It’s not clear why Comer decided to put those six acres in a shell company, or what other assets Farm Team Properties may hold. Those records describe Farm Team Properties as his wife’s “land management and real estate speculation” company without providing further details. The AP found that Farm Team Properties functions in a similarly opaque way as the companies used by the Bidens, masking his stake in the land that he co-owns with the donor from being revealed on his financial disclosure forms. The vote follows the federal indictment last week of Biden’s son Hunter on charges he engaged in a scheme to avoid paying taxes on his earnings through the companies.īut as Comer works to “deliver the transparency and accountability that the American people demand” through the GOP’s investigation, his own finances and relationships have begun to draw notice, too, including his ties to prominent local figures who have complicated pasts not all that dissimilar to some of those caught up in his Biden probe.Ĭomer declined to comment through a spokesman but has aggressively denied any wrongdoing in establishing a shell company.Īfter Democrats blasted him for being a hypocrite following the Daily Beast’s disclosure of the company last month, Comer countered by calling a Democratic lawmaker a “smurf” and saying that the criticism was the kind of thing “only dumb, financially illiterate people pick up on.” The companies used by the Bidens are already playing a central role in the impeachment investigation, which is expected to gain velocity after House Republicans voted Wednesday to formally authorize the probe. ![]() Their opaque structures are often designed to help hide ownership of property and other assets. Such companies typically exist only on paper and are formed to hold an asset, like real estate. In particular, Comer has attacked some Biden family members, including the president’s son Hunter, over their use of shell companies that appear designed to obscure millions of dollars in earnings they received from shadowy middlemen and foreign interests. For months, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee and his Republican colleagues have been pounding Biden, a Democrat, for how his relatives traded on their famous name to secure business deals. For now, though, many Japanese urbanites seem to feel that if a $500 home sounds too good to be true, it probably is.Interviews and records reviewed by The Associated Press provide new insights into the financial deal, which risks undercutting the force of some of Comer’s central arguments in his impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. ![]() With top-level buy-in from the government, there’s always the chance that some of the legal obstacles to increasing rural homeownership could fall by the wayside. Thus, the unwanted homes persist, stuck between renovation and demolition.ĭespite those hurdles, the idea of buying a home and/or starting a business for such a low price has proved too good to pass up for some. Furthermore, property rights make it almost impossible for people to knock down these akiya and start fresh without approval from their (technical) homeowners, despite the fact that they want little to do with the property. Beyond renovation costs, a 1981 update to Japan’s Building Standard Law also means these homes are considered fragile enough to require structural work to bring them up to code. While foreigners aren’t excluded from buying akiya, there are a number of hoops to jump through that make owning one expensive if not impossible. Douglas Sutherland, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s senior economist for Japan, told Insider that there’s generally less interest in DIY home renovations in Japan than there is in the U.S., which could contribute to an environment where most akiya appear to be more trouble than they’re worth. Though you’d think teleworking Japanese professionals would jump at the chance to buy a fixer-upper for less than Tokyo’s median monthly rent, there are a few hurdles that have kept buyers from completely embracing the akiya.
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