I thought I bought my dream mansion in Florida for only $9,100—instead, it was a $50 foot-wide patch of grass
A FLORIDA man says he was duped by an auction website when his dream mansion was revealed to be a patch of grass.
Kerville Holness had placed a $9,100 bid for a mansion in Tamarac, Florida in 2019 that was valued at $177,000.
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His bid won Broward’s online auction and he thought he was the proud owner of a new, affordable home.
It turns out that rather than buying the beautiful property, Holness ended up owning a 100-foot strip of grass separating two driveways.
This patch was only worth $50.
“It’s deception. There was no demarcation to show it was just a line going through the area.” [villa duplex]although they have the tools to show that,” Holness told dem sunguard.
The strip of grass extended from the street to the house and then into the back yard of the house.
“If I’m vengeful enough, I can cut through the garage wall and the house to get my airspace, but what use would that be to me?” said Holness.
Despite his frustration, city officials blamed Holness and said there was nothing he could do to get his money back.
Holness said the auction site posted pictures of the villas on the listing, making it appear as if a bid had been made on it.
However, the appraiser’s website listed the property as worthless and the county tax page listed it as only 100 square feet.
County officials used this as a way to warn people to do their research before spending their money on auction sites.
An official warning has been posted on the website, advising that tax deeds are not for the uninformed.
“He could go to court and find a flaw in the sale process,” real estate attorney Gary Singer told the Sun Sentinel.
“In general, he bought what he should have bought.”
For some reason the property was never connected to any of the villas it sits between.
It remained owned by real estate developer GHO Tamarac II until they disbanded and were no longer able to pay taxes on it.
Holness wasn’t the only person misled by the auction site.
Three other companies submitted bids for the Florida property.
Tina DeFeo owns one of the two mansions that line the strip of lawn and couldn’t believe the purchase.
‘That makes no sense. “I don’t know how to buy a strip of grass like that,” she said.
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