New Service Providers
Enter the Charitable World

by Chase V. Magnuson, CCIM
President - Real Estate for Charities

Donors and charities may not be aware of new "service providers" entering the non-profit world to help solve difficult issues surrounding donations of real estate. Charities are reluctant to accept gifts of real property that is mortgaged or might have environmental risks attached and donors may not be able to achieve their philanthropic goals because of these issues. Slowly, these service providers have been entering the donation process to assist in solving these issues.

Let us first address the problem of mortgaged properties. HomeSold, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial, has developed a program to supply funding for "Bargain Sales" (donations with both a cash and gift component) of residential properties across the country. The program is open to any certified non-profit organization and their donors. The funds can be used to pay-off existing mortgages or provide cash to the donor. This can be accomplished in several ways, but the simplest example follows:

Donor offers a $200,000 house as a donation to their favorite charity subject to an existing $80,000 mortgage. The donee/charity can’t expose themselves to the debt liability or doesn’t have discretionary cash needed to close the gift (i.e. Pay the mortgage off or assume liability).

HomeSold will step in after due diligence (physical inspection) is completed and advance funds to purchase the debt portion of the asset. They will then own a percentage of the house. The donor will donate the free and clear ownership portion to the charity. A joint venture arrangement will be created so the property can be sold and funds distributed to the shared ownership partners under the terms of their agreement. The management and marketing of the house will be professionally handled so the transaction can be brought to a speedy conclusion for everyone’s benefit. Under this scenario the charity preserves the majority interest in the equity offered by their donor and does not have to forgo the opportunity for additional funding for their mission.

A second program has been developed by the same company to provide fundraising opportunities. The program is available to all nonprofit organizations and their employees. The donor receives up to a 25% cash rebate every time they sell or purchase a home.  They can use some or all of the cash as a donation to the charity.  You can visit their web site at www.aboutcaps.com.

Now let’s deal with support for environmentally impacted property donations.

The Realty Restoration Gift Fund (RRGF), a non-profit, has created a new entity for corporations and individuals with environmentally impaired assets to maximize the potential of these assets by donating them to RRGF. Their charter is to relieve the owner of the environmental liability for a fixed price, to transform the impaired asset into a "clean" one, to facilitate the reintroduction of the newly-clean property into commercial and community benefits and through the donation of the proceeds of the resulting sale to leading American charities provide a new source of philanthropic funds. This approach provides numerous benefits.

	Corporations and individuals can meet their corporate philanthropic goals, reduce future exposure to environmental risk, gain good will and simultaneously see positive impacts to their bottom line.
	Communities see impacted properties restored and economic revitalization opportunities increased.
	Charitable institutions, confronting ever-increasing needs and insufficient resources, find a new and substantial source of philanthropic support.

The main components of a typical transaction involve the donor, RRGF, a real estate advisor, a leading third party environmental remediation company, and an environmental risk insurance provider. The real estate advisor, environmental remediation company as well as the insurance provider must first evaluate a property under consideration and provide a plan of remediation and indemnification.

Once the Donor and the charity review and approve the proposal, guidelines for the gift are established and the donor donates the property along with the funds necessary to complete the remediation plan to RRGF thereby securing the resulting charitable deductions. The real estate advisor then helps identify an appropriate end-user of the remetiated property and the sale concluded. Under a typical donation agreement, a portion of the gift proceeds will be distributed to other charities subject to recommendations from the donor. Finally the insurer underwrites the environmental compliance plan and provides remediation insurance coverage offering indemnification to all of the parties involved in the transaction.

Their web site is www.rrgf.org.

Many donors would prefer to establish their own private foundations. The tax benefits under such an arrangement are not as attractive as donations to public charities, 501(c)3 certified. The National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) offers Donor Advised Funds as an alternative. They handle "hard to value" assets such as fine art, closely held businesses and real estate as the funding source.

For a donor who would like the benefits of a gift to last in perpetuity, some voice in the charity beneficiaries and a legacy for their heirs to oversee, the Donor Advised Fund is the perfect donation vehicle. The benefits for such gifts are immediate tax deduction in the full amount of the contribution, ability to recommend grants from the fund to charities of their choice and turning over the burden of paperwork to the support staff of NPT. There is extensive information on their site at www.npt.org.

There have been a number of "Facilitating Charities" established to help accept real estate donations that would otherwise be rejected by the charitable world. One of those charities is Real Estate Donations, Inc. Other qualified charities may choose to refer potential donations to them for consideration. If the donation process is completed successfully the net proceeds are divided between the charities under a pre-arranged understanding. In this fashion the ownership risks are taken on by the facilitating charity and they become responsible for managing and maintaining the property until it is sold. The bottom line is the "referring" charity can reject the donation outright and get zero or let the facilitating charity try to salvage the gift and thereby get something out of the proceeds.

For further information visit www.realestatedonations.org.

For more information on this subject, please contact:

Chase V. Magnuson
President
Real Estate for Charities
3164 Vista Rica
Carlsbad, CA 92009
Phone: (714) 815-8889
Email: chasemagnuson@email.msn.com
Website: www.realestateforcharities.com
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