Veterans Services of America Danny Margolis Veterans Services of America is a SCAM!!! THEY DO NOT PROVIDE ANY OF THE SERVICES THEY CLAIM THEY DO. West Palm Beach, Florida

After i posted the RIPOFF REPORT on Veterans Services of America, i remembered certain details of the property at 705 - 11th Street, West Palm Beach, Florida...  i said in my ORIGINAL REPORT, that Danny Margolis bought that 6 unit apartment building for $130,000.00.  Soon afterwards, it came to me, that the PRICE he bought it for, was $175,000.00...

ALL the other DETAILS are TRUE and CORRECT, to the BEST of my recollection.

He BOUGHT it for $175,000.00

Then, after he bought $30,000.00 worth of MATERIALS, he had the veterans he moved in there, HELP him with the WORK... a LOT of which was NOT DONE by LICENSED CONTRACTORS..  

Two of the veterans (names withheld) that live(d) there told me the same story.. That Danny Margolis got them to do a LOT of WORK there, under the (FALSE) ASSUMPTION that they would be PAID for their hard work (renovating the place) either by CASH, or by paying LESS than the $400.00 per month, which is the going rate there, for a SINGLE DWELLER UNIT.. a "Quid-Pro-Quo" if you will.

Only, that NEVER HAPPENED...

And EVERY VETERAN i spoke with there, told me the same story, over and over again..

That they would "Bust their butt(s) for him, anywheres from 3 to 5 WEEKS, THINKING that they would either be "compensated", or "rewarded" with a PAID or SALARIED (Staff) POSITION, or with CASH, or with a SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION in their RENT...

Danny Margolis is an EXPERT at "leading people on", and "insinuating", and "leading people to BELIEVE" that (they would be COMPENSATED for their hard work) while ALL that time, he NEVER INTENDS to actually "Put his money where his mouth is", and deliver the goods..

Once someone has done a significant amount of work for him, and once they "come out from under the ETHER", and start WONDERING, "HEY, DANNY, WHERE'S THE MONEY???"  then, ALL OF A SUDDEN, it's a completely different ball game..

His response is always, "No, there was never any DEAL... there is NO "PAID POSITION" here..  It is ALL 100% VOLUNTEER.."

And he's real slick, about HOW he does that, and gets away with it all the time..

He will have his "Sidekick", named "Jay" tell you what he thinks you want to hear.. that "Danny is GOING to work you a sweet deal, and knock a whole lot of money off your rent... maybe even to the point that you will be living here, RENT-FREE.. maybe, even better than that..  maybe even five hundred a week.." 

And for a lot of the veterans living there, that are barely getting by, from month to month, that haven't had an increase in their monthly check, for over two years, THAT "is" a SWEET DEAL...

But, in MY case, Danny Margolis took it quite a bit farther..  i opened up his office, around 09:30 AM, and answered the phone there, and did errands for him, until about 3:30 to 4:00 PM, for over THREE WEEKS.. the ONLY "COMPENSATION" being that he bought me lunch fairly regularly..

Sure, i was free to "USE" whatever "facilities" i needed there, for my own use, like printing out a Resume', etc., but that was not easy, because of constant interruptions, like the phone (which i answered, regardless of what i was doing already) and other distractions.

Danny Margolis would call me several times a day, and many of those times, he would ask me to CALL someone else FOR him; when he COULD have saved  ME the time, AND the "MINUTES" on my cellular phone, by simply doing that himself, and calling that person directly..

Also, another "tool" he used, to further the "illusion" that i would be COMPENSATED for my work, was the fact that HE TOLD ME that i was to DRAFT UP "BUSINESS CARDS", for myself, and for another veteran, that was helping him to APPLY for GRANTS, and to RAISE FUNDS for HIM..

At that particular point, i wasn't really looking to get rich off of doing that.. Even TWO to THREE HUNDRED dollars a MONTH taken off my rent, would have made a LOT of difference...

The way i figured it, "Four of five HOURS a WEEK is "VOLUNTEER" Work..  But NOT Four or five HOURS a DAY.. EVERY SINGLE DAY, including Saturday.. and NOT when he would call me LATE at NIGHT, and EARLY in the MORNING, wanting me to call someone for him..

It got to where it was more a FULL-TIME JOB, than a simple, one or two days (maximum) "Volunteer Position", for the "cause"...

After about 3 weeks of that, and after i had brought a friend in, to help with the Grant Application Process, i e-mailed Margolis, suggesting that it would be a "GOOD THING" to do, to GIVE both me AND my friend $200.00 each, for WORK we had ALREADY DONE...

