Another Mickey Mouse after market warranty company files for bankruptcy
03-29-10, 09:44 AM
#1
Another Mickey Mouse after market warranty company files for bankruptcy
Chapter 11 for service-plan provider Fidelis
Donna Harris
Automotive News -- March 29, 2010 - 12:01 am ET
US Fidelis, a large direct marketer of independent vehicle service contracts, filed for bankruptcy this month with more than $25 million in debt, court records show.
In December Fidelis said it had stopped selling vehicle service plans and issuing refunds for canceled contracts. The St. Louis marketer promoted its plans on national TV and through telemarketing campaigns.
Fidelis did not sell vehicle service contracts directly to dealerships, and no dealerships were affected by the bankruptcy filing.
A notice on the company's Web site said the service contracts remain valid and are backed by third-party insurance and administration companies with funds to cover customer claims.
Some providers of competing plans fear the bankruptcy of the well-known provider will taint any business selling vehicle service contracts, including car dealerships.
"This gives the entire industry a black eye," says Larry Dorfman, CEO of Automobile Protection Corp., a provider that offers its service contracts only through dealers.
The Missouri Attorney General's Office charged that Fidelis "used misleading, deceptive and unfair sales tactics and refund practices as a regular part of its business." In a document, the attorney general urged the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis to appoint a trustee over the company.
Fidelis' owners, brothers Darain and Cory Atkinson, borrowed nearly $49 million from the company to spend on themselves and their families, court records show.
Fidelis used about a dozen administrators that managed the program by insuring and processing claims. Some administrators also provide service contracts through car dealers. Administrators include Warrantech Corp., of Bedford, Texas, and Administration Plus USA Inc., of Dublin, Ohio. Both companies said their plans are properly insured.
Richard Baldini, president of Administration Plus, said his company did little business with Fidelis. "We controlled their profit and set aside reserves to handle potential refunds," he said.
Warrantech CFO Richard Gavino said his company represented less than 20 percent of Fidelis' business. Warrantech's vehicle service contracts are insured by A-rated carriers capable of paying repair claims under the program, and his company has set aside money to make refunds for canceled plans. Gavino said: "It's not an issue for Warrantech or the consumers who bought the contracts."
Donna Harris
Automotive News -- March 29, 2010 - 12:01 am ET
US Fidelis, a large direct marketer of independent vehicle service contracts, filed for bankruptcy this month with more than $25 million in debt, court records show.
In December Fidelis said it had stopped selling vehicle service plans and issuing refunds for canceled contracts. The St. Louis marketer promoted its plans on national TV and through telemarketing campaigns.
Fidelis did not sell vehicle service contracts directly to dealerships, and no dealerships were affected by the bankruptcy filing.
A notice on the company's Web site said the service contracts remain valid and are backed by third-party insurance and administration companies with funds to cover customer claims.
Some providers of competing plans fear the bankruptcy of the well-known provider will taint any business selling vehicle service contracts, including car dealerships.
"This gives the entire industry a black eye," says Larry Dorfman, CEO of Automobile Protection Corp., a provider that offers its service contracts only through dealers.
The Missouri Attorney General's Office charged that Fidelis "used misleading, deceptive and unfair sales tactics and refund practices as a regular part of its business." In a document, the attorney general urged the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis to appoint a trustee over the company.
Fidelis' owners, brothers Darain and Cory Atkinson, borrowed nearly $49 million from the company to spend on themselves and their families, court records show.
Fidelis used about a dozen administrators that managed the program by insuring and processing claims. Some administrators also provide service contracts through car dealers. Administrators include Warrantech Corp., of Bedford, Texas, and Administration Plus USA Inc., of Dublin, Ohio. Both companies said their plans are properly insured.
Richard Baldini, president of Administration Plus, said his company did little business with Fidelis. "We controlled their profit and set aside reserves to handle potential refunds," he said.
Warrantech CFO Richard Gavino said his company represented less than 20 percent of Fidelis' business. Warrantech's vehicle service contracts are insured by A-rated carriers capable of paying repair claims under the program, and his company has set aside money to make refunds for canceled plans. Gavino said: "It's not an issue for Warrantech or the consumers who bought the contracts."
