Yesterday’s Globe brought us this ridiculous story that is apparently supposed to call into question Deval Patrick’s finances. According to the story, the Atlanta bank holding a mortgage on the Patricks’ Milton home delayed filing the mortgage documents for about two years after issuing the loan. As a result, the loan was unsecured during that time, meaning that in the event the Patricks defaulted on the loan or went into bankruptcy (none of which happened, of course) the bank would not have had the first-priority position that a mortgage lender normally has.
And this is supposed to be Deval Patrick’s fault because …? It’s the bank’s job to file the mortgage, not the borrower’s. The Globe story talks a great deal about the close relationship that this bank and Coca-Cola have, and that Patrick was Coke’s general counsel at the time the loan was made. But the article provides no evidence – not the slightest bit – that Patrick or someone else at Coke somehow prevailed on the bank not to record the mortgage. Nor can I imagine that any banker worth his or her salt would agree to such a request, however close the relationship between lender and borrower. It certainly looks as though the bank just screwed up on its paperwork.
This article, therefore, is pretty sleazy. It is an obvious attempt to suggest through innuendo and wink-wink journalism a kind of questionable behavior of which the article’s author, Frank Phillips, obviously has no evidence.
So come on, Frank. I know, I know, it’s a bummer for you that your colleagues, Walter V. Robinson and Michael Rezendes, scored the scoop of the season by disclosing Marie St. Fleur’s real financial problems, thereby driving her from the Lt. Gov. race. And now you want in on the action. But you’ll have to do a whole lot better than this hack job.
…On the other hand, never underestimate the general public’s desire to really get to know the intricacies of conveyancing, race/notice statutes, and secured assetts!! Exciting stuff!! Can you smell my sarcasm, because I’m laying it on thick?
… Is that often all you wind up with is crap.
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Just a case of the Globe trying desperately to find some dirt on DP. Nothing to see here, folks; move right along.
Yeah didn’t Phillips print that St Fleur was Reilly’s first choice and that he never really wanted Gabs.
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It was journalism at its finest. I am glad to see he continues to be the mouthpiece for the Reilly campaign.
I felt like the Globe should have paid me to read it
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Waste of ink
Waste of time
No story
Deval gave another great interview tonight on WGBH’s Greater Boston. Host Emily Rooney naturally asked DP about the Globe article, and he seemed to set the story straight: i.e., he’s played the game on the up-and-up, and if you want answers about what happened at SunTrust, go ask the folks at SunTrust.
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I don’t know if ‘GBH will archive the interview on the Greater Boston website but it’s worth watching if you get the chance. (Apparently tonight’s 7pm show rebroadcasts at midnight on ‘GBH-2.)
Deval has $6 million in mortages. All legal, yes. But puts him in Healyville. Also, point to the fact that he can’t self-finance the last leg of the race…and that is the real story in this story.
I don’t think that article gave a comprehensive picture of Patrick’s finances, so whether or not he can self-finance anything is a guess, not a fact. Unless you have other information.
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He might, for example, have a lot of equity in one or more of those houses. If he’s been making payments and is up to date, he could take out another mortgage (like Kerry did just before the Iowa caucuses). Or sell one of the houses.
…what Deval can and can not do when it comes to self-financing. My only point is the story did reveal that Deval has a 6 million dollar mortage nut. The rest is up for specualtion.
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Put whatever spin you want on it…but to suggest that the patricks could sell a multi million dollar house in this real estate market is wishful thinking.
The same question came to my mind, and also to Emily Rooney’s apparently. She asked him about the $6 mil. in mortgages last night. DP answered that while his family has been “blessed” (i.e., they’ve done okay by his stints in the corporate world, etc.), they made a calculated decision to finance certain things, such as development of his property out in Richmond(?).
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I don’t think this suggests that DP is necessarily living beyond his means, nor does it necessarily mean that he’ll have trouble self-financing the last leg of the campaign. On the contrary it seems to me as though he’s got a pretty good financial head on his shoulders and knows what cards he needs to play and when to do so.
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At least that’s what I got out of it….
…First, Deval gets criticized because he’s too rich, and now he’s criticized because he’s too in debt?
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Can someone help me out here?
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The real story in all this is not only did the Globe story say nothing, but has some real questionable facts. At some point someone is going to have to start asking the question of why the Globe is working so hard against Deval Patrick.
… To tell whether the Globe is actually working so hard against DP, or whether they’re just trying to dig up dirt on the new guy. After his caucus success DP’s the hot ticket in town: Inquiring minds want to know. It’s all about selling papers.
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If there’s a preponderence of column space clearly aimed at DP as the months go on, you may be on to something. My guess is that, for the most part, the Globe won’t discriminate in going after any of the candidates if it looks like there might be a good story. TR, KMH, and CM will probably take their hits as well.