And in that same e-mail, i pointed out, that after he gave my friend the $200.00, that it was okay with me, if he gave ME just $30.00 or $40.00 cash, and then take the REMAINEDER OF MY $200.00 OFF MY RENT...

When i saw him the next day, he handed me $40.00 cash, and told me that he had given my friend $200.00 (as per our e-mail agreement) and at that point in time, i had put in over FIVE to TEN TIMES more HOURS, answering the phones, and helping him raise money, etc...

So, understandably, when it came time for me to pay MY rent, A WEEK LATER.. i went to pay him $160.00 LESS, than the standard, usual amount.. since $200.00 minus the $40.00 he had paid me already equaled a BALANCE of $160.00.. worth of RENT CREDIT..

But, when it came time for me to CASH IN, on that, ALL OF A SUDDEN, "No, there was NEVER ANY COMPENSATION.. it was ALWAYS, STRICTLY A VOLUNTEER thing..  ALL RENTS MUST BE PAID.. NO EXCEPTIONS.."

THIS is what is classically called, "BAIT AND SWITCH"... 

BAIT you into performing work or services under FALSE PRETENSES.. and then, when it comes time to pay the piper, he SWITCHes the story around.. now that he has already gotten what he wanted out of you..

The WHOLE time this was going on, the ONLY REDEMING THING i could say, about Danny Margolis, and his "Veterans Services of America", was the fact, that he was "providing" low-income housing for Veterans..  $400.00 for a two bedroom apartment.. Only in MY case, ONE of those rooms was FILLED to CAPACITY with furniture, and other items that had been DONATED to them, and he was TOO CHEAP to PAY for STORAGE somewhere...

Danny Margolis sent ME two to three times, the number of e-mails that i sent him..

And this problem got way too much, with the ceiling not being fixed.. Jay would call me, and tell me he would be there at a certain time, on a certain day, but then, never show up.. totally un-reliable..

And finally, in one of MY emails to Danny Margolis, i threatened to "Call a LAWYER", if Jay failed to show up (one more time) to FIX that ceiling..  i threatened to SUE him... but then, the next day, he shows up with the police, crying like a little b***h...  "You're SCARING me.. you're sending me these letters, telling me you're gonna get me..." it was pathetic..

In that last letter, i mentioned the "Parallels", between HIM, and Bernie Madoff (another Jew) from New York, that FLEECED a LOT of people out of their life savings and their inheritance, etc.. and that i had HEARD that that apartment building there had been FOR SALE... that he had it up for sale, a few months earlier..  (Now, at that point in time, one of the other tenants there told me, that there had been an article in the newspaper, a few months before, saying that the place had been for sale...

When i inquired further, as to whether or not he knew if it WAS or not, he said, "Well, that depends on who you BELIEVE...  that the newspaper said yes, but Danny Margolis denied it, and again, there was NO SIGN on the property anywhere, saying it was for sale..  )

THAT is what PANICKED Margolis ... His SCAM being uncovered..  i was VERY CLOSE to THE TRUTH... i just didn't KNOW it at that moment, that it WAS, in FACT, LISTED on loopnet.net FOR SALE..

And that AD gave the IMPRESSION that the building WAS FULLY (100%) OCCUPIED,  which WAS true, and that he was NETTING $550.00 EACH UNIT, WHICH WAS NOT TRUE..

If ANY of those Veterans living there had KNOWN that the building THEY were LIVING in, that THEY had PERSONALLY SWEATED for, and WORKED ON, RENOVATING it, THINKING Margolis was "in it for the LONG HAUL" had FOUND OUT, that it (was NOT ONLY FOR SALE, but) HAD BEEN ON THE MARKET FOR MONTHS, they would NOT have been very happy about that, at all..!!!

Danny Margolis put on a real good ACT, in front of the cop that showed up with him, asking me to move out.. when it was only the THIRD week of the month, and i was PAID UP till the END of the month...   He gave me twenty dollars cash, and that was it..  i was LUCKY that my past landlord let me move back in, and then, pay him a week later...  otherwise, HIS SCAM would have taken precedent over MY NEED for a place to stay, and that wouldn't have bothered him a bit...

Margolis had gotten in good with the local police, when he first bought that building, and after driving out the drug dealers and prostitutes, the Property Value went up, considerably... considerably enough, to where he showed his true colors, by putting it up FOR SALE, as soon as it was renovated enough..

He is like the classic "little b*****d", that throws rocks all the other kids on the block, and then, runs and hides behind his mommy's skirt...