03-30-10, 01:01 AM
#4
Only in America
Nineteen years after leaving federal prison, Darain Atkinson is a wealthy man. He and his family own luxury cars, boats, vacation homes and a $17 million mansion under construction that will be the biggest in St. Charles County.
The convicted thief, burglar, check-forger and counterfeiter founded an auto warranty company eight years ago that now employs more than 1,000 people.
The story of U.S. Fidelis founder Atkinson could be a model of rehabilitation. But it's one being cast into question now as attorneys general from at least 40 states investigate whether the company has violated consumer protection laws.
The Better Business Bureau says that, in the last three years, more than 1,100 people have filed complaints about Wentzville-based U.S. Fidelis, or its affiliated companies. The watchdog group says consumers complain that the firm's telemarketers deceive consumers.
Consumers purchase extended service contracts after the manufacturer warranties expire. Customers typically make a down payment for the service and pay a monthly fee that is deducted automatically from their credit cards or bank accounts.
Critics in lawsuits, consumer advocacy websites and in the BBB reports say the U.S. Fidelis sales reps often lie about the coverage provided by the extended auto warranties, refuse to provide customers with contracts until after they purchase a warranty and lure consumers with bogus offers that create a false sense of urgency.
Last year, then-Attorney General Jay Nixon filed suit against the company, claiming it violated federal and state telemarketing laws, including the No Call list. Lawyers on April 1 filed a class-action suit against U.S. Fidelis in St. Charles County alleging violations of Missouri's consumer-protection law.
Company officials say they have responded to nearly every consumer complaint the BBB has received and that the company is an industry leader in fair customer service.
Criminal charges
Atkinson, 44, and his three brothers grew up in Garden City, Kan. The brothers - Darain, Cory, Kevin and Robert - all have worked at U.S. Fidelis, which Darain formed in 2001. Darain is president; Cory, 39, is vice president. Kevin Atkinson, 45, is a manager there, as was Robert Atkinson, who died last year.
When the boys were growing up, their father, Ernest Atkinson, held a variety of jobs in the Garden City area, among them bookkeeping-related positions and cattle raising, said their grandmother, Amelia Atkinson.
In 1986, while living in the Garden City area, Darain Atkinson, 21 at the time, was charged with burglary, theft and forgery. According to court documents, he broke into a furniture store and stole money and blank checks, which he later cashed at several banks. When police arrested him, he was carrying $1,680 in cash.
After pleading guilty in November 1986, Darain Atkinson was given probation. That was revoked in June 1987 when he pleaded guilty in federal court to a counterfeiting charge for producing $40,000 in bogus $20 and $50 notes. About two months later, he went to prison on the state charges.
In a 1988 letter from the Kansas prison that was part of his court file, Darain Atkinson asked a judge for an early release from his state prison term so he could start his federal prison sentence as soon as possible.
He also said he wanted to enroll in a drug-treatment program once he became a federal inmate. He described himself as a model prisoner who had provided information to authorities "to get some drug pushers off the street."
And Darain Atkinson promised to sin no more. He would straighten up and become a businessman, he told the judge.
Later that year, he was released from state custody and sent to federal prison. He was released on Sept. 7, 1990. As he recalled that day in a brief interview on Friday: "When the bars closed behind me, I was rehabilitated."
His time in prison was "a blessing in disguise" because it set him on the right path - and it led him to Jesus, Atkinson said in the interview. "I am absolutely a changed man."
Launching a company
In July 2001, Atkinson started the company that would become U.S. Fidelis, known at the time as Big Time Productions. The company's name changed to National Auto Warranty Services Inc. in February 2003. On Jan. 22, it became U.S. Fidelis Inc.
According to the business's most recent annual report, Darain Atkinson is the company's president, treasurer and a board member; Cory Atkinson is listed as the only other board member, as well as the company's vice president and secretary.
