Home-owner Nears Foreclosures As Squatter Lives Hire-Free

[ad_1] by Jeroslyn JoVonn December 10, 2025

A Florida house owner making an attempt to promote her Winter Haven home is now going through foreclosures after a squatter moved in and has been dwelling there rent-free.

A Florida mom is now going through foreclosures after itemizing her dwelling on the market and getting duped by a person who’s been dwelling there rent-free.

Charlotte Brown tried to promote her Winter Haven, Florida, dwelling after falling into monetary hardship following her husband’s sickness, WFTV stories. However as an alternative of closing a sale, her property has been taken over by a stranger who has lived there rent-free for greater than a 12 months.

“It’s horrible… It’s deceitful, it’s hurtful,” Brown mentioned.

Brown bought the Winter Haven, Florida, dwelling in 2021, drawn to the wooded lot as the perfect spot for her household. When her fiancé’s well being declined, she turned his full-time caretaker, straining their funds. To keep away from falling additional behind on mortgage and HOA funds, she listed the house on the market in 2023.

“I simply had the chance to promote. So, that was undoubtedly a plus, particularly with the rise in, you realize, the market,” she defined.

Brown quickly discovered a potential purchaser, Obed Torres, an actual property agent from California. An organization aiding Torres requested the keys to wash the carpets earlier than his move-in, however that’s when bother started. Torres switched title firms a number of instances, and the sale by no means closed. By spring 2024, he had moved in anyway and has been dwelling there rent-free ever since.

Brown filed stories with the sheriff in addition to two court docket circumstances to evict Torres, however missed hearings, and each circumstances have been dismissed. Torres claimed he was performing in good religion and mentioned the property was deserted. Texts present he as soon as agreed to maneuver out, but as just lately as April 2024, he requested the choose for an extension because of well being points.

Investigators noticed and heard indicators that he was dwelling there, and neighbors verify he and his household stay within the dwelling. In the meantime, Brown’s mortgage firm has filed for foreclosures as she will be able to’t sustain with funds whereas dwelling elsewhere. She mentioned she is “completely” afraid that she might lose her home.

Lawyer Mark Lippman, who reviewed Torres’s dwelling rent-free for over a 12 months, agreed to signify Brown professional bono.

“His reply was rubbish. So, the truth that he mentioned that she had deserted the property is inaccurate,” Lippman mentioned.

Florida’s just lately strengthened anti-squatting regulation (HB 621) might assist Brown. The regulation permits regulation enforcement to behave sooner, treating unlawful occupants as prison trespassers reasonably than tenants. Lippman believes this more durable statute could give Brown the authorized leverage to show Torres resides in her dwelling with out permission and reclaim it.

“For those who can present that anyone’s squatting, they'll really be arrested. It's a prison offense in Florida now. So, we're taking a look at that as effectively,” Lippman mentioned.

Brown’s foreclosures listening to is scheduled for January, although she hopes to have the squatter eliminated earlier than then. Lippman advises owners to forestall related conditions by by no means giving keys earlier than a sale closes, attending each court docket listening to, holding detailed information of all interactions throughout a house sale, and verifying title transfers by trusted firms.