He WEASELED TIME and MONEY out of me, and a LOT of other Veterans (in the past two years there) and then, when i called him out on it, and threatened to EXPOSE him, and SUE him, he runs to the police, in a desperate attempt to discredit me, and more to the point, to KEEP HIS SCAM from BEING UN-COVERED...

As soon as i moved out of there, and got moved in, to my new place, i got to thinking.. then i got a hunch.. then i played that hunch...  The way he came off, and the way he LIED to that cop, and twisted everything around, i got to thinking, that maybe, just maybe, the place WAS FOR SALE, right then, already.. and maybe THAT was what really PANICKED him...

So, i went on-line, to a search engine, typed in "Apartment Buildings for Sale, in West Palm Beach, florida", hit enter, and PRESTO...  up popped a big list of apartment buildings, on loopnet.net

And after looking at each one, scrolling down as i went, THERE was that apartment building, FOR SALE..  There was a PICTURE of it, and there was NO MISTAKE.. At the bottom of that part of the ad that i have pasted below, you see the words (on the very last line) "Last Verified  11/4/2010"..

It was near the end of OCTOBER that i moved out, and THAT very first time i saw that ad, it said it was "Last Verified" on 10/4/2010" as i recall...  You see, this ad was VERIFIED ONCE EVERY SINGLE MONTH...  It WASN'T just put on there, and left there that way.. It's not like he ran the ad, and forgot to take it down, after changing his mind, about selling that place..

NO, someone from loopnet.net CALLED him ONCE EVERY MONTH, starting on the SECOND MONTH that ad was run, all the way through, till he pulled the ad, AFTER he found out that i KNEW about it, and TOLD one of the Veterans there, when he called me, asking about a computer issue there..

THIS particular ad was the EXACT SAME one, as the one i first saw in October, the only difference being, that it said it was last verified in November 2010, and not October 2010..

And if ANYONE at loopnet.net TRIES to cover for him, and claims otherwise, i will call him or her a LIAR to their face..

Danny Margolis has a Real Estate Broker's License... i got to KNOW him quite well, over the short amount of time i had the DISPLEASURE of doing business with him...  When i READ that description,

("Triple Net Leased to the Veterans Services of America, Inc.. 6-2bedroom apartments one bath, recently renovated with ceramic tile floors, painted interior and exterior. CBS construction.
Parking for 8 cars. Next door to Police Community Center, across the street from a very fine elementary school. Located in the developing downtown area. ,mere blocks to City Hall and main shopping and recreation areas.")

There was NO DOUBT in my mind, whatsoever, that Danny Margolis himself had drafted that ad..  AND, that ad had BEEN RUNNING THE WHOLE TIME i was THERE...   The whole time that i had been telling myself and other people, 'You know, the ONLY REDEMING QUALITY, or THING about Danny Margolis, and Veterans Services of America, is that they provide low income housing, for veterans..

But NOW, that too, was gone.. It was ALL a BIG "SMOKE AND MIRRORS", "SHELL" GAME.. 