The two Atkinson brothers ran the company in its early days out of a store front in Centre on the Lake strip mall in Lake Saint Louis. Ernest Atkinson, who lives in Wentzville, said his sons began the business "on a Christian concept, " and that 10 percent of everything going to the church or charity.
"They have tried to do everything that they could with this business in order to have it honest, " he said.
His sons' secret to success, Ernest Atkinson said, "is being smart and working hard and doing things honestly. You've got God on your side, and he's going to make you profitable."
The company moved to a larger space in St. Peters, but by 2006, the company had grown to 300 employees and was looking for more space. The company settled on the old Belz Factory Outlet Center, a 346,000-square-foot complex at Interstate 70 and Highway 40. More than 1,000 U.S. Fidelis employees now work there, and part of the mall has been converted to house Element Church, where the Atkinson family and many of the company's managers attend services.
That church is expanding into space that was recently the home to Exodus, a Christian nightclub owned by Atkinson that opened and closed within months.
Great prosperity
The company's headquarters is impressive, but the building that's become the talk of St. Charles County's real estate industry is Darain Atkinson's future home - a 20,752-square-foot mansion under construction on the banks of Lake Saint Louis.
County Assessor Scott Shipman said that when completed, it will be the largest home in the county, and by a considerable margin: The next biggest is 15,000 square feet.
According to the Lake Saint Louis building department, plans show the mansion will have a bowling alley, a beauty salon, a library, a meditation room, a billiards room and an observation tower accessible by a spiral staircase.
Plans call for a custom indoor pool and an outdoor pool with a waterfall, slide and a bar-and-kitchen area. They also include a sculpture garden and an auto courtyard with a seven-car garage. To date, according to Lake Saint Louis building permits, $17 million has been slated for the Lakeview home's construction.
Atkinson said he wanted to build his Lake Saint Louis mansion large enough to accommodate charitable fundraisers he plans to host.
The house is hardly the only sign of Darain Atkinson's prosperity.
Records show he and his wife, Mia, also own four other homes in St. Charles County and a 50-foot yacht. They also own luxury cars, including a 2006 Bentley Continental GT valued at $144,900, according to tax records.
Tax records also show the company owns a 44-foot, 2007 Marine Technology speedboat dubbed "Bat Boat" and six vehicles, including a 2005 Ford GT racer with a supercharged V8 engine and valued at $107,420, as well as a 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 muscle car valued at $33,434.
That love of high-powered vehicles seems to influence the company's marketing strategy: In February, it announced that it would be a primary sponsor of NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Steve Wallace of Rusty Wallace Racing in 25 races this year. Team vice president Greg Wallace reinforced its commitment to U.S. Fidelis in an e-mail on Friday: "We are in the racing business, and U.S. Fidelis provides valuable sponsorship to our team."
Atkinson would not talk about other property he owns because he said he fears for his family's safety. He didn't elaborate.
His telephone interview Friday with a reporter was given on the condition that questions would be limited to his criminal history and the mansion being built in Lake Saint Louis. Atkinson's spokesman, Ken Fields of the Fleishman-Hillard public relations firm, participated in the telephone interview. He would not allow Atkinson to answer several questions about his personal finances or other property he owns.
Questions about U.S. Fidelis' operations were directed to Chris Riley, the company's new chief executive and a former senior partner at ABMI, a consulting firm based in Overland Park, Kan., that specializes in corporate mergers and acquisitions.
Riley, named CEO last month, declined to discuss specific sales and marketing tactics used by the company and said the company is committed to dealing with customers honestly and fairly. He said U.S. Fidelis supports increased regulation of the extended auto warranty industry, including a ban on reaching customers through unsolicited, outbound calls. U.S. Fidelis discontinued that practice about nine months ago, Riley said.
In a statement last week, Riley said the company had resolved virtually all the complaints the BBB had received and is working on addressing the remaining complaints.
That doesn't satisfy Michelle Corey, the president and chief executive of the BBB in St. Louis, who replied in a statement that U.S. Fidelis does respond to formally lodged consumer complaints but fails "to address the fundamental reasons why consumers complain in the first place."
