Where are they now?

Loudoun County foreclosure expert wins round one
against assessor Todd Kaufman

I recently caught up with Danilo Bogdanovic, the heroic Loudoun County foreclosure expert who stared down the county assessor, winning the first round in a battle that has died down, for the moment anyway. With his permission, I’m sharing his story. I’ll not cover ground that has already been tread: just Google Todd Kaufman assessor to get the background.

Since we last were updated on the story, a lot has changed. At the height of the conflict, Danilo submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Loudoun County Government’s human resources department. Specifically, he requested the Loudoun County human resources manual to see if Mr. Kaufman had violated any ethics code or standards of conduct in his position as county assessor when he tried to force Danilo to remove the now-infamous blog post. As you recall, Kaufman pestered Danilo’s broker, firm owner and even the CEO of his local REALTOR board. He doesn’t know for sure, but he surmises that word of his request either reached Kaufman or one of his superiors. But coincidentally, that’s when Kaufman’s efforts to pressure Danilo ended.

Before any of this transpired, Danilo began considering changing brokers. On his own accord, he severed ties with his former brokerage, opting to go to a new firm that has a view of real estate sales more congruent with his own. He has also been quoted in a front-page article in the Washington Post about foreclosures in Northern Virginia. That story and his blogs have yielded new buyer and investor clients, including at least one million-dollar opportunity.

For now, all is quiet on the western front. Danilo takes round one: The infamous post lives on. But county assessments are due to hit mailboxes any day now. Danilo expects he’ll receive a flood of e-mail from Loudoun County homeowners incensed about their assessments. I think round two is about to begin. Let’s get ready to rumble!