New Haven Independent

Attorney Gabriel H. Cusanelli was assigned to carry out a widow’s wishes to donate the proceeds of 18 Cottage St. to a “crippled children’s fund” run by the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven. The widow, Margaret Amrich, died Feb. 7, 2005. About a year later on April 12, 2006, Cusanelli sold the home for $250,000 to business partners Sal Brancati and Mark Perez, less than a month after taking care of the traces of their year-long business alliance in a limited partnership called PCB Ventures.

The transaction has drawn concern from both the Community Foundation and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. They question whether attorney Cusanelli shortchanged the “crippled children’s fund” by selling the home for less than it was worth. Blumenthal’s office promised an appearance in New Haven Probate Court, where Cusanelli’s actions are being examined. Click here for his comments, and click here for background on the story.

City officials revealed Friday that the Tax Assessment office and the private company hired to do city assessments did not consider the sale “valid.” The sale was so undervalued that it was not considered an open market sale, said Acting Tax Assessor Dave Ambrose, looking through a database of assessment info.

Not An “Arm’s Length” Sale

During the 2006 property revaluation, the city and assessors Vision Appraisal compiled a list of real estate transactions in each neighborhood. Recent sales provide a benchmark for valuing other homes. Each sale must be verified to make sure extenuating circumstances — such as a mother willing to pay a high price to live next door to her children — have not artificially inflated or deflated the sale price, explained Ambrose. Only sales made “at arm’s length,” reflecting the true market, are added to the list.

They looked at the sale at 18 Cottage St., but did not consider the sale “honest” enough to be added to the list, according to the assessor.

“We didn’t use [18 Cottage St.] in our comparative analysis because we didn’t consider it an honest transaction,” Ambrose said.

The widow’s estate at 18 Cottage St., a two-family home in a nice area of East Rock right by Lulu’s coffeeshop, was listed in average condition. Its sale price of $250,000 was “a red flag right away,” said Ambrose (pictured).

Upon examination, “we did not consider it an arm’s length transaction,” he continued. “We didn’t consider it a valid sale. It’s below the market.”

Indeed, when Vision Appraisal assessed the property just six months after the sale, it pegged the home’s value at $326,000. That estimate, given in October 2006, is “conservative,” said Ambrose.

That assessment, combined with Ambrose’s statements, adds great weight to the case that the “crippled children’s fund” was shortchanged on the deal.

The realtor whom Cusanelli hired to sell the home, Robert Sacco, has justified the $250,000 price by citing water damage, a rundown roof and a leaky oil furnace. City records show no record of remodeling after that time.

The home is now on the market for $379,900. That means the business buddies of the man hired to protect the widow’s wishes now seek to make $129,900 from flipping the property.