Hobbs and Fontes: Almost Neighbors

Deed Research in Maricopa County

In June 2001, Kathleen M Hobbs and Patrick T Goodman sold Lot 59 in the South Country Club Manor neighborhood. Two years later in 2003 Adrian P Fontes purchased Lot 60 which is the adjacent lot in the same neighborhood. Is this a coincidence in the 10th largest city in the US (Phoenix)? If it is not a coincidence, what is so special about this neighborhood that would attract a future Governor and Secretary of State?

The story below explains the facts of these two coincidental transactions for adjacent lots. For clarity, there is no claim of FRAUD that was found in any of these transactions. These are the facts as found in public documents as a counter-narrative to the hype (by both sides of the aisle) that occurred AFTER the Thaler presentation which, in my view, focused too much on the credibility of the messenger rather than the data.

Context

But first, some context. Let’s begin in 1899 (LOL) when the Phoenix Country Club (PCC) was founded, one of the most prestigious in the country. The club, besides having connections to the power-elite-old-money of Phoenix, also has an extensive history with Hollywood through the Pro-Am events and famous politicians like Barry Goldwater’s Thunderbirds.

In the 1930’s the Border States Tennis Club was founded at PCC whose members included AZ, TX, NM & Sonora, Mexico. Apparently Sonora is considered a “Border State”.

Part of PCC was a residential area of 52 homes called The Country Club Manor, many of which are historic landmarks. Immediately across the street to the south from these residences is the neighborhood of South Country Club Manor (outlined in red below). This where the story begins for the GOV and SoS.

The Properties

There are 5 properties included in this story….4 of them are located in South Country Club Manor subdivision. I will point you to the public documents but I am not going to publish any other details.

Property 1 (Hobbs1) - probably rented by the GOV (or spouse) before a purchase of Property 2. The address is listed in the “Mail To” and is on the same street as Property 2 in South Country Club Manor. Nothing more needs to be said about this property. It appears to be where a “twenty something” couple which included a future governor, was renting.

Property 2 (Hobbs2) - Purchased in 1997 and sold in 2001.

Property 3 (Hobbs3) - Purchased in 2001 and sold in 2009.

Property 4 (Hobbs4) - Purchased in 2019.

Property 5 (Fontes1) - The only SoS purchase covered here in 2003 on the same street as Hobbs1 and Hobbs2 above. Sold in 2021.

In case you missed it, 3 properties are on the same street (Hobbs1 & 2, Fontes1) in the same subdivision. Hobbs3 is one block over from Hobbs2 in the same subdivision but different street.

The various names of the parties involved in the transactions can be looked up on the Deeds. I will use acronyms like LLC1, BANK1 for example.

Property Hobbs2

To establish a provenance leading up to the purchase of Hobbs2, I went back to 1994. The 1994 and 1995 Deeds have no apparent links to the GOV, as one might expect.

1994 - Owner 1 to Owner 2

1995 - Owner 2 to Owner 3

1997 - Owner 3 to GOV

Owner 3 is a broker located in FL currently. Hobbs2 appears to be the only sale in his name in AZ for any year (that I could find) with that spelling of the name on the Deed.

Hobbs2 is sold 3 times in 4 years between 1994-1997.

The next transaction after 1997 on Hobbs2 is the sale by the GOV and this has interwoven elements to Hobbs3. The sale occurs in 2001. But first, some more context.

LLC1 is formed in March 2001, 3 months before the sale of Hobbs2 by the GOV. The owner of LLC1 is a prominent attorney in Phoenix that according to Open Corporates, was involved with 100’s of LLCs over their career.

LLC1 lists a company officer, according to Open Corporates, as a currency exchange firm in Chicago. What is the purpose of this “officer”?

LLC1 obtains, via a Warranty Deed, Hobbs2 from the GOV in June 2001. LLC1 then immediately options Hobbs2 to another firm LLC2. LLC2 later sells Hobbs2 in 2002 to a private party.

In summary, Hobbs2 went from the GOV to LLC01 then LLC02 in one day, then to a private party a year later.

But there are ties between the sale of Hobbs2 to Hobbs3. This is somewhat complicated and involves more context.

Ties Between Properties Hobbs2 and Hobbs3

Hobbs3 is sold for $60,000 in 1998 according to Zillow which is a deal that does not involve the GOV. No Deed for this transaction was located however.

In 2001, the owner of LLC3 conveys Hobbs3 to the LLC3 itself (not a typo). On the same day, LLC3 conveys to LLC4. This appears to be a pass through transaction.

LLC4 then conveys to……LLC2. That’s right. The same LLC2 that received the option to sell Hobbs2, the GOV’s first home.

This brings us to the sale of Hobbs3 to the GOV from LLC2 in June 2001 via a Joint Tenancy Deed. Financing was obtained for what appears to be $119,250 from a BANK1.

But wait, there’s more. The owner of LLC4 and LLC2…is the same person.

In summary, owner of LLC3 to LLC3 to LLC4 to LLC2 to GOV in 4 months.

