Even a stopped clock, as the saying goes, is right twice a day. And so it is the ulta-lib columnist Steve Duin at The Oregonian has detonated a major bomb that, for the most part, brings together the Righties and the Lefties: a married real estate broker and her mortgage company president husband snookered their 88 year-old neighbor into selling them a 2.2 acre parcel of land in SW Portland for $22,000. The actual value: currently $800,000. Heck, you can't buy a 2.2 yard parcel of land here for $22,000. But the old folks have been living down the road for some 68 years, and so when they bought the 2.5 acre total on Garden Home Road, it likely didn't cost much more than around $20,000 at the time.
Duin first broke the tale here. The real estate broker involved was fired by her company shortly afterward; she didn't file the required paperwork through the company, and an investigation is about to be launched by the state Real Estate agency. And her hubby isn't faring any better; he may be president of the mortgage company, but the reviews on Yelp and other web sites are suddenly withering.
It seems pretty clear that these two real estate professionals ripped off their (and my) geriatric neighbors, and there are damned few things in this world that can unite liberals and conservatives - but they found one. Happily, she's out of a job and facing an investigation - and he's sitting on an increasingly hot seat as well.
Congratulations to Duin and The Oregonian, odd as it feels to say that. I think I need a shower.