This, as the expression goes, should be interesting.

Teutul is likely to be a strong competitor because — whether a fan or not — he’s an actual, real-life entrepreneur, someone who started with nothing and went on to create several working businesses as well as a TV franchise. His American Chopper series on Discovery has been a major cable TV hit and ended the season strongly with a three-way bike build-off between Jesse James, son Paul Jr. and himself. In the end, Paul Sr. and his Orange County Choppers finished a distant third in the motorcycle design contest with the winner being his son and PJD Designs

Teutul has also known his share of adversity, including an impoverished and difficult childhood, as a mortgage borrower who faced the foreclosure of his headquarters building by the lender, and as a father who has been publicly estranged from his sons Dan, Paul, Jr., and Mikey.

As much as his successes, it’s probably his faults and failures which make Teutul interesting — and human.

Each of the contestants vies not only for Trump’s adoration but also for a charity. Teutul will use his winnings to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization which provides grants to support the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Questions

Having Paul Sr. on Celebrity Apprentice raises several questions.

First, did the Celebrity Apprentice get the right Teutul? There’s an argument to be made that Paul Jr. would have been the better contestant because of his popularity and success.

Second, does the appearance on the Trump program signal that Paul Sr. will have a different role on the next edition of American Chopper; that is, will the program be more focused on his son? Will there be an expanded role for Jesse James or no role?

Third, which program benefits more — American Chopper or Celebrity Apprentice — from the appearance of Paul Sr?

Fourth, can anyone see a Trump cycle in the future? Even better, can anyone imagine Trump riding down Fifth Avenue on such a creation, hair blowing in the wind….

Fifth, what happens if Trump gets involved in a contentious political debate? How will that impact Celebrity Apprentice? Will there be higher instant ratings but less long-term appeal?

Contestants

For the 2012 edition of the show, NBC Entertainment says the new cast will be the largest ever with 18 contestants waiting to hear who will be fired by Trump on each segment.

The men are: late-night legend Arsenio Hall, pop star Clay Aiken, radio host Adam Carolla, the “Incredible Hulk” Lou Ferrigno, magician/comedian Penn Jillette, rock star Dee Snider, actor George Takei, IndyCar legend Michael Andretti, and star of “American Chopper,” Paul Teutul, Sr.

The women are: supermodel Cheryl Tiegs, pop star Debbie Gibson, actress and multi-Grammy winner Tia Carrere, author and reality star Victoria Gotti, comedienne Lisa Lampanelli, former Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza, singer and actress Aubrey O’Day, actress and model Patricia Velasquez, and star of “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” Teresa Giudice.

American Chopper’s Paul Sr. To Join Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice is a post from: OurBroker.com -- Refinance, Home Mortgage Loans & Rates, Home Equity Loan

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After years of dispute and conflict that was some of the most interesting — if painful — broadcasting on television, Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. seem fairly settled as rival bike builders who now churn out theme bikes and custom cycles. As well, Paul Sr. has somehow worked out his dispute with his lender, a dispute which at one point lead to mortgage loan foreclosure notices for his newly-built headquarters.

But with the end of a massive lawsuit between the son and father and with the headquarters property no longer distressed, the story of the battling Pauls has cooled and with it some fan ardor. One way to rev-up their long-running American Chopper series is to bring back Jessie James.

James, like the Teutuls, is a bike builder, TV personality and businessman. While Paul Sr. may yell and Paul Jr. may be collegial in the workplace, James is a different story. He is arguably the least vocal of the bunch, but plainly a shrewd planner and strategist, something which could be seen when he appeared on the second season of the Celebrity Apprentice and came in third under the watchful eye of Donald Trump.

Live and from Las Vegas

The build-off programs will run live on Discovery on December 5th and 6th and as I read the promo the end result will be three bikes. Viewers will then have a chance to vote for a winner, probably in the same way as viewers rated the two bikes built by the Tuetuls for Cadillac.

