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The Art of a Scam - Edith Ellen Estates – Lot#4 PH-2 10190 SW 80th Place, Hampton FL 32044 Parcel # 0095-B-00400 The COVER-UP! Here are 2 brief analogies before we begin: The bank sues you for slander? Two 3rd graders just finish trick-or-treating on Halloween, each has 100 pieces of candy, and they trade. Mary gets grounded for a month? IS THIS LEGAL?
The Cover-Up & Art of a Scam! es·tate noun, verb, -tat·ed, -tat·ing.1. a piece of landed property, esp. one of large extent with an elaborate house on it: to have an estate in the country. When you enter the Edith Ellen Estates there is a big sign that says, "If You Lived Here, You Could Be Fishing Right Now!" Call Wayne! Most people interpret this as: * If you bought a lot from Wayne Douglas, Douglas Realty in Starke "38 Years Experience" * You could build a home. * If you built a home you could live here. If you lived here, You Could Be Fishing Right Now! Now in order to build a house, you have to obtain a building permit, which requires you adhere to the law. Since this subdivision does not have utilities at the street, (Water & sewer line) the 1st permit you need is from the "Department of Heath" or DOH, which requires the lot to have an "Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal System", or OSTDS. There are 2 MANDATORY laws your lot MUST comply with in order to receive a permit for an OSTDS. 1.) F.S. 381.0065(4)(a) which is a Florida Statute. It says your lot needs to be a minimum of at least 21,780 sq. ft. or ½ an acre in size. 2.) State of Florida DOH Chapter 64E-6, Florida Administrative Code Standards for OSTDS, page 13, 7(a). * Your lot MUST comply with F.S. 381.0065(4)(a). * And the 21,780-sq. ft. is Exclusive of any restricted land, such as easements or water bodies. The lot purchased utilizing this very same calculation is only 1600-sq. ft., not 21,780-sq. ft., or only 7.3% of the minimum size as required by LAW? The majority of this lot consist of a "State Protected Jurisdictional Wetland" which is a Drainage Easement in "EXHIBIT E" of the subdivision’s permit. You cannot legally step foot on this land, or cut a blade of grass. Over 98% of this lot is Restricted, therefore THIS LOT CANNOT BE DEVELOPED. Legally! What happened? Doesn’t the subdivision need a permit prior to selling home-site lots to the public? YES! Normally the county would issue this permit, however "if" the subdivision contains "Wetlands" in the State of Florida, the State issues a permit. The State Agency regulating this subdivision is called the Suwannee River Water Management District", or SRWMD. 34 lots & 1 boat dock were permitted? There are 38 lots now, where did the extra lot come from? Abracadabra, Hocus-Pocus, Kazam, Presto! This is what happened. * There was one section of land in this subdivision which could be subdivided into 3 separate parcels and conform to the 2 laws required by the DOH for an OSTDS. It does NOT contain any Jurisdictional Wetlands. Developer Smith owned this land.
Developer Smith's original intention was that the upland lots (lot 1, 2, 3 PH-2 above, and lot 1 & 2 PH-1 across the street from the lake) could have access to the lake via the boat dock.
Here’s the mistake by Developer Smith.
One day a husband & wife driving down the street (like us) said this looks like a nice place to build a home. They were interested in the land across the street from the lake owned by Developer Smith, so they called Wayne like the sign said. Wayne did not know anything about this land since was not part of the subdivision yet, he was selling "Lakefront Lots", and said to talk with the owner, Developer Stephen Smith. Developer Smith quoted a price, contracts were signed, and a deposit was given to Mr. Smith. Developer Smith went to see his attorney who eventually made his paved road legal. However, his attorney pointed out to him that the land he is under contract to sell is where he intended to add 3 more additional lots in the future? OOPS! BIG MISTAKE, SOMEONE JUST SOLD 3 LOTS FOR THE PRICE OF 1. WOW! Mr. Smith just gave away 2 lots for nothing without receiving so much as a dime. What do you do? Write-off your mistake or violate the law, and pass off your problem off to someone else? Mr. Smith drives around town with a sign on the back of his van telling everyone to read the Bible? * All Jurisdictional Wetlands INCLUDING the 35’ ft. buffer areas MUST BE CONTAINED WITHIN THE DRAINAGE EASEMENTS. * All DRAINAGE EASEMENTS MUST BE DEEDED/CONVEYED TO, and OWNED/CONTROLLED by THE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, and NOT to be conveyed/deeded outside of the HOA. Why? The Drainage Easements/Jurisdictional Wetlands are considered part of the Stormwater Management System for the subdivision. Florida is known to have rain occasionally, the water drains into the Jurisdictional Wetlands, is absorbed into the ground, recharges the water table, overflows through a culvert under the street into a retaining pond north of the boat dock, then overflows into Lake Hampton. That’s how it works! It is to the benefit of ALL LOT OWNERS, so homeowners are not required to keep life jackets in their bedrooms, or inflatable life rafts under the sofa in their living room for an emergency flood. This benefits all lot owners just like a roof benefits all owners of a condominium. This is where the LAW is VIOLATED. Realtor Douglas knows the State of Florida/SRWMD has NOT ENFORCED PERMITS IN YEARS. Realtor Douglas & Developer Smith lost 2 lots by mistake, so this is what they did. * Should they SELL in VIOLATION of the subdivision’s permit the Jurisdictional Wetland areas, they could MAGICALLY come up with 3 MORE ADDITIONAL LOTS. 38 lots total instead of 37 as originally permitted. * The State of Florida does not ENFORCE building permits once issued. Who would scrutinize or know anything! * The average lot purchaser may not attempt to build anything for years. * Once all lots are SOLD, they will have "Sailed Off Into the Sunset" with the money. * Mr. Douglas can sell these lots to unsuspecting foreigners or out-of-state buyers who will never figure things out. * PROBLEM SOLVED! Brilliant! So, they began clearing the wetland lots (illegally) to sell, and hopefully nobody would notice.