Riley would not discuss Darain Atkinson's criminal background and he would not comment on the lifestyles enjoyed by Darain and Cory Atkinson. Riley described the brothers as "very community oriented" and that they've given significant financial support to Element Church.
Meanwhile, Darain Atkinson would not discuss U.S. Fidelis, nor the complaints from its customers. But he acknowledged that the company has made him wealthy.
"There is an order in the Kingdom of Heaven, " he said. "God has blessed us. Why he has blessed us, I don't know."
Enjoying the rewards
Homes owned by Darain Atkinson and his wife
- Under construction, a waterfront mansion on Lakeview Court, on Lake Saint Louis. St. Charles County land records indicate the house will be 20,752 square feet when finished. So far, construction costs have totaled $17 million, permits show.
- A 3,618-square-foot home with a market value of $779,810 on Hawks Landing Drive in Wentzville. It was purchased in 2003.
- A 3,835-square-foot home valued at $636,160 on Woodview Drive in unincorporated St. Charles County, bought in 2005.
- A second house on Woodview Drive, a 1,350-square-foot ranch the Atkinsons bought in 2006 for $575,000 but that records say is valued at $232,760.
- A 1,972-square-foot ranch on Pigeon Drive in Lake Saint Louis that the couple bought last year for $330,000 (its value is listed at $339,170).
Homes owned by Cory Atkinson and his wife
- A remote, 9,015-square-foot home the couple had built in 2006 on 10.7 acres on Atkinson Way in St. Charles County. County records say the property is valued at $2.41 million.
- A newly built 4,695-square-foot home near the Northstar ski resort in Truckee, Calif., near Lake Tahoe. According to property and real estate records, the couple bought the home late last year for $2.875 million.
- A waterfront, 4,914-square-foot home in the La Riva Estates section of the Porta Cima neighborhood in Sunrise Beach, in the Lake of the Ozarks area. Camden County records did not indicate what was paid for the property; however, county records say the home was appraised at $590,300 in 2008.
- A 2,100-square-foot house at 505 Lias Way in Wentzville, purchased in 2007 and valued at $158,010.
- A 1,419-square-foot home at 718 Wenstone Crossing Way in Wentzville, bought in 2006 and valued at $154,510.
- A tract of land near the Atkinson Way property, on Bless Us Drive East, bought last year for $102,950.
Cars and boats
- On their 2008 St. Charles County personal property assessment form, Darain Atkinson and his wife, Mia, reported a 2006 Bentley Continental GT valued at $144,900; a 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL500 valued at $56,875; a 2006 Ford pickup; a 24-foot boat; a 20-foot boat; and two boat trailers.
- Cory Atkinson and his wife, Heather, reported a 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera valued at $61,200; a 2005 Corvette CV valued at $38,650; a 2007 Cadillac Escalade valued at $38,058; a 2005 Ford Mustang; and a 2005 Ford pickup.
- Darain Atkinson also owns a 50-foot 2005 Sea Ray yacht named "Isabella, " according to a boat registration database. Those records indicate the boat's hailing port is Lake Saint Louis. The value guide used to assess property in Missouri lists the yacht's market value at $439,100.
- Likewise, Cory Atkinson owns a 40-foot 2005 Porter boat dubbed "Quick Silver" that he keeps in Sunrise Beach, in the Lake of the Ozarks area, boat registration records say.
- Records show a third boat - a 44-foot, 2007 Marine Technology speedboat named "Bat Boat" - that is listed on National Auto Warranty Services' 2009 assessment form. National Auto Warranty is the name of the Atkinsons' warranty company before they changed it in January to U.S. Fidelis. Bat Boat also is kept in Sunrise Beach, according to boat registration records.
- National Auto Warranty's assessment form also lists six vehicles and a trailer. The vehicle with the biggest price tag is a 2005 Ford GT racer, a high-performance car with a supercharged V8 engine, valued at $107,420, according to assessment records. Also listed is a 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 muscle car valued at $33,434, a 2006 Chevrolet, 2007 Chevrolet, 2006 Ford and 2007 Ford.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/new...5?OpenDocument
The convicted thief, burglar, check-forger and counterfeiter founded an auto warranty company eight years ago that now employs more than 1,000 people.
