What's worse than one unsuspecting family getting a knock on their door in the middle of dinner from a process server letting them know their home is going into foreclosure and none of the money they have been paying to their landlord has been going towards their rent? How about over 30 families all in the same neighborhood! That's right, over 30 families all in one neighborhood have recently found out that not only was their landlord not paying his mortgage every month but he also tried to scam them all out of more money after they all stopped paying him rent.
About one month before some of the tenants found out that their home was going into foreclosure their landlord sent them out a notice leting them know they were to start sending their payments to a new address. Luckily for most of the tenants, the process server showed up before anyone sent out their rent payments for the month and they decided not to continue paying. Not only are they not getting their security deposits back but some have already been forced out of their homes with as little as seven days notice. When this particular landlord found out nobody was going to continue to pay, he hired a woman to call all of his tenants and tell them that he is no longer going to be foreclosing and that they have to bring their rent current or they will be evicted. Of course, nobody fell for this sorry attempt at fraud.
To top the whole story off, according to channel 9 news whom I interviewd with, one of the landlords who owns 32 of the homes is currently wanted by the FBI for real estate fraud. He closed on 32 houses within one week of each other before there was any time for it to even hit the records and all the homes are listed in the tax records as his primary residence. As for the icing on the cake well, He has fled to to Turkey and cannot be found. Anyone up for a good game of hide and seek? The banks are unable to serve him to court so they cannot move forward with the foreclosure process on the homes he owns. The tenants who occupy those 32 homes are currently living rent free but with the constant conern of when they are going to get that notice of eviction from the bank. How much time will they have to get out? Where will they go? Hopefully they are saving the money from the rent they aren't paying and using it as a down payment on a home, there will obviously be alot of them to go around once the feds catch up with "Runaway Landlord".
Because of these neglegent landlords who never had any intention of keeping these homes when they rented them out, the once cozy and safe neighborhood of Summerport is now facing issues with criminals renting in the community. I just got word from one of my friends who lives on Blue Major Dr. that a registered sex offender has moved in up the street and the HOA and parents of the neighborhood are absolutely livid about this. The landlord did not screen the tenant for a background check before he moved in because he didn't really care. He knew he wasn't going to be keeping the home.
To anyone who is a perspective tenant and is looking to rent in the lovely community of Summerport nestled in the West end of Windermere, I caution you. Do your research on your landlord before you get into a lease, otherwise you just might end up falling victim to another "Runaway Landlord". If your rent seems unrealistically cheap, as most of these homes were, than that should be a red flag right there. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is. If you can wait another six months or so, you just might end up having your prime selection of foreclosure homes to choose from.
Erica Muller
Right Moves Realty, LLC
International Estate Agent
Cell: 561-723-4265
UK Toll Free: 0-808-234-4247
www.MySunnyHolidayVilla.com
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