All three builders have strengths: Paul Sr. has a huge facility and is backed by a large number of mechanics, machines and craftsmen, most notably metalworker Rick Petco. Paul Jr. has a far-smaller shop and a much smaller crew but a vastly-better sense of design along with help from show regulars Vinnie, Brendan and Cody. As to Jessie James, he’s now centered in Austin and we’ll have to see what he can do.

So who will win? Viewers will likely enjoy the fireworks, bike building and verbal sparring among the three main rivals. Also, it will be interesting to see how much — if at all — Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. cooperate in the face of a common rival.

We don’t know at this writing who will win the bike build-off, but it’s certain that Discovery will have a huge ratings hit on its hands.

American Chopper Vs. Jesse James: Who Really Wins? is a post from: OurBroker.com -- Refinance, Home Mortgage Loans & Rates, Home Equity Loan

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The answer as derived from the American Chopper TV show and public information is very simple: Both.

Let’s start with foreclosure. It’s plain that a foreclosure action was initiated by the lender, the GE Commercial Finance Business Property Corp.

The matter is openly discussed by Paul Sr. on the show. He raises such ideas as renting another facility, moving to another building he owns or building a new structure nearby. The local Times Herald-Record explains that loan payments of more than $100,000 had been missed as of June 1, 2010. (See: Orange County Choppers’ HQ faces foreclosure, Nov. 18, 2010)

Minutes from the Orange County Industrial Development Agency discuss the possibility of a smaller replacement building.

So if a property is foreclosed doesn’t that mean the borrower is soon tossed out?

Actually, no. Not always.

It’s in the interest of neither the lender nor the borrower to go through with a foreclosure, especially in many of today’s major foreclosure centers. The fact that a property has been “foreclosed” — that payments have been missed and foreclosure notices sent out — does not mean it will be lost.

There are a number of possible solutions to the foreclosure problem. For instance:

1. The lender and borrower can attempt to “cure” the loan. As one example, HUD reported that for fiscal 2009 the FHA had a “82.7 percent cure rate for properties 90 days or more delinquent.”
2. A cure can be created by bringing the loan current or moving unpaid money to the back of the mortgage; that is, making the loan term longer.
3. Another approach is to modify the loan by reducing the interest rate, forgiving principal, waiving penalties and fees or some combination of changes. Modifications have been used successfully by more than 720,000 residential borrowers under the government’s Making Home Affordable program.
4. If the lender will go along, the borrower can give up title — and then rent back the property. A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure with a rent-back allows the borrower to stay in place while generating income for the lender. This is the system behind Fannie Mae’s Deed for Lease progrtam. (When values are rising and foreclosure is not an issue, the better strategy is to sell the building and then rent it back — a sale and leaseback.)

Lenders would like to avoid foreclosures if possible because they can produce the most expensive outcome. To avoid that high-cost outcome lenders will sometimes agree to a short sale if the loss will be less than with a foreclosure.

For borrowers, foreclosure is a lousy choice, especially if the lender can go after not only the property but also your equipment and other assets. Credit will be damaged and the ability to get another loan will be impacted.

What happened between OCC and its lender is thus far a private matter. The objective fact is that something was worked out, maybe one of our options, maybe something else. (And, as I have mentioned elsewhere online, maybe there will be a lender theme bike to settle the matter…).

Meanwhile, at Paul Jr. Designs the approach is different. The property is rented.

Was it better for Junior to rent or for Senior to own? It’s years too early to answer that question, but Paul Sr. has been smart to have a world headquarters building that could showcase his custom motorcycle business and TV show while Paul Jr. was right to start with a rental since he may need more space in the future for his bikes, trikes and designs.

American Chopper — Foreclosure Vs. No Foreclosure is a post from: OurBroker.com -- Refinance, Home Mortgage Loans & Rates, Home Equity Loan

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Orange County Choppers is a success story, in the sense of something that grew over time to a business that included a custom-built “international headquarters” to construct and show bikes.

