The Real Estate Bloggers

Florida Family Squatting in Home Says He Was Part Of “Obama’s Plan”

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 11:18 AM PDT

It is no surprise that Florida has a empty house problem. With the state being overbuilt in the housing boom and now seeing foreclosures running rampant, nearly 1 in 6 homes in the state are empty.

Yet one real estate agent in Apopka has learned that it is a good idea to check regularly on her listing. After not checking in for a month, she found her lock box gone and a family living in the house.

What makes this story interesting and even more bizarre is that the man of the occupied house after bonding out of jail said that he was doing the President’s bidding. His direct quote was “”acting as part of President Obama’s plan to recapture and revitalize abandoned properties.”

After the laughter subsides it does raise an interesting point. We do have many more homes than the market can absorb right now, especially in states like Florida. The market is broken and the subsidies from the federal treasury seem only to be flowing to the bankers and those who made some really bad decisions.

Why not look into finding creative ways to use this excess inventory. We all know an empty home goes to pieces quickly so why not find a way to quickly convert the 16 percent of empty inventory in a state like Florida into a more productive asset.

Think about it and if you have any ideas leave me a comment below. Meanwhile here is an excerpt of the original article from WFTV.

Aaron Winans and his wife were living in the house on Palm View Drive for nearly a month. The problem is, it’s not theirs.
Neighbor John Tilelli is shocked.
“She was fit and expecting and he looked like a normal guy, so we had no reason to believe anything else,” he told WFTV.
The house was empty because it’s being foreclosed. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office says Winans broke into the house to live there. When the owner’s real estate agent came by the house, the lock box for her keys was missing and so was her ‘for sale’ sign in the front yard.
When she saw furniture through the window, she called the police. Now, 40-year-old Aaron Winans is paying because the sheriff’s office is charging him with grand theft; often, the charges are only trespassing and stealing utilities.
Winans told deputies he was “acting as part of President Obama’s plan to recapture and revitalize abandoned properties.” via WFTV.com

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Florida Family Squatting in Home Says He Was Part Of “Obama’s Plan”