The story of U.S. Fidelis founder Atkinson could be a model of rehabilitation. But it's one being cast into question now as attorneys general from at least 40 states investigate whether the company has violated consumer protection laws.
The Better Business Bureau says that, in the last three years, more than 1,100 people have filed complaints about Wentzville-based U.S. Fidelis, or its affiliated companies. The watchdog group says consumers complain that the firm's telemarketers deceive consumers.
Consumers purchase extended service contracts after the manufacturer warranties expire. Customers typically make a down payment for the service and pay a monthly fee that is deducted automatically from their credit cards or bank accounts.
Critics in lawsuits, consumer advocacy websites and in the BBB reports say the U.S. Fidelis sales reps often lie about the coverage provided by the extended auto warranties, refuse to provide customers with contracts until after they purchase a warranty and lure consumers with bogus offers that create a false sense of urgency.
Last year, then-Attorney General Jay Nixon filed suit against the company, claiming it violated federal and state telemarketing laws, including the No Call list. Lawyers on April 1 filed a class-action suit against U.S. Fidelis in St. Charles County alleging violations of Missouri's consumer-protection law.
Company officials say they have responded to nearly every consumer complaint the BBB has received and that the company is an industry leader in fair customer service.
Criminal charges
Atkinson, 44, and his three brothers grew up in Garden City, Kan. The brothers - Darain, Cory, Kevin and Robert - all have worked at U.S. Fidelis, which Darain formed in 2001. Darain is president; Cory, 39, is vice president. Kevin Atkinson, 45, is a manager there, as was Robert Atkinson, who died last year.
When the boys were growing up, their father, Ernest Atkinson, held a variety of jobs in the Garden City area, among them bookkeeping-related positions and cattle raising, said their grandmother, Amelia Atkinson.
In 1986, while living in the Garden City area, Darain Atkinson, 21 at the time, was charged with burglary, theft and forgery. According to court documents, he broke into a furniture store and stole money and blank checks, which he later cashed at several banks. When police arrested him, he was carrying $1,680 in cash.
After pleading guilty in November 1986, Darain Atkinson was given probation. That was revoked in June 1987 when he pleaded guilty in federal court to a counterfeiting charge for producing $40,000 in bogus $20 and $50 notes. About two months later, he went to prison on the state charges.
In a 1988 letter from the Kansas prison that was part of his court file, Darain Atkinson asked a judge for an early release from his state prison term so he could start his federal prison sentence as soon as possible.
He also said he wanted to enroll in a drug-treatment program once he became a federal inmate. He described himself as a model prisoner who had provided information to authorities "to get some drug pushers off the street."
And Darain Atkinson promised to sin no more. He would straighten up and become a businessman, he told the judge.
Later that year, he was released from state custody and sent to federal prison. He was released on Sept. 7, 1990. As he recalled that day in a brief interview on Friday: "When the bars closed behind me, I was rehabilitated."
His time in prison was "a blessing in disguise" because it set him on the right path - and it led him to Jesus, Atkinson said in the interview. "I am absolutely a changed man."
Launching a company
In July 2001, Atkinson started the company that would become U.S. Fidelis, known at the time as Big Time Productions. The company's name changed to National Auto Warranty Services Inc. in February 2003. On Jan. 22, it became U.S. Fidelis Inc.
According to the business's most recent annual report, Darain Atkinson is the company's president, treasurer and a board member; Cory Atkinson is listed as the only other board member, as well as the company's vice president and secretary.
The two Atkinson brothers ran the company in its early days out of a store front in Centre on the Lake strip mall in Lake Saint Louis. Ernest Atkinson, who lives in Wentzville, said his sons began the business "on a Christian concept, " and that 10 percent of everything going to the church or charity.
"They have tried to do everything that they could with this business in order to have it honest, " he said.
His sons' secret to success, Ernest Atkinson said, "is being smart and working hard and doing things honestly. You've got God on your side, and he's going to make you profitable."