(1) He bought the (Six Unit apartment building) property for $175,000.00...
(2) He bought $30,000.00 worth of MATERIAL to RENOVATE it with..
(3) He got the Veterans that LIVE there to do MOST of the WORK, RENOVATING it... leading them to believe that they would be PAID for their labor, until they finally starting asking that million dollar question, "Hey, where's the money?"
(4) He squeezed as much work, for the most amount of time possible, out of as many Veterans as he could, until (one by one) they realized they had been "had", by him (Margolis) and simply refused to do any more "Volunteer" work...
(5) He led them to believe, that any and all "work", and/or "effort", or "expense" they incurred personally, was "Worth it"... after all, THIS was where THEY were now living.. cheap rent...  The main problem with that though, was the fact that he turned right around, and put it up FOR SALE, on the INTERNET, keeping THAT little tiny TIDBIT of information SECRET from all the veterans there. 
(6) He got with the local police, and put on a good show, about being in it for the long haul, being a concerned citizen, helping to drive out the drug dealers and the prostitutes, etc..
(7) Once that happened, the PROPERTY VALUE went up considerably...
(8) The FACT that he did NOT replace all the hot water heaters, is further proof, that he was NOT "in it for the LONG HAUL"...  NO, he was "in it, for as LONG as it took to flip it", 
(9) He GAMBLED on the (faulty) assumption, that the hot water heaters would hold up, for the amount of time that it would take, for the property to SELL..  only they didn't.. at least the one in the unit above me, any way.. it leaked so much, a big 3 foot by 10 foot chunk crumbled from my ceiling... and then, he waited until the worst possible time, to finally fix it, and THAT, with UN-LICENSED CONTRACTOR help... there's probably MOLD there now, up in the rafters there, and in the rafters in the bathroom.. i took videos and pictures of it all, and posted them on the first, original post here, at ripoff reports..
(10) When you (a) SEE the Property Value go UP, and (b) RUN AN AD (like he did) LISTING the PROPERTY FOR SALE, and VERIFY (as in "CONFIRM) the FACT that it is INDEED, FOR SALE, EVERY MONTH thereafter, and (c) KEEP IT A SECRET FROM the Veterans there, THAT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF...
(11) Add all that, to the fact that he LIED in the ad itself, CLAIMING that he was NETTING $550.00 PER UNIT, when in FACT, he was ONLY "GROSSING" $400.00 PER UNIT.. 
(12) The way it worked, was if a unit was rented by a SOLE OCCUPANT, then the TOTAL RENT COLLECTED from that unit, was $400.00 per month..
(13) If you moved in, and then, decided to share the unit with a roommate, then the rent went up to a total of $500.00.. each co-tenant pays $250.00, and there was ONLY ONE such UNIT..  but those particular tenants had moved in from the beginning, and paid only $400.00 TOTAL.. that's what one of those tenants two told me.
(14) He TALKED about the possibility of installing an extra bathroom and shower in each unit, but that idea was not feasible or practical... there is simply not enough space in those units for that.
(15) Even though they are "Two bedroom" units, they are not all that "roomy", as far as kitchen and dining room space goes.. and MOST people, given the choice, would simply rather NOT have a roommate there.. Not when they could get a LOT NICER place, in a LOT better part of town, for another $50.00 to $75.00 per month more, each...
(16) He wasn't paying ANY of the UTILITIES... not even the WATER and GARBAGE collection.. No, it COSTS a $250.00 DEPOSIT, for them to turn on the water, and ANOTHER $250.00 DEPOSIT, to turn on the electricity..
(17) Then, it costs about $200.00 per month, or even more, for those services, on a monthly basis..
(18) And on top of that, the building itself is in one of the two worst parts of town... it is NOT all that SAFE to walk around there..  especially after dark.. 
(19) How do you arrive at the $550.00 per unit figure?  Simple, $330,000.00 (the asking price) times 12% = $550.00
(20) And again, THAT is FALSE ADVERTISING.. or "BAIT AND SWITCH" rearing its ugly head again..
(21) He only "STOPS BY" there for an HOUR a day, if that, and even then, never before 1:00 PM..
(22) He puts on a GOOD SHOW... He comes off like a decent enough fellow... but once you have occasion to have "DEALINGS" with him, and once you get to KNOW him, more and more of his "TRUE COLORS" start showing..
(23) The SAD part about all this, is the fact that (in a way) i still want to believe, that he REALLY is "in it for the long haul"... i wrote him that, on more than one occasion.. that i WANTED to believe he was legit, and on the "up and up", but when he DELIBERATELY MISLEADS PEOPLE, and TAKES ADVANTAGE of them, CONTINUOUSLY, the way he does, he makes that next to impossible.. and that's a SAD COMMENTARY.. it really, truly is...
(24) What could he do, to win over the hearts and minds of the "doubtful' and "non-believers"?
(25) Well, for one thing, he could SHOW where ALL THE MONEY IS GOING...
(26) He could do like The BIBLE says, and go COMPENSATE ALL the people he's finaggled money and services out of, FOUR TIMES those amounts..  THAT was the figure, that one man in particular told JESUS (from his heart) that he was going to do, once he saw the light...
(27) He could STOP FOOLING PEOPLE...
(28) He can STOP FOOLING HIMSELF..

When i said he PULLED that ad, i mean he really PULLED that ad...  Since then, i have gone online there, at loopnet.net, and when i type in that LISTING ID NUMBER (16747224) NOTHING COMES UP at all.. NOTHING.. NADA...  almost as if that ad was never run... but it WAS, and it WAS run, the whole time i was living there, and believe me, THAT is something that i DEFINITELY would have liked to have known THEN, and not later on, after i had WASTED all that TIME and EFFORT on HIS "ILLUSION"...

Since then, i have given quite a bit of thought to this "issue", and have come to the point, where i really don't want any real harm to come to him, and i don't want any harm to come to any Veterans either...

