UPDATE:

Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land’s claim that she is a
small business owner, not part of the lucrative Land & Co. real estate conglomerate
run by her husband, clashes with five Grand Rapids city inspectors’ reports
from 2011-12 obtained by The Macomb Daily.
Each of the documents indicates the Southview Apartments
complex that Land claims she owns and operates is, in fact, in the hands of the
“registered owner” — her husband, Dan Hibma, and Land & Co. That
contradicts Land’s narrative in recent weeks that she has no ties to the family
business and should not be portrayed as one of the wealthiest Senate candidates
in the nation.
The Grand Rapids reports show that inspectors were
communicating with Land & Co. as they addressed a series of tenant complaints
about cockroaches, mice and bed bugs at the apartment complex from September
2011 to July 2012.
Reports filed in 2011 and again nearly a year later show that tenants said the cockroach infestation was still a problem. And Hibma and Land
& Co. were still listed as the owners of the College Avenue complex.
In her neck-and-neck Senate race as the Republican
nominee facing off with Democratic U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, Land has tried to
distance herself from Land & Co., including the firm’s decision to close
down and demolish the Grand Rapids area mobile home park run by the Land
family, including Terri Lynn.
After the tenants were ousted, the company’s attempt to
attract a commercial development to the property failed. Land, who initially
featured her role as a young woman working at the quaint trailer park in a
campaign ad, later insisted she played no role in the family business, once the
full story gained media attention.
Subsequent news reports revealed that Land, a former
Michigan Secretary of State, poured nearly $3 million of her own money into her
Senate campaign while reporting an annual salary of $44,726
in 2012 and $89,729 in 2013. Land explained that the campaign
cash came from a joint checking account with her husband that she had forgotten
to list on her financial disclosure report.
Southview Apartments

State documents indicate that Land, a former Republican
National Committee member, formed a company called Green Light Management in
2011 to take over the Southview Apartments complex from a group of family
members. But today the Green Light Management website directs those interested
in renting at Southview to an online site for Land & Co. Southview also
lists its street address as the same office as Oakview Apartments, which is
also owned by Land & Co.

Yet, in her bid to exude populist appeal, the candidate
has continued to portray herself as a small business owner whose only activity
is running Southview along with her son.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg News has listed her as the richest contender
seeking a Senate seat in 2014, with a net worth of about $32.8 million.
On the Southview website, here is how Green Light is described: “The Southview Apartments are owned and cared
for by Green Light Management. Green Light Management is an established West
Michigan real estate, development and construction company. Our primary
business is the management of our apartment homes.”
Heather Swift, Land’s campaign spokeswoman, has not yet complied
with a request for a comment.
Land’s father, Paul Land, reportedly rose in the business community from
owner of the Grandville Motel and Trailer Park to a sprawling west
Michigan portfolio of apartment complexes and commercial and industrial
properties. Hibma, Land’s spouse, and her brother-in-law, Roger Lucas,
played key roles in growing the Land & Co. real estate empire.
Since her wealth became a campaign issue in the
closely fought contest with Peters, Land has denied ever working for the family
firm, despite numerous public records suggesting otherwise.
The Detroit News reported last month that Land has
been listed on public documents as an “owner,” “special projects manager” or
“self-employed” at Land & Co. for about 20 years.
At the center of Land’s questionable history with Land & Co.
and the Southview Apartments is an odd land transaction that took place in May 2011,
after she completed her 8-year stint as Michigan Secretary of State and had
made an early exit from the 2010 campaign for governor.
Grand Rapids real estate sales records indicate that she bought
the apartments from her family for $900,000, though the city assessor’s office evaluated
the property at a market value of at least $1.25 million. She completed that
sale with an assist from a newly formed corporation known as SVC of GR.
SVC of GR, based in Redford Township, then legally acquired the
name of Southview Apartments, a status that continues through the end of 2016,
according to state Department of Labor and Regulatory Affairs documents.
John Truscott, who recently signed on as a spokesman for Land
& Co., said that Green Light and Land & Co. are two separate entities.
Truscott said that Green Light contracts with Land & Co. for basic services,
such as billing and bookkeeping.

More information will be coming forward, he added, to explain
the “confusing” corporate relationship between husband and wife.

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