(1) Lot was never sold, (1) lot was sold to foreigners who have no idea what they bought yet, and (1) lot was sold to out-of-state buyers from California, and these buyers figured everything out right away.
LETS LOOK AT THE LAW.
a.) F.S. 381.0065(4)(a) & Florida Administrative Code Chapter 64E-6, pg.13-7a. The lot is NOT LEGALLY able to be a subdivision lot in the State of Florida. The lot is too small when factoring in restrictions, so this 1.89-acre lot has been reduced to a mere 1600 sq. ft. The lot is not able to obtain a building permit as REQUIRED BY LAW to build anything since the DOH cannot issue a permit for an OSTDS. The lot therefore is UNBUILDABLE. It is physically impossible! You cannot put 5 gallons into a single 12-oz. glass, 50 glasses are needed, and ½ acre of land is required by law unrestricted to offset the impact of an OSTDS. b.) Lot sold ILLEGALLY in violation of the subdivision permit. Lot is the subdivision’s Drainage Easement and was required to be owned by the HOA in order to obtain the permit. c.) Florida Statute 498 "The Infamous Swampland Scam". The government views selling swampland to unsuspecting buyers as fraudulent & deceptive, since you cannot build on swampland from a contractor’s point of view. It is possible LEGALLY, however someone would need a LOT OF MONEY to UN-swamp the land he or she purchases. However with a State Protected Jurisdictional Wetland, if you had all the money in Fort Knox, you still cannot LEGALLY develop a Jurisdictional Wetland, PERIOD! d.) ILSA – The Interstate Land Sales Act – Housing and Urban Development or HUD. This is Federal law modeled after the Securities Act of 1933 when the stock market crashed in 1929. Many stocks were nothing but air and this is what led to the Great Depression. HUD was established to PROTECT THE PUBLIC INTEREST regarding land sales throughout the USA.. * If a subdivision in the United States has more than 100 lots, it MUST register with HUD who will make sure all lots are on the "up & up" and "good to go". This subdivision is EXEMPT from Registration since it has 38 lots. * However, if there are 25 – 99 lots in a subdivision, the subdivision is ONLY PARTIALLY EXEMPT and MUST comply with the LAW, and all ANTI-FRAUD PROVISIONS OF THE ACT. In other words, ALL RESTRICTIONS, MATERIAL DEFECTS MUST BE DISCLOSED TO A PROSPECTIVE PURCHASER IN WRITING. There are several ways around this law, and Edith Ellen Estates does NOT qualify for a single one. * Mr. Smith & Mr. Douglas believe they qualify for HUD’s "12 lot Exemption", stating they have not sold more than 12 lots in any 1 calendar year. This Exemption is ONLY a PARTIAL EXEMPTION, and Mr. Smith & Mr. Douglas MUST COMPLY with the ANTI-FRAUD PROVISIONS OF THE ACT. Additionally, the "12 lot" Exemption cannot be used in conjunction with the "100 lot" Exemption. * RESTRICTIONS MUST BE DISCLOSED TO POTENTIAL LOT PURCHASERS! e.) Florida Statute 720, which regulates Homeowners Associations or "Deed Restrictions" on subdivision lots. "If", a subdivision is subjected to a HOA, THIS MUST BE DISCLOSED. Additionally, ALL RESTRICTIONS APPLICABLE TO THE LOT PURCHASED MUST BE DISCLOSED IN WRITING AND APPROVED BY THE PURCHASERS IN WRITING. THE DISCLOSURE MUST BE SUPPLIED BY THE DEVELOPER, DEVELOPER’S AGENT, OR BY THE PARCEL OWNER IF THE SALE IS BY AN OWNER THAT IS NOT THE DEVELOPER. Mr. Douglas’ sales pitch stated the lot was not subject to a Homeowners Association Agreement, therefore NO signatures were required. f.) TITLE POLICY MUST BE ISSUED IN CONJUNCTION WITH SALE "SUBJECT ONLY TO EXCEPTIONS APPROVED IN WRITING BY THE PURCHASER PRIOR TO THE EXECUTION OF THE SALES CONTRACT". This did not happen! Restrictions were added "after-the-fact" WITHOUT SIGNATURES. g.) Plus other violations! WOULD YOU BUY LAND FROM THESE PEOPLE? * Wouldn’t you complain to State Regulators who are supposed to enforce the law? * Wouldn’t you inform the media? * Wouldn’t you seek out others in a similar situation and share knowledge? * Wouldn’t you hire an attorney? a.) No Regulators Have Yet Enforced the LAW. b.) We have been fighting SLANDER, DEFAMATION, AND LIBEL CHARGES EVER SINCE! c.) The judge has not addressed our COMPLAINT in 1 year’s time, ONLY Realtor Douglas’ & Developer Smith’s BOGUS & FRIVOLOUS SLANDER charges, threats, etc? d.) Our attorney is bombarded with countless MOTIONS and after 97 pleadings QUITS! HEY EVERYBODY, MOVE TO FLORIDA! Many people have come forward with information and feel this is very WRONG. This is Good Ol’ Boys style of Country Justice. It is also unfair, illegal, and UNBELIEVABLE THE REGULATORY AGENCIES ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, and NOBODY ENFORCES THE LAW. Edith Ellen Estates Subdivision Hampton Lake Florida If You Lived Here, You Could Be Fishing Right Now! es·tate noun, verb, -tat·ed, -tat·ing.1. a piece of landed property, esp. one of large extent with an elaborate house on it: to have an estate in the country. SURE!!!
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