegations are true, he had a house reassessed so it could be purchased at a fraction of its value by his trust--an action for Sullivan's indirect personal gain. At the very least, he's violated his oath of office. Whether that violation is enough to boot him from office has yet to be tested to my knowledge, but the Constitution is pretty clear on what happens.


§ 2. Administration and filing of oath - Refusal to take - False swearing.

The foregoing oath shall be administered by some person authorized to administer oaths, and in the case of State officers and judges of the Supreme Court, shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State, and in case of other judicial and county officers, in the office of the clerk of the county in which the same is taken; any person refusing to take said oath, or affirmation, shall forfeit his office, and any person who shall have been convicted of having sworn or affirmed falsely, or having violated said oath, or affirmation, shall be guilty of perjury, and shall be disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit within the State. The oath to members of the Senate and House of Representatives shall be administered in the hall of the house to which the members shall have been elected, by one of the judges of the Supreme Court, or in case no such judge is present, then by any person authorized to administer oaths.

And interestingly enough, criminal penalties do attach. If he's found guilty of violating his oath, he's guilty of perjury--a felony punishable by imprisonment "not more than five years."

soonerguru
06-19-2010, 04:19 PM
What a jerk. I noticed that my property assessment went up over 10% this year, causing my property taxes to go up quite a bit. And yet, homes in my neighborhood keep selling for the same or less than they did three years ago. Hmmmm.

This is a major scoop for the Gazette, IMO. It seems like prima facie evidence of corruption and self dealing. I wonder if the Oklahoman will have anything on this story.

Midtowner
06-19-2010, 04:39 PM
Sullivan's attorney in the probate case is none other than county commissioner Ray Vaughn. I don't know what conclusions you can draw from that.

It also seems the Argos decided to represent themselves in this matter (dumb). Did not object to the admission of the will to probate (dumb) and have otherwise handled their end of things just about as negligently and foolishly as I can imagine is possible.

I'd like to know the values and previous values of any of the properties in Sullivan's trust or any other trusts controlled by him.

soonerguru
06-19-2010, 04:45 PM
Sullivan's attorney in the probate case is none other than county commissioner Ray Vaughn. I don't know what conclusions you can draw from that.

I'd like to know the values and previous values of any of the properties in Sullivan's trust or any other trusts controlled by him.

Very interesting. As his probate attorney, would Mr. Vaughn be aware of the radical revaluation of the property?

Someone notify David Prater. He's on a roll right now.

Midtowner
06-19-2010, 05:10 PM
Very interesting. As his probate attorney, would Mr. Vaughn be aware of the radical revaluation of the property?

Someone notify David Prater. He's on a roll right now.

His office prepared the inventory of the estate which listed the house as being valued at $95,815.00.

He then filed an amended general inventory and appraisment, which said "[a]fter making a good faith effort to sell the real property contained in the estate reasonably close to the value listed on the original inventory without success, the Personal Representative [that's Sullivan] has changed his opinion as to the fair market value of said real property. All other values remain unchanged from the previously filed inventory."

The change was a decrease in value of the house from $95,815.00 to $35,000.00.

They then held a private sale, published notice thereof in the Edmond Sun. The highest bidder, for $37,500.00, was "The American Empire 1999 Family Trust, G.B. Sullivan, Trustee."

On the County Assessor's site, the 2008 marketable value (which is a number which reflects the FMV of the house based upon comps from similar properties in the area) was $104,629. In 2009, that dropped to $67,446.

The sale happened towards the end of 2010. It'll be interesting to see what the valuation was when the 2010 tax notices are mailed out.

I think the questions which need to be asked are these:
1) Did Sullivan make a good faith effort to sell the house at fair market value?
2) Did Sullivan use his power as Assessor to manipulate the taxable market value of the house for personal gain? [can he even do that?]
3) Did Sullivan use his position as an elected official to gain the decedent's trust in order to horn in on her property?
4) What factors (if any) contributed to such a precipitous drop in market value of the house?

I think there could still be a reasonable explanation for all of this, but without some clarifying facts, this sure does look fishy.

Larry OKC
06-20-2010, 01:35 AM
Mid

I agree, definitely need more info especially with #4 since the stuff I have been reading says that overall, market values are holding there own in OKC (a relatively minor drop but nothing near the scale in this case).

Midtowner
06-21-2010, 09:42 AM
I'm not sure whether we can know for certain whether wrongdoing took place here.

I checked on Zillow to see what the properties in the surrounding area were going for. Suffice to say that $105K would still be one of he cheapest houses on the street--the house next door is the cheapest at 88K, but is only 1/3 the size.

So at the very least, Sullivan may have breached his fiduciary duty to the estate. At the most, he used his position as assessor to manipulate the value of the house, gaining for his trust more favorable tax treatment at the very least.

Unless there's something about the house we don't know, e.g., major damage which insurance won't cover, this seems to be some sort of malfeasance.

Pete
08-20-2010, 04:11 PM
have the value of a house reduced from ~$100,000 to $35,000, then sold the property into his own trust,

Midtowner, how did you make the connection that this is somehow Leonard Sullivan's trust?

The American Eagle 1999 Family Trust is headed by G.B. Sullivan... Do you know the relationship between the two or just making an assumption?

BBatesokc
08-21-2010, 06:49 AM
Anyone have a better link to the original article? I can't get it to load.

Midtowner
08-21-2010, 07:04 AM
Midtowner, how did you make the connection that this is somehow Leonard Sullivan's trust?

The American Eagle 1999 Family Trust is headed by G.B. Sullivan... Do you know the relationship between the two or just making an assumption?

The article indicated it was his family trust. Probably an estate planning device from which he derives income, retains control, etc.

Pete
08-21-2010, 03:20 PM
The article did not indicate Leonard Sullivan was directly involved in the trust that bought the home -- just the one that sold it:

http://okgazette.com/article/06-16-2010/An_Oklahoma_County_official_won_t_discuss_role_in_ will_which_may_not_reflect_deceased_s_final_wishes .aspx

Easy180
09-13-2010, 07:01 PM
Anyone catch the article in Sundays Oklahoman?

This thing stinks beyond belief...Something about the will being drawn up using notes...He was left a hundred grand while her relatives each recieved a hundred bucks??

This guy got some splaining to do

Dana
01-25-2011, 02:59 AM
Well none of this surprises me you should see what else is going on at the Assessors office.

Dana
01-26-2011, 09:53 AM
The moral of this story is never make the county assessor the representative to your estate. This case has been going on for 3 years another thing that makes me sick is he should have given her wedding ring back to her family instead of selling it I am sure the ring held a lot of sentimental value to her family. Well I have learned a valuable lesson from this I will make sure to give all my possessions away before I die so nobody can steal from my family what I worked hard all my life to get.