Posted by Peter Wunsch on 11/25/08

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News reached me today from a friend at a major national
commercial real estate brokerage that LandAmerica 1031
Exchange, a substantial firm in the 1031 business, is
“terminating operations” immediately. They have frozen
customer accounts and are unable to meet customer
withdrawal demands. Seems LandAmerica invested its
customers’ dollars in illiquid auction rate securities. So
now all LandAmerica customers who have their hard-earned
capital gains and principal with LandAmerica can’t access
their funds and stand a good chance of losing some or all
of it.

As those of you who have read my blog
(www.1031Vigilante.com) or visited our website
(www.RockSolid1031.com) know, we have been predicting
trouble for 1031 companies that have other businesses, such
as selling/packaging tenant-in-common deals or other
brokerage activities. In fact, we’ve been so adamant in our
warnings that we’ve received hate e-mail from other 1031
companies. This news should silence our critics.

Consider this information which I copied directly from the
LandAmerica 1031 website just five minutes ago:

“As a wholly owned subsidiary of the publicly traded
LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:LFG), which also
owns an FDIC insured bank, LandAmerica 1031 Exchange
Services, Inc. (LES) is uniquely positioned to provide the
security and liquidity that taxpayers and their advisors
should be demanding from a qualified intermediary. To learn
more about the strength of LES and why it is the
appropriate QI to choose to facilitate your exchanges…”

“Recent events have caused many advisors to recognize the
need to better assess the solvency and fidelity of the
Qualified Intermediaries (QI) used to structure “safe-
harbor” IRC § 1031 deferred exchanges, commonly referred to
as 1031 exchanges. Advisors, including attorneys,
accountants and real estate professionals, are examining
anew the importance of recommending a QI that is a reliable
financial resource for their clients. In an industry that
includes a vast number of privately held, unregulated
providers, LandAmerica 1031 Exchange Services stands out
for its transparency and reliability. As a wholly-owned
subsidiary of LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc., a publicly
traded company, and operating in a highly-regulated
industry, we are held to strict legal standards concerning
reserves and transparency in our finances and processes.
LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. holds its own bank, and
has affiliates licensed to issue title insurance
nationwide.”

As real estate investors with more than 40 years
experience, we started RockSolid 1031 because we were
almost burned to the tune of $6 million by an unscrupulous
1031 Exchange Accommodator. We created RockSolid for
serious investors and all it does is exchanges: there are
no other product areas or affiliated companies that can
draw cash from it. RockSolid simply deposits the exchange
money in highly liquid money market accounts that only
invest in US treasuries, and then returns it on the date
the investor specifies, all for a low fee. It’s that
simple, and that safe.

RockSolid 1031

Another 1031 Exchange Company Bites the Dust, 11/25/08, by Peter Wunsch.

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