Abandoned Properties For Those In Need?

Mark Guerette, the owner of Save Florida Homes Inc. is doing just that. He has been claiming abandoned homes and renting them to families in need. The problem? He doesn’t own the homes, and while his intentions are good, it could result in serious legal trouble.

This month the mortgage broker will be going to trial on fraud charges in a case that will determine if paying property taxes and upkeep costs are enough to grant ownership of a home. Guerette is facing up to 15 years in prison because of his buiseness. He began it last year by searching out abandoned homes with orange stickers, signifying that the state had lost touch with the owners.

Property experts have said that these adverse posessors are breaking the title chain of the home by renting it without ownership. In addition, it is not helping the foreclosure crisis that is sweeping the country with no real end in sight.

Included in the leases signed by the families moving in, Guerette makes it clear that he is not the legal owner of the property. He also has been informing and in constant contact with courts, lenders and the banks involved with the homes.

Guerette has been making renovations to the homes to make them livable, or allowing tennants to fix the places in lieu of paying rent to live there. It seems his efforts have made a shockingly good impression, not only on those who are being allowed to live there, but also to the neighbors in the surrounding area. The abandoned and foreclosed upon homes that were falling into disrepair and becoming eyesores in neighborhoods now look alive and active with the repairs tennants are making.

While apparently this phenomenon has been occuring in other states, though not as commonly or openly, Guerette is facing legal trouble because of Florida’s extremely high real estate fraud problem. In fact, there is an entire blog updated almost daily on court cases of real estate fraud in the state. In being the capital of real estate fraud, authorities are required to examine schemes like Guerette’s to make sure that there aren’t alterior motives for personal gain. Guerette has stated that he only desires to aide those in need of housing and that he is not looking to benefit from it.

If you have any real estate questions, we would be happy to help you answer them here at Occasio Realty. Give us a call at 480.699.1820

SOURCE: http://www.foreclosure1.com/blog/foreclosures/abandoned-foreclosed-houses-taken-legally