Page 4 - 3-17-15 Tuesday's Edition

Features
Squatters A Problem For Law Enforcement
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Scenario: You and your wife decide to lock up your house and take a trip around the world. While you’re gone, someone drives by your house and notices that no one is liv- ing there.
The first thing they do is write down the address, then by using the Prop- erty Appraiser’s website, determine who owns the property. After those steps have been completed, they act as an agent for the ac- tual owner, break in, change all the locks, then either lives there rent free, or rents it out to someone else.
That is called “Squat- ting,” or legally Adverse Possession.
Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office spokesperson, Deb- bie Carter, said it may appear that there aren’t as many peo- ple taking advantage of this ob- scure law, but it can be a hard thing to detect.
“We continue to investigate reports of squatting, but it can be a lengthy process, especially
if the property is owned by the bank. It can take a bank months or years to complete the foreclosure of a property.
“The squatters go online, find out who owns the prop- erty, and say they are acting as an agent for the owner. They then change the locks and rent the place out. An unsuspecting renter could live there for months before the owner or the bank finds out what’s going on.”
Carter said it’s also hard for banks to have the cases prosecuted because it’s costly and lengthy.
“When our detectives in- vestigate a possible adverse possession case, they first look into it by checking the Property Appraiser’s website to find out what the status of the property is. We act on a complaint as soon as the owner of the prop- erty contacts us.”
Carter said she’s sure there are more cases out there that they’re not aware of.
“This practice comes and goes. Over the last several years, we’ve investigated a lot of these cases. We don’t think any one area is targeted more than others.”
Under Florida Statute
95.18, Real Property Ac- tions, it describes adverse possession without color of title as: When the pos- sessor has been in actual continued possession of real property for 7 years under a claim of title ex- clusive of any other right, but not founded on a writ- ten instrument, judgment, or decree, or when those under whom the posses- sor claims meet these cri- teria, the property actually possessed is held adversely if the person claiming adverse posses- sion has paid all outstand- ing taxes and matured installments of special im- provement liens levied against the property by the state, county, and mu- nicipality within 1 year after entering into posses- sion.
The law also says the adverse possessor must have notified the home- owner of their intent to take over the property and all of the documents sup- porting that arrangement must be presented to the Property Appraiser’s Of- fice.
CDC To Offer Job Readiness Training Classes
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Although the unemploy- ment rate is reportedly drop- ping, there are still hundreds of people who have not found jobs. Later this month, an or- ganization is hosting job training classes to help pre- pare individuals in search of employment.
The Greater Palm River CDC Career Resource Center will conduct the Job Readi- ness Training Classes will in- troduce those in attendance to “Steppin Stones Job Readi- ness Training.
The training session will span a 4-day period that will
begin on March 23rd and con- clude on March 27th. The classes will be in session from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., at the Cen- ter, 7454 Palm River Road.
The classes will focus on 4 areas of job preparation: Re- sume Building & Interview Skills,” “Job Placement and Training Services,” “Strengthen Communication Skills,” and “Gain the Confi- dence & Dress To succeed.”
The classes are free and open to the public. However, those planning to attend must register for the sessions. For more information contact the Greater Palm River CDC at (813) 628-9179.
Seminole Tribe’s Plans To Build New Hotel; Would Create Thousands Of Jobs
The Seminole Tribe of Florida wants to build a new hotel in Tampa as part of their $1.6 billion expansion of its casinos and hotels. It is esti- mated up to 4,000 new perma- nent jobs could be created if the venture is approved.
However, if Florida leaders and the tribe don’t agree on a new gaming compact, the proj- ects will never happen. The gaming compact allows the Seminoles to continue offering banked card games like black- jack.
In the 2010 agreement, the Seminoles were given exclusive rights to run card games of baccarat, blackjack and chemin de fer at five of its seven casi- nos. That agreement is set to expire July 21st.
Gaming operations for the Seminoles generated $255 mil- lion for Florida last year. The expiring compact generated about $16 million of that. The fate of that agreement, whether to renew, alter or trash it, rests with the Florida Legislature.
Under state law, Gover- nor Rick Scott negotiates the compact and the Legislature has to approve it. In reality, the negotiations are between the
governor, lawmakers and tribal leaders.
Tribal General Counsel, Jim Shore, said the tribe has- n’t heard from Gov. Scott’s office since January.
The tribe is planning to add a new hotel to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa. The proposed 16-story, 537-room hotel would be the second largest in Hillsborough County behind the 719-room Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina in down- town Tampa.
The new hotel would give the Tampa operation a total of 817 rooms net to its most prof- itable casino. The Tampa Hard Rock is the fourth-largest casino in the nation and gener- ated 40% of the tribe’s esti- mated $2.2 billion in revenue last year. They are also dis- cussing building an entertain- ment venue and grand ballroom.
The Tampa portion of the expansion project is estimated to cost $650 million. The rest of the $1.6 billion would add a 1,000-room, guitar-shaped hotel to the tribe’s Hollywood resort.
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015