Property Hobbs3

In July 2002, the GOV takes out what appears to be a $14,500 equity line of credit with BANK2. Then, in April 2003, the GOV appears to refinance for $136,800 with BANK3. Then in November 2005, the GOV appears to refinance again for $189,500 with BANK4. Then in November of 2007, the GOV appears to refinance again for $231,600 with BANK5.

In November 2009, Hobbs3 is conveyed to a Trust with a Notice of Trustee Sale. Given the companies involved, this appears to be an auction. This is 2009 after the 2008 economic implosion. One can only wonder. Bankruptcy?

Finally, Fannie Mae conveys Hobbs to a private seller for $89,796 in 2011 two years after the GOV sells it via an auction. The difference between the note value of $231,600 in 2009 and the auction price of $89,796 is ~$141,000.

Thus ends the complicated story of Hobbs3.

Other Notes about Hobbs2 and Hobbs3

In reviewing some of the other transactions of LLC1 in 2001 not related to the GOV, a common name was found on other transactions: the owner of LLC2. The owner of LLC2 also owns two other LLCs that are doing business with LLC1 in 2001. Let’s call them LLC5 and LLC6. Here are those additional transactions : T1 & T2.

In summary, LLC1 is doing business in 2001 with LLC2, LLC5 and LLC6 (and many more) all of which have the same owner. The owner of LLC2, 5 and 6 is later listed as a defendant in a pro se RICO case in 2022, which was dismissed. To be clear, the GOV was not named in the RICO case.

Property Hobbs4

First, some provenance… Hobbs4 is only 3 miles away from PCC but not part of the South Country Club Manor subdivision.

In 2011, LLC7 conveys Hobbs4 to LLC8 via a Warranty Deed. In June 2019, LLC8 then conveys Hobbs4 to the GOV via a Warranty Deed. LLC8 is based out of Australia according to the Deed but has a local affiliation in AZ.

The GOV appears to finance Hobbs4 with a $236,500 mortgage from BANK6 in July 2019. There is a Deed of Release and Full Conveyance made less than two years later in April 2021. It appears the mortgage was paid in full in less than two years.

The current value of the property is $443,600.

The Political Context

In 2008, Hobbs was a delegate to the Democrat National Convention. This was before being elected to office. This is the same time that P2G is owned (and appears to be heavily leveraged?) but just prior to Hobbs2 being auctioned off in November 2009.

In 2011, Hobbs is elected to the AZ House 15th District. Then in 2013, she is elected to AZ Senate 24th District.

In terms of the real estate transactions, there is a gap between 2009 and 2019 of about ten years during which time the above elections occurred. Based on the Recorder data, verification of residency in the respective districts for the elections is not available. Perhaps the GOV was renting during this period? One would assume that given the residency requirements, living outside of Maricopa County was not possible but this was not examined.

Prior to redistricting in Jan 2023, AZ House 15 did NOT include the PCC or the South Country Club Manor subdivision (and still does not). However, AZ Senate 24 DID include the PCC and the South Country Club Manor subdivision.

Lot 59 (Hobbs2) and Lot 60 (Fontes1): What is the Connection

Given all of that, what is the connection, if any between Lot 59 (Hobbs2) and Lot 60 (Fontes1)?

Let’s look at the provenance on Fontes1 eventually owned by the SoS.

1994 - Owner1 to Owner2. This looks to be a transaction between a private party and an investor. The Deed of Trust has a value of $78,850.

1997 - Owner 2 to Owner3. This looks to be a transaction between investors. Owner3 ends up going on to open a LLC much later in 2007. The Deed of Trust has a value of $94,050.

1999 - Owner3 obtains another Deed of Trust with a value of $31,000.

2002 - Owner3 obtains a revolving line of credit.

2003 - Owner 3 conveys to the SoS with a Warranty Deed. The Deed of Trust has a value of $173,400. Zillow lists the sale price as $173,000.

Lot 59 (Hobbs2) and Lot 60 (Fontes1) appear to have been owned as investment properties prior to the sale to the GOV in 1997 of Hobbs2 and the SoS in 2003 of Fontes1. When the GOV sold Hobbs in 2001, it initially went through two investors before being sold to a private party in an auction for ~89k. Two years later in 2003, Fontes1 next door sells for $173,400.

In summary, looking at the Deeds no explicit connection was found between Hobbs2 and Fontes1. But it does appear to be a neighborhood with a high turnover involving investors.

Conclusion

The above are just the facts based on the Maricopa County Recorder and Maricopa County Assessor web sites. The sale of Hobbs2 in 2001 by the GOV and purchase of Fontes1 in 2003 by the SoS can be attributed to nothing more than a coincidence at this point, but certainly a highly improbable one.

Appendix

The examination of Deeds is a complex and tedious process. The story above is a quick summary of a complex story involving 34 Maricopa County Recorder records. Some of the deeds listed below are related to provenance of the properties only leading up to or after a sale.

For those interested, a list of the Deed IDs is below. They can be looked up by entering the first four digits of ID into the year field and the remaining digits into the adjacent field at the Maricopa County Recorder.