One attraction of OCC is that it tries to bring more manufacturing capabilities inside the company. This provides greater production control and contrasts with many large companies that today are busily reducing their workforce through rightsizing, downsizing and outsourcing.

Adversarial

Alternatively, what inevitably does not work is the idea that an adversarial relationship with employees is just dandy.

Paul Teutul Sr., the company founder and hands-on boss, is a yeller and a screamer. In episode after episode he’s yelling at someone for such alleged crimes as not getting something done fast enough or not cleaning up.

In fact, a commitment to get things done on time is perfectly understandable. And a clean work area not only contributes to productivity (because tools and parts can be quickly located) but also to shop safety.

The question from a business perspective is this: What’s the best way to get employees on board with management requirements and preferences? How do you deliver the message?

Ownership Perk?

The Paul Senior management style involves a lot of yelling and threats. The yelling is disruptive and the threats are not taken seriously. In essence, a form of performance art that produces, well, that’s not clear.

But such bantering is not among equals. Paul Senior is the company owner. Moreover, he’s a very visible and large presence. You’re not going to see too many mortgage brokers or Wall Street bankers at the workplace with cut-off sleeves and massive arms.

The tone of the OCC workplace includes a lot of physical acts not especially common in most corporate settings — driving a truck into walls, firing a dummy into the air, knocking holes in doors, knocking a car apart, building (and firing) a potato cannon indoors, etc. As David Letterman said in the forward to Senior’s book, “I don’t like the hijinks. It’s just a matter of time until someone loses a foot.”

Alternatively, Paul Junior seems to operate on a collegial basis at his shop, Paul Jr. Designs. There’s banter on the shop floor but it’s plainly in fun. There’s a difference between worker and owner, but also a common set of goals, a shared path. Paul the younger listens respectfully to people in his shop. Even when Junior has incredibly good reason to fire someone the process is done without hostility, perhaps too nicely.

Importance

So why is this stuff important? Several reasons.

First, the American workplace is changing. The balance between worker and employee increasingly tilts toward management. Unemployment is high, people fear losing their jobs and some managers are abusive in ways that would not be possible with a more robust economy.

Second, how do you maximize productivity by yelling at people? It’s fair and appropriate to have goals and expectations, to set out how things should be done — but delivering such messages with a heavy hand is counter-productive.

Third, as a business owner you needlessly set yourself up for conflicts with employees by yelling and being abusive. It’s tough to be a manager, why make it any harder?

Fourth, if business sours how much loyalty can you expect from workers if they’ve felt ill-treated?

Fifth, it simply costs less to keep people happy — think of the expense of finding new workers, the time it takes to get them up and running, the cost of training, etc. Turnover is an expense, and too often a needlessly big one.

American Chopper is one of the few programs on television which shows the workplace on an extended basis. Yes the material is edited, but a lot comes through, including a management style which oozes needless conflict and confrontation. It may be good television, but is a loud management style the best way to maximize productivity or profits?

American Chopper — Management Doesn’t Get It is a post from: OurBroker.com -- Refinance, Home Mortgage Loans & Rates, Home Equity Loan

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Search the Internet and you can find an endless volume of postings which dissect and analyze the program’s leading players, first at Orange County Choppers and later at Paul Jr. Designs. Paul Sr., Paul Jr., and Mikey all come under the microscope and in many cases, harshly.

Within these discussions are the seeds of a huge conflict — and while conflict is good for literature, legends and TV ratings you wonder if it’s any good for the Teutels.

Family Dynamics

It’s difficult to believe that Senior and Junior originally planned or wanted a public airing of their family “interchanges” — that’s a nice term for lots of yelling and hurt feelings.

It’s something of a national therapy session and it’s compelling TV — look at the ratings. But in the end we’re talking about real people, a family and difficult struggles. How many of us would trade the wealth and fame of the show’s main characters for the cost of their personal battles and insecurities? The contrast with Vinnie and Rick is enormous, individuals who are insightful and clearly understand the tragedy around them.

