There were three quitclaim deeds transferring to the brother in law. This leads me to believe this event was indeed a family affair. Has anybody contacted the attorney who wrote the deeds? I know there is atty-client privilege, but this attorney might not want to be dragged into this issue.
The county appraiser site lists the sale amount as $100. In Florida I believe it is customary to put a sale value of $10 on the deed, while showing the actual sale price in the tax appraiser file.
From St Lucie County online records ... numbers are Book/Page in public records:
On 09-11-2013
3557/2723 -- Property purchased in 3 names: Omar, his sister Miriam, and father Seddique
3557/2726 -- Mortgage from Seacoast National Bank in 4 names: Omar, his wife Noor Salman, sister Miriam, and father Seddique
On 4-20-2015, 3 separate quitclaim deeds to Omar's brother in law:
3859/1053 from sister Miriam
3859/1054 from father Seddique
3859/1055 from Omar himself
All the reporting I have seen on this transaction says something to the effect that Omar deeded "his portion" of the home ownership to his brother in law. Either the media are woefully inept at basic research or they are complicit in deflecting the blame from this family.
Yes, they are inept. I once tried to enlighten a WashPost reporter about Harry Reid’s land scam but he never followed up. Harry made a big profit on a parcel of land, even though he did not hold title. He claimed that was an oversight. What Harry did was turn what should have been reported as ordinary income into capital gains treatment.
Good work on checking into the property.