Replies to post #3383 on Investing in Timber

[belmontx]

The sales agent for this company attacks the messenger, not the message.

It would be a serious and costly mistake for anyone to believe the statements a sales realtor, and associate of TATF, make about the soundness and advisability of investing in this company. He advances the pitch still being used by this discredited investment scheme, while claiming to be a typical tree-owner. Consider the source when reading his entries.

Pertinent information is contained in the article "Scams in the Costa Rican teak tree farm market" See this link to a respected website discussing international investments http://www.internationalappraiser.com/2011/08/costa-rican-teak-farms-for-gringo.html.

Among points made in the article "Costa Rican teak farms for Gringo Investors" regarding the likelihood of scams is the following which points to the suspicion that TATF has become a fraud:

"Investment Promoters and Scam Artists
"Some investment promoters are not even selling land to investors, just the trees themselves. It is important to know that titled ownership in Costa Rica extends to real estate only; there are no tree titles. Any contract in English guaranteeing rights to tree ownership may not be enforceable in Costa Rican courts, either. How does one prove ownership of trees that are situated on someone else’s land?

"Many investors claim to be victims of scams in which plantation owners sell tree ownership and then charge a fee to manage the tree investment; Tropical American Tree Farms seems to have generated the most complaints. Most of the alleged fraudsters are gringos themselves, including Eric Heckler, who was a fugitive from mortgage fraud charges in Florida when found selling teak trees that weren't his before being extradited back to the U.S. in 2009.

"In the numerous listings of teak plantations for sale in Costa Rica, a sizeable discount per tree is apparent for the larger plantations, indicating an insufficient demand for the quantities of teak they are producing, with prices as low as $167 per standing tree for 20-year-old trees, which translates to about $244 per cubic meter (based on an average of .8639 cubic meters per 20-year-old teak tree), quite a bit lower than even the OLAT-published prices."

Many of these scams claim that mature teak lumber will be available from their trees age 20-25, when, in fact, 30-35 is the truth. They also claim ongoing revenue streams from the trimming of growing trees. Sound familiar?

belmontx