In Brighton, more questions about a disputed property

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/25/contrarian-investor-brian-burke-caught-another-controversial-real-estate-deal/FBvWf4TaD1eodMfvB54GgI/story.html



Brian Burke.

In Brighton, more questions about a disputed property
By Andrea Estes Globe Staff March 26, 2016

John Henry Wenk waited 19 years for his day in court. The formerly homeless man hoped that next month his lawyers would convince a judge that he was bilked out of his house in 1997 by Brian R. Burke, a Belmont businessman who has been accused of exploiting vulnerable people to buy their property cheaply.

But as the court hearing approached, Burke’s family quietly tried to unload the three-family Victorian at 38 Englewood Ave. in Brighton for $1.5 million — despite a judge’s order forbidding sale of the property — sales documents show.

The would-be buyer, Brookline realtor and investor Mark Pearlstein, said he only learned about the legal dispute after reading about it in the Sunday Globe. He said that Alex Burke, the son of Brian Burke, negotiated the sale, and Alex Burke didn’t tell him that a judge had issued an order prohibiting sale of the house until Wenk’s claims are resolved.

“I got my cup of coffee and was half asleep and the headline caught my eye,” said Pearlstein, who owns Metro Realty. “I’m reading the article and it mentions that Burke owned a house in Brighton, and I said, ‘I wonder what house that is.’ I kept scrolling down and all of a sudden I saw a picture of the house I was buying.

[rjsquirrel]

1. Stop the presses

I really appreciate getting every tiny little local Boston news item every morning in my DU feed.

It's nice that someone is able to go through the Globe and post every single headline on DU. Otherwise I'd miss all this breaking news.