Possible Senate Candidate Neumann Sold Lots with High Pressure Gas Pipelines in Yard, didn't tell Home Buyers.

There's a real chance former congressman Mark Neumann will run for Herb Kohl's open senate seat.

jsonline: Neumann had been considering running against Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl … Neumann said Friday: "We haven't ruled it out and it's certainly something Sue (his wife) and I want to think about and pray about."

If he does, he'll probably run on his credentials as a successful business owner, a point he brought up countless times during his recent run for governor. 

Big problem! Neumann's real estate business appears to have gotten caught up in the greed of the once booming mortgage bubble, where home buyers reached for the American dream, and developers couldn't wait to help them build. This might not look good on his resume. According to WITI TV:

Here's the incredible story from Fox 6 in Milwaukee:
Homeowners in Oconomowoc fear that one wrong move could blow up their neighborhood. They tell FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn the prominent developer who sold them their lots is ducking responsibility for a major mistake. They say he originally promised to "do the right thing."

Oconomowoc Homeowner Pat Voss bought a lot in Lakeridge West in 2002. Two years after she moved in Voss got a letter from the gas company about a 20 ft. easement that cut right through her yard. Buried a few feet underground was a pair of high pressure gas pipelines.

The next letter was from the developer, Former Congressman Mark Neumann, explaining that errors had been made. Voss says, "I had a horrible time getting an attorney. Nobody wants to touch it, because it involves Mr. Neumann." Neumann wrote that he'd never had a problem like this before, and he vowed to "do the right thing". According to Voss, all he did is steer her toward the title company that offered $14,000 to be released from any liability.

Voss says, "Nothing was marked on the plats. Nothing was indicated. There were no easements. "My only assumption to that is the boom that was going on...it was for...greed."

If Neumann wasn't aware of the pipes, he certainly should have been. When his company bought the land in 2002, the easement was listed. Before dirt started moving WE Energies warned Neumann to watch out for a pair of high pressure gas mains. When Neumann submitted his final plat to the City of Oconomowoc for approval, the pipes were somehow left off. In other words, Neumann had to be aware of the pipes. So why did he develop an entire row of homes on top of those lines.

Neumann dodged FOX6 for weeks, but we eventually caught up with him in our own building after he finished an interview for FOX News. He said … the title company should have caught it either way. During his seven minute interview Mark Neumann referred to the insurance company 34 times. 


Attorney Klein says, "It was just dumped on the title companies, which basically shielded him."