(a) Would i recommend people DONATE anything to him?  no.. (b) Do i want those Veterans that are living there now, to get a fair shake, and to have the option (available to them) of being able to continue living there, at relatively cheap rent? yes... (c) Should those Veterans be given the "HEADS UP", as in "NOTIFIED", that the place they are living in was FOR SALE, for MONTHS, without their knowledge? "why not?"  (d) By him pulling that ad, does that mean that the place TRULY is NOT FOR SALE, UNDER ANY CONDITION(s)...?  "who knows?"  (e) Does it MATTER whether or not it DOES come on the market again (IF it is TRULY "OFF" THE MARKET, AND NOT FOR SALE RIGHT NOW"? "Well, ordinarily, if you're living in an apartment building, and it changes ownership, the tenants can EXPECT certain CHANGES to occur... (1) the rent may GO UP... (2) the new owners may or may not MAINTAIN the place as good, as the prior owner.. and (3) In THIS CASE ESPECIALLY, the FACT that this PARTICULAR OWNER (Danny Margolis) EVER INTENDED TO SELL the place, SPEAKS VOLUMES, as to his CHARACTER, AND, it also SHEDS certain LIGHT, on his past dealings, especially with the people that DONATED their TIME and WORK, to RENOVATE the place, BELIEVING in him, that he was "in it for the long haul"..

BOTTOM LINE...  If you told all the veterans there, that the place was for sale, maybe HALF of them would move out, period... 

And THAT is one thing that he has to avoid, if he wants to SELL the place.. He NEEDS it FULLY OCCUPIED..

One thought in particular has kept bouncing around in my head, for awhile now... and that is, that "As long as Danny Margolis holds onto (and does not sell) the property, then he (for all "intents and purposes" IS "in it for the long haul... as far as how people PERCEIVE the situation, any way...

And as long as things "remain" that way, he can always play it, to where nobody can really PIN him down, specifically, etc...  In other words, while the property STAYS OFF the market (if in fact that IS truly the case) HE HAS "KING's X"...  as in 'NEUTRAL TERRITORY"...  and he can keep up, and maintain his FACADE, etc... 

And who knows, maybe one day, he WILL "see the light", and truly COMMIT to his "CAUSE"...

i wish him well, and hope that someday, he will demonstrate his VALIDITY(?), but i still don't trust him, and i wouldn't give him the time of day... i would NEVER get on a phone, or write letters to people for him, asking them to donate a dime to him..

i personally, had the experience with him that i did... i "CAUGHT" him in a LIE, on more than one occasion, trying to twist things around, and trying to "Revise HISTORY"... to "muddy the waters", and just about everything else..

There were plenty of other instances, and times, where he did certain things, that REALLY gave me pause to think...  a very SLICK DUDE... Now, me personally.. i just don't care for that, in a person..  If you LEAD a person to THINK, or BELIEVE, and even EXPECT you are GOING to do something, then BY GOD, DO IT..!!!  

There have been times, when i have gone the extra mile, and actually gone ahead, and DONE for someone, something i never promised, or meant to do.. but i did the right thing...  i took it on the chin, and i told the person, "Hey, i'm sorry if i led you to believe we had a DEAL, but since you DID do such and such... and since i DID BENEFIT from that, then it's ONLY FAIR that i make it worth your while...

Now, from THAT point on, i would be VERY CAREFUL, as to just exactly WHAT i would say to that person, and keep it understood completely, just EXACTLY where we were, with anything and/or everything.. so as to AVOID any such misunderstanding later...

But as far as Danny Margolis goes, don't EVER COUNT on HIM doing THAT..  if you DO, you're only setting yourself up, for a big disappointment.. trust me..

Again, i wish him well, and i pray for him, when i have occasion to... 

The "opinion" i have of him was not formed overnight... it came about, over a period of time, where i had plenty enough time and opportunity, to fully "take in", and reflect. on every area of concern to me, in a person, in a man, and compare that, to most every other man i've ever known in my life...

Another way of putting it, would be to say, "Just TOO MANY RED FLAGS"....  in TOO SHORT A PERIOD OF TIME...

HERE's that AD he ran, online, at loopnet.net

Listing ID  16747224

Independant Living for Veterans
Price: $330,000No. Units: 6Building Size: 4,200 SFPrice/Unit: $55,000Property Type: MultifamilyProperty Sub-type: Garden/Low-RiseProperty Use Type: InvestmentCommission Split: 3%Cap Rate: 12%Gross Rent Multiplier: 10Occupancy: 100%Lot Size: 20,000 SFFind Out More...
Last Verified  11/4/2010


address: 705 - 11th Street, West Palm Beach, Florida