Family dynamics are endlessly tricky. Armies of therapists are employed in an effort to heal childhood wounds and even the best parents will say there were instances where things went wrong. It’s some of the stuff that makes us human, imperfect and fallible.

Of course, today’s parents were once children and who knows that they went through, yet much online commentary suggests little or no sympathy for Paul Sr.

With American Chopper there are overt and open discussions of rehab and therapy, past drug use, sobriety, regret and alcohol. It’s gritty stuff.

Did fame and fortune — the by-products of a long-running national TV series — make things better or worse? Or neither? There’s no way to know.

Rich & Famous

It’s impressive to see the progression of homes, shops and buildings that have evolved with the show — inevitably bigger and better, part of the American dream. And then for OCC a business drop-off, foreclosure filings and resolution.

From a business and real estate perspective, the issues with the mortgage on the new OCC building and the lender’s decision to file foreclosure papers reflect the fate of too many small businesses. OCC is in many ways a metaphor of our time. Our economy is contracting. The money that was once there is too often gone and with it opportunities for growth and jobs. Such economic changes also impact people and the way they deal with one another.

The success enjoyed by PJD is great to see, but the context is that across the country such achievement is increasingly difficult and infrequent. Maybe that’s one reason so many people watch.

American Chopper — Family Values, Family Conflict is a post from: OurBroker.com -- Refinance, Home Mortgage Loans & Rates, Home Equity Loan

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You could see this coming for much of the past year.

In November 2010, the local Times Herald-Record newspaper reported that the company had failed to make mortgage payments of more than $100,000 due by July 1st, 2010.

“The Choppers,” said the paper, “stopped making mortgage payments in order to put pressure on the lender to modify the terms of the loans, according to Choppers’ lawyer Richard Mahon. Mahon said that when the headquarters was built in 2007, it was valued at about $12 million. Because of the economic downturn, the building is now worth between $7 million and $8 million, he estimated.” (See: Orange County Choppers’ HQ faces foreclosure, Nov. 18, 2010)

According to public records, the property consists of a two-story building with 98,172 square feet that was erected on 3.3 acres of land in 2008. For 2011 the property is valued at $11,248,600

If the idea was to force the lender to accept a lower mortgage rate or give up principal because the value of the property declined then foreclosure of the new building was inevitable. Here’s why:

First, financing on the property was held by GE Commercial Finance Business Property Corp. according to the Times Herald-Record. The company is enormous with 2008 revenues of $26.7 billion. The $12.5 million provided to Orange County Choppers means the motorcycle builder has no leverage because it can’t materially impact the lender by withholding payments. Alternatively, by foreclosing GE can force OCC out of the building. This is no contest.

Second, GE is a lender, not a partner or co-owner. Think about it this way: If the value of the building increased would Orange County Choppers then voluntarily agree to pay additional money to GE?

Third, a savvy point is made by Digits over at Clutch & Chrome:

“Could anyone who bought an Orange County Chopper and is still paying for it with a loan go back and ask the motorcycle building company for a discount, or at the very least help with the monthly payments? Would there be some recourse for the different dealerships around the country reselling Orange County Choppers over their costs compared to a difference in selling prices during these tough economic times?”

Fourth, how much business has been lost to a new custom bike builder that recently set up shop nearby: Paul Jr. Designs? Is the market for theme bikes big enough to support two local companies — or to support two local companies well? Could the companies prosper without TV exposure?

Paul Senior and Paul Junior have now settled their lawsuit though personal relations between father and son are clearly strained. The good news, at least, is that all OCC employees will keep their jobs even if the physical plant is downsized — that’s enormously important at a time when unemployment is high and rightsizing and outsourcing are too common. Meanwhile, PJD is growing and that’s a great success story to watch.

American Chopper: Why Foreclosure Had To Happen is a post from: OurBroker.com -- Refinance, Home Mortgage Loans & Rates, Home Equity Loan

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