The company moved to a larger space in St. Peters, but by 2006, the company had grown to 300 employees and was looking for more space. The company settled on the old Belz Factory Outlet Center, a 346,000-square-foot complex at Interstate 70 and Highway 40. More than 1,000 U.S. Fidelis employees now work there, and part of the mall has been converted to house Element Church, where the Atkinson family and many of the company's managers attend services.
That church is expanding into space that was recently the home to Exodus, a Christian nightclub owned by Atkinson that opened and closed within months.
Great prosperity
The company's headquarters is impressive, but the building that's become the talk of St. Charles County's real estate industry is Darain Atkinson's future home - a 20,752-square-foot mansion under construction on the banks of Lake Saint Louis.
County Assessor Scott Shipman said that when completed, it will be the largest home in the county, and by a considerable margin: The next biggest is 15,000 square feet.
According to the Lake Saint Louis building department, plans show the mansion will have a bowling alley, a beauty salon, a library, a meditation room, a billiards room and an observation tower accessible by a spiral staircase.
Plans call for a custom indoor pool and an outdoor pool with a waterfall, slide and a bar-and-kitchen area. They also include a sculpture garden and an auto courtyard with a seven-car garage. To date, according to Lake Saint Louis building permits, $17 million has been slated for the Lakeview home's construction.
Atkinson said he wanted to build his Lake Saint Louis mansion large enough to accommodate charitable fundraisers he plans to host.
The house is hardly the only sign of Darain Atkinson's prosperity.
Records show he and his wife, Mia, also own four other homes in St. Charles County and a 50-foot yacht. They also own luxury cars, including a 2006 Bentley Continental GT valued at $144,900, according to tax records.
Tax records also show the company owns a 44-foot, 2007 Marine Technology speedboat dubbed "Bat Boat" and six vehicles, including a 2005 Ford GT racer with a supercharged V8 engine and valued at $107,420, as well as a 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 muscle car valued at $33,434.
That love of high-powered vehicles seems to influence the company's marketing strategy: In February, it announced that it would be a primary sponsor of NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Steve Wallace of Rusty Wallace Racing in 25 races this year. Team vice president Greg Wallace reinforced its commitment to U.S. Fidelis in an e-mail on Friday: "We are in the racing business, and U.S. Fidelis provides valuable sponsorship to our team."
Atkinson would not talk about other property he owns because he said he fears for his family's safety. He didn't elaborate.
His telephone interview Friday with a reporter was given on the condition that questions would be limited to his criminal history and the mansion being built in Lake Saint Louis. Atkinson's spokesman, Ken Fields of the Fleishman-Hillard public relations firm, participated in the telephone interview. He would not allow Atkinson to answer several questions about his personal finances or other property he owns.
Questions about U.S. Fidelis' operations were directed to Chris Riley, the company's new chief executive and a former senior partner at ABMI, a consulting firm based in Overland Park, Kan., that specializes in corporate mergers and acquisitions.
Riley, named CEO last month, declined to discuss specific sales and marketing tactics used by the company and said the company is committed to dealing with customers honestly and fairly. He said U.S. Fidelis supports increased regulation of the extended auto warranty industry, including a ban on reaching customers through unsolicited, outbound calls. U.S. Fidelis discontinued that practice about nine months ago, Riley said.
In a statement last week, Riley said the company had resolved virtually all the complaints the BBB had received and is working on addressing the remaining complaints.
That doesn't satisfy Michelle Corey, the president and chief executive of the BBB in St. Louis, who replied in a statement that U.S. Fidelis does respond to formally lodged consumer complaints but fails "to address the fundamental reasons why consumers complain in the first place."
Riley would not discuss Darain Atkinson's criminal background and he would not comment on the lifestyles enjoyed by Darain and Cory Atkinson. Riley described the brothers as "very community oriented" and that they've given significant financial support to Element Church.
Meanwhile, Darain Atkinson would not discuss U.S. Fidelis, nor the complaints from its customers. But he acknowledged that the company has made him wealthy.
"There is an order in the Kingdom of Heaven, " he said. "God has blessed us. Why he has blessed us, I don't know."
