There is no question that Republican 11th District Congressional candidate David Trott has gotten enormously wealthy at the misfortune of others. He has literally made millions upon millions of dollars from foreclosing on homes. Not only that, back in 2007, right as the subprime mortgage meltdown was beginning in earnest, Trott publicly endorsed them as “a perfectly appropriate product” that “a lot of borrowers are real successful in”. It’s not surprising that he would give them his seal of approval. Those same subprime mortgages, sold to people who had no business getting a mortgage, were largely responsible for the devastating economic calamity that enriched Trott and his business partners at Trott & Trott.
Now we learn that Trott has sold off his shares in Trott & Trott:
Dave Trott is attempting to shed the “foreclosure attorney” label slapped on him by opponents one week after winning a Republican congressional primary and smooth the way for potential victory in a GOP-leaning district.Trott’s campaign confirmed Wednesday he is selling his stake in the law firm his father started, Trott & Trott PC, which processes home foreclosures for banks and lending institutions.
The Birmingham businessman sold his interest in the Farmington Hills-based law firm to fellow partners Jeffrey Raff, Marcy Ford and Jeff Weisserman.
Trott defeated U.S. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, R-Milford, in the Aug. 5 primary in the 11th Congressional District, which comprises parts of Oakland and Wayne counties.
As a candidate for Congress, Trott has been labeled Metro Detroit’s “foreclosure king” because of the huge volume of work the law firm did during the economic recession processing foreclosure notices for homeowners who fell behind on their mortgage payments.
“I have not played a substantive role in either the leadership or operations of the law firm for several years,” Trott said in a statement.
Now, just so we’re clear, let’s take note a couple of things. First, the name of the company is “Trott & Trott”. The first Trott is David’s father. The second one is him. David Trott is, in fact, the Chairman and CEO of Trott & Trott. So there’s that.
Second, David Trott has become enormously wealthy from Trott & Trott:
According to Trott’s most recent financial disclosure form, filed in May, his stake in the firm was worth between $5 million and $25 million.He was paid annual dividends from the firm worth between $1 million and $5 million and, in 2013, a salary of just under $1 million. In May, the Free Press put Trott and his wife’s net worth at between $60 million and $205 million.
If you are like me, having a job that pays nearly $1 million a year where you don’t have to have a “substantive role” in the company that’s paying you that kind of money is a pretty unbelievable gig. I emphasize the word “unbelievable” because it is, without question, completely unbelievable.
I contacted the campaign Bobby McKenzie, Trott’s Democratic opponent in the 11th District Congressional race, and they had this to say:
For over 25 years David Trott has been at the helm of this law firm and has steadily grown his foreclosure empire. For him to claim that he has not played a ‘substantive role’ in the leadership or operations of the firm is misleading and deceptive. It does not absolve him of the fact that he has made a fortune by profiting from often dubious and unethical practices that have left thousands of Michigan families without secure housing and have shattered the lives of too many hardworking people.
I’ll go way beyond “misleading”. I’m sticking with “unbelievable”. As in “not to be believed”.
David Trott may want to shed the rotting albatross carcass tied around his neck but that is not going to happen, particularly this late in the race. He dumped over $2 million of his own money — money largely from his foreclosure activities — into his primary campaign against Kerry Bentivolio and pals around with people like Mitt Romney and Donald Trump, both of whom have made financial contributions to his corporate-funded campaign.
There isn’t anyone who will believe he’s suddenly not part of the One-Percenter Set or that he gives a damn about the average Michigander. Nor is there anyone who will believe that he had nothing to do with Trott & Trott and their lucrative foreclosure business.
I wonder how much money you make throwing a 101-year old woman out of her home?
The McKenzie campaign also released this statement in an email:
For over 25 years, David Trott has made tens of millions of dollars off the misfortune and misery of Michigan’s middle class through the foreclosures and evictions of hundreds of thousands of families. And now, he’s set to make untold millions more by selling his stake in his foreclosure mill. Americans are fed up with the über rich trying to buy seats in Congress. That David Trott is trying to buy a seat with money made from foreclosures and evictions is not only outrageous, it’s blatantly opportunist and harmful for Michigan families.
If you’d like to help McKenzie in his race to defeat the wealthy foreclosure vulture, visit his website and drop a little bit of coin in his coffers.
