Complaint Review: Robert L. Annenberg - Internet Florida

I will not waste a lot of my time responding to a very sick person. Just look at his business card. It reads and I quote Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist, Author, Writer, Actor, Comedian, Radio & TV Talk show host, Builder, a Developer, Investor and Contruction Manager. Don't walk RUN!!! 

Finally after all these years I decided to respond to the accusations made by Steve Bernstein on Ripoff Report 

In all due respect a lot of things Steve Bernstein said were 100% true yes he invested $40,000 and yes he lost his entire investment and here's how it all went down and here's why

First of all at the time Steve Bernstein made the investment he was coming in as a partner on two building lots in a development I was doing in Sebring known as Orange Blossom. Note: that there were hundreds of lots involved in Orange Blossom and Steve agreed to partner in two of them. Upon signing papers (partnership agreements) we commenced our fiduciary.

1. We had architectural plans made for two homes- Value, approximately 5k

2. We had two lots cleared and debris removed- Total Value, approximately 6k

3. We had dump truck loads of sand brought into the sight- Approximated expense 6k

4. We had all underground piping plumbing rough in completed- Approximated 6k

5. We had temporary electric service brought in to start construction-Approximated 1k

6. We had listed the lots with a local realtor.

7. We actually purchased and owned the lots outright for cash- approximately 20k total cost.

 Note: Approximately 40k spent in hard costs alone

 In addition: Steve Bernstein had signed a multi-page partnership agreement (of which is archived at my office) stating that he was obligated to pay his share of the monthly carrying costs on a construction loan to build the houses along with his share of the taxes and any other carrying costs incurred. Should we have obtained construction loans on these two lots and commenced building (which would have been impossible to get a loan since all the banks collapsed) he would then been obligated to pay approximately $500-$1000 a month as would we all until the properties were sold and loans were paid off. The best thing we ever did was walk away and take our loss. Again, very unfortunate but this is how it all played out during that time. For the record, I had to walk away from 38 building lots in that development. I have lost a whole lot more money than Steve Bernstein. This does not belong on Ripoff Report. This is not a scam. Obviously the facts speak for themselves. This complaint is coming from an inexperienced unqualified person who doesn’t know much about real estate otherwise he’d be building his own houses instead of looking for people to invest with who are doing such. I’ve owned large buildings in upstate New York as you will see and have acquired many building lots since this incident in the state of Florida.

In short, we were all victims including myself and my company of the biggest financial fraud in history perpetrated by the United States Government and the Wall Street community and the banking community who collectively all were 100% responsible for crashing the real estate market. This financial debacle put everyone in real estate into bankruptcy, including myself. Steve should direct most of his anger to the corrupt political system in the United States which bailed out all of these banks such as AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Goldman Sachs and the list goes on and on. The truth of the matter is we were waiting on financing for a construction loan like every other builder in the country of which those loans were now nowhere to be had, although ironically its quiet interesting how no one on wall street or any bank got shut down. Instead they got bailed out by your government with your money.

I’m personally sorry for anyones loss in any investment, as I’ve lost millions of dollars throughout my life and try my best to learn from each and every loss but to call this situation a fraud or a scam I believe are really the words of someone who is angry they lost money but yet reality is millions of homeowners who are not even builders or developers lost all their houses during this time (2009). Some say this was the greatest real estate crash in history! I’d have to say it’s the greatest financial loss I’ve ever been involved in. Although I’ve learned from it and here I am today, 2015, owning a portfolio of properties stretching all the way across the eastern seaboard from Florida to New York. I hold no animosity or ill feelings to Steve in any way other than having to see this complaint lodged against me personally but when the value of your properties gets chopped in half over night as did with every American who owned real estate during that time (2007-2009) there are few choices other than walking away and starting over. I will put my phone number in here for anyone reading this to respond and call me directly. I personally would love to hear from any investor, builder, or developer who was able to hold onto properties or complete projects and successfully sell them during this time.

Sincerely,

Robert Louis Annenberg