Enjoying the rewards
Homes owned by Darain Atkinson and his wife
- Under construction, a waterfront mansion on Lakeview Court, on Lake Saint Louis. St. Charles County land records indicate the house will be 20,752 square feet when finished. So far, construction costs have totaled $17 million, permits show.
- A 3,618-square-foot home with a market value of $779,810 on Hawks Landing Drive in Wentzville. It was purchased in 2003.
- A 3,835-square-foot home valued at $636,160 on Woodview Drive in unincorporated St. Charles County, bought in 2005.
- A second house on Woodview Drive, a 1,350-square-foot ranch the Atkinsons bought in 2006 for $575,000 but that records say is valued at $232,760.
- A 1,972-square-foot ranch on Pigeon Drive in Lake Saint Louis that the couple bought last year for $330,000 (its value is listed at $339,170).
Homes owned by Cory Atkinson and his wife
- A remote, 9,015-square-foot home the couple had built in 2006 on 10.7 acres on Atkinson Way in St. Charles County. County records say the property is valued at $2.41 million.
- A newly built 4,695-square-foot home near the Northstar ski resort in Truckee, Calif., near Lake Tahoe. According to property and real estate records, the couple bought the home late last year for $2.875 million.
- A waterfront, 4,914-square-foot home in the La Riva Estates section of the Porta Cima neighborhood in Sunrise Beach, in the Lake of the Ozarks area. Camden County records did not indicate what was paid for the property; however, county records say the home was appraised at $590,300 in 2008.
- A 2,100-square-foot house at 505 Lias Way in Wentzville, purchased in 2007 and valued at $158,010.
- A 1,419-square-foot home at 718 Wenstone Crossing Way in Wentzville, bought in 2006 and valued at $154,510.
- A tract of land near the Atkinson Way property, on Bless Us Drive East, bought last year for $102,950.
Cars and boats
- On their 2008 St. Charles County personal property assessment form, Darain Atkinson and his wife, Mia, reported a 2006 Bentley Continental GT valued at $144,900; a 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL500 valued at $56,875; a 2006 Ford pickup; a 24-foot boat; a 20-foot boat; and two boat trailers.
- Cory Atkinson and his wife, Heather, reported a 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera valued at $61,200; a 2005 Corvette CV valued at $38,650; a 2007 Cadillac Escalade valued at $38,058; a 2005 Ford Mustang; and a 2005 Ford pickup.
- Darain Atkinson also owns a 50-foot 2005 Sea Ray yacht named "Isabella, " according to a boat registration database. Those records indicate the boat's hailing port is Lake Saint Louis. The value guide used to assess property in Missouri lists the yacht's market value at $439,100.
- Likewise, Cory Atkinson owns a 40-foot 2005 Porter boat dubbed "Quick Silver" that he keeps in Sunrise Beach, in the Lake of the Ozarks area, boat registration records say.
- Records show a third boat - a 44-foot, 2007 Marine Technology speedboat named "Bat Boat" - that is listed on National Auto Warranty Services' 2009 assessment form. National Auto Warranty is the name of the Atkinsons' warranty company before they changed it in January to U.S. Fidelis. Bat Boat also is kept in Sunrise Beach, according to boat registration records.
- National Auto Warranty's assessment form also lists six vehicles and a trailer. The vehicle with the biggest price tag is a 2005 Ford GT racer, a high-performance car with a supercharged V8 engine, valued at $107,420, according to assessment records. Also listed is a 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 muscle car valued at $33,434, a 2006 Chevrolet, 2007 Chevrolet, 2006 Ford and 2007 Ford.
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03-30-10, 08:38 AM
#9
Warranty Gold was a huge warranty company that went belly up too.
I'd never buy an aftermarket warranty.Only a heavy discounted manufacturer's warranty.
For a Lexus/Toyota/Ford and maybe other auto company from the well known guy in Greenfield,MA.
I'd never buy an aftermarket warranty.Only a heavy discounted manufacturer's warranty.
For a Lexus/Toyota/Ford and maybe other auto company from the well known guy in Greenfield,MA.
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