Miami Shores Home Sale Interrupted by Discovery of ‘Squatter’ Family
September 7, 2012Squatting has been a problem for dozens of property owners in Miami for quite some time now. Take the recent case of the woman who went home to her home in Miami Shores, only to find to our horror that she couldn’t moving because another family had got their first.
The family was eventually evicted from the house after a thorough investigation of the property’s ownership status. However, the family said that they were dismayed about the whole situation – claiming that the keys to the home were handed over to them by a man claiming he owned the property. The family was evicted from the home at 102 NW 100th St., just last month, following several weeks of legal limbo.
The family claim that they moved into the property after a man posted a lease sign outside the home. After enquiring about the rent, and signing a tenancy contract with the man, the self-proclaimed owner of the home handed over the keys to the house to the family in return for $3,800 upfront. However, it wasn’t until two weeks later when the family discovered that the man was not the real owner of the property.
In an interview with NBC 6, Miami Shores Police Chief Kevin Lystad revealed that squatting isn’t something that people can ignore. According to the police officer, there are still way too many people squatting on someone else’s property.
Realtor Shawntrel Knight, on the other hand, said that the family should have verified the property’s ownership as well as the “owner’s” identity before moving in. Knight says that her client’s hopes of moving in were ruined because they couldn’t proceed with the closing of the sale.
“People should make sure that they only negotiate with licensed realtors”, Knight added.
Meanwhile, the police are having a hard time trying to track the identity of the mystery “owner”. The man failed to leave a valid phone number or address, and has so far proved to be untraceable.
