!@#$%^&*

! @ # $ % ^ & *
The bad news is -- I'm moving. Yup. After finally getting all moved in and finally starting to look like MY home, the whole deal on buying this house suddenly went south. Long story short, the man who was representing himself as the Owner of Record had done NOTHING to register himself as executor of his mother's will. Therefore, he was NOT AUTHORIZED to put the property up for sale OR to rent/lease or give it away.
The whole fiasco unfolded a week ago following the bank's appraisal of the property. The bank countered my original offer with a slightly higher figure (which I would have GLADLY paid). THAT is when the "owner" clearly stated that he would only sign the new contract IF I paid HIM $5,000. Excuse me?! Can you spell EXTORTION?
Upon my request, a gentleman who I have become friends with through my association with one of the local Meetup groups jumped in to act as my "business advisor" and took on the realtor, the real estate broker AND the so-called "owner" over the next few days. He said, "I am always careful about threatening lawsuits, but CLEARLY this guy must think you have unlimited money to spend and no brain." Bottom line is, the sale is a SHORT SALE and when that is the case, the owner agrees that they will take NO PROFIT from the sale of the property. Obviously, the so-called owner thought he could get some money on the side. Can you spell EXTORTION? Can you spell BANK FRAUD? I was having NONE OF IT.
What followed was four days of nail-biting while my friend tried his best to get this deal straightened out. Unfortunately the so-called owner is some kind of nutcase (or just doesn't have the good sense God gave a turnip). It ended up with him showing up at my door last Friday -- standing outside banging on the door, leaning on the doorbell, screaming threats and generally making an ass of himself. I phoned 911 and waited, shaking like a leaf.
An officer from the Collier County Sheriff's Department got here in record time (under 7 minutes) but by the time he arrived, the so-called owner was gone. He left an envelope outside the door which the officer picked up and opened for me. It was a 7-Day Notice to Vacate. The officer assured me that in its present form, it was meaningless and explained the procedure that a landlord or owner has to go through in order to get a tenant out. He assured me that I had nothing to worry about and said, "If he comes back here, call 911 IMMEDIATELY."
Sounds good, but I will admit that was the MOST SCARED I have EVER BEEN in my ENTIRE LIFE! I don't know this man and have no idea what he is capable of. I just know that I have every legal right to be here; he is NOT my landlord as I have been paying my monthly "rent" directly to the HomeOwners Association because there were HOA fees in arrears on this property to the tune of $5,000.00 when I moved in mid-April.
Despite my friend's best efforts to get the deal back on track, by Monday it was apparent that the so-called owner had backed himself into a corner. His last words to the realtor were "If there's nothing in it for me ($$) I will just let it go into foreclosure." I had to laugh about that statement because it's not up to HIM what the bank does because he has no legal claim to the property. Period.
On Monday evening, I received a Termination of Contract notice from the realtor via email. My friend had warned me just hours earlier to call my Maryland bank and STOP PAYMENT on the $1,000 check I had submitted when I signed the contract back in March. It's a good thing I did because the section about "returning deposits" was crossed out. The realtor FULLY INTENDED TO KEEP MY DEPOSIT! Talk about a bunch of crooks...I am still shaking my head over it all.
Yesterday (Wednesday) I had an appointment to consult with a real estate attorney downtown. Ms. Lademan is young, but very sharp and very well-respected in the legal community here. We spent an hour discussing the case and I told her that at THIS POINT, I felt the place was so tainted by all this misrepresentation and dealing with a loose cannon that I wouldn't take it if they were GIVING IT AWAY.
Her advice to me was to get myself together and make arrangements to move out as soon as possible. She said that the 7-Day Notice to Vacate wasn't proper, but that it might not take the so-called owner too long to figure out what he would have to do to correct it. As I am currently "renting" from the HomeOwners Association, I am protected by some section of Florida Statute Law concerning rent, but I don't want to push my luck. My rental arrangement with the HomeOwners Association will expire in mid-September, so I have already started looking for a new place to hang my hat.
Attorney said she would dash off a letter to the so-called owner and copy the realtor on it. She phoned last evening to give me a heads up and to tell me that she sent me a copy of the letter via email. I was out with the Meetup group until 8:30, but could hardly wait to get home to read it!
GREAT LETTER! I haven't included the bulk of it, but the last paragraph is just so PERFECT I must share it with you:
"Should you continue to harass or make any additional demands against my client, she has authorized this law firm to file suit for claims against you including, but not limited to, breach of lease, breach of contract and fraud. Any claims filed will include a claim for attorneys fees incurred during the pendency of litigation. Govern yourself accordingly."
I LOVE that last statement: GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY. I think it's going to become one of my pet phrases.
I will admit that I took this disappointment pretty hard. Here I am -- just barely 9 weeks in my new home and WHAM! I have to pack up and move again. I sold all my moving boxes to my neighbor's girlfriend last month to clear out the garage AND I just finished building overhead storage in there! Argh! (Luckily, we put it all together with SCREWS so it will be easy to dismantle). I just picked up the rug I ordered for the living room last week. I just replaced the broken mirror in my curio cabinet and was just about to unpack all my little chotchkies and put in there when all Hell broke loose.
If I think about it too much, I get a very upset stomach. Moving is such a pain and expensive, to boot. But I don't have much choice in the matter.
I like the house and I love the neighborhood, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. On the bright side, there are lots and lots of places to choose from here in Naples and somehow I am thinking that the Universe didn't want me to stay here; that the place I am SUPPOSED TO BE is somewhere else. My therapist and my financial advisor had both told me to just come to Naples and rent for a year, but when this house deal came up, it was just too good to pass up. Live and learn, I guess. Who knows? In another year I might just sell everything and buy that house on wheels. But for now, the search is on.
So today is July 4th -- always a bit of a reflective day for me as my mother died suddenly 37 years ago today on the Bicentennial. But I have to keep thinking positively and I am going out this evening for a dinner cruise on the Marco Island Princess with 11 members of the Naples In-Betweeners Meetup group. Two other ladies and I are carpooling over to Marco Island and I have agreed to be the designated driver. Dinner, drinks, music on the boat and watch the fireworks from the Gulf of Mexico. By the time the boat gets back to the dock, most of the fireworks traffic should be gone. Sounds like fun and I am looking forward to it. Might have to get a nap this afternoon to guarantee I can stay awake for the festivities.
Thanks to all my DS friends for the private messages and support during the last week. I promise to do more frequent updates -- WHEN things finally settle down. xoxoxo