There has recently been a lot of attention given to mortgage and real estate fraud in Florida. Stories of alleged fraud appear regularly in both the national and Florida media. An example of such a story is the recent arrest of a Florida man for real estate fraud.
The man is from the West Kendell area. The police claim he impersonated a realtor and spoke to people who were looking for a place to rent. He allegedly claimed that a certain property was available to rent.
The man supposedly agreed to rent the property to an individual for a year. He also allegedly collected rent from this individual. The property, however, was foreclosed and the owners of it claim to have had no knowledge of the rental agreement or the man in question.
The man was then arrested by Miami-Dade Police for real estate fraud. Two charges have been brought against the man, both for grand theft. Police are also actively investigating to see if the man was connected to any other fraud.
This arrest is indicative of a general trend when it comes to law enforcement. National and local authorities have been increasing their enforcement of fraud in recent years. This includes fraud of many different types and degrees.
Also, in Florida, particular police attention has been given to white collar crimes connected to mortgage and real estate. Most likely, this is because Florida has gotten in the news a lot for mortgage fraud and real estate troubles. Thus, law enforcement and prosecutors have been aggressively pursuing these types of crimes. This has led to many arrests, like the one discussed above.
Source: West Kendall Today, “Police arrest man in West Kendall property rental fraud case,” (Article no longer available online) Ana Acle-Menendez, 12 Dec 2010
