In 1999 a person who I will call Fred, came into the possession of a beautiful seaside home. This home was located high on a cliff in one of the mid atlantic states right on the shoreline. Gorgeous old home with tremendous character and lots and lots of privacy. Demand for properties of this stature had not yet caught on in the area so Fred bought the home for a song and decided to fix it up and rent it.
The tenants took a lease which was set to expire 9/30/2001. They paid their rent on time, never called with problems and appeared to be great tenants. Fred and his wife were very pleased with themselves and were making a tidy profit. They thought landlording was easy money and were happily awaiting their retirement while the seaside home rose in value and the tenants paid the mortgage. Time passed.
Knowing the tenants were to vacate at the end of September 2001, Fred and wife made a trip to the rental to make it ready for the next tenants. When they entered the home, they found a variety of what Fred described to me as "terrorist looking" paraphenalia. Lying about were maps of New York, photos of the Trade Center and other buildings, many, many books in another language (he was not familiar with the language) newspapers and clippings, drawings of buildings, architectural school books and information on flight schools around the US.
Fred and his wife were scared. What should they do??? They had just bought this investment home and felt that it was their ticket to retirement. They discussed what to do with the information night after night. In the end, they did nothing. They did not report it to the FBI or even the local police. They were afraid that the authorities would seize the rental and they would never get it back. They did nothing. Fred would not tell me what he did with the information he found in the home. His reactions to my lengthy questioning lead me to believe he threw it away.
This story haunts me. What would most people have done? You have just purchased the ticket to your retirement? What would YOU do???
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