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“The Foreclosure Franchise”

Excellence in Local/Regional Investigative Reporting

Miami Herald, 2024

Author(s): Ben Wieder, Shirsho Dasgupta, Sheridan Wall and Amelia Winger

Reporting by Miami Herald journalists Ben Wieder, Shirsho Dasgupta, Sheridan Wall and Amelia Winger exposed how private attorney Matt Weidner convinced several Florida cities to turbocharge foreclosures of properties owned by vulnerable residents through aggressive code infraction enforcement. The relentless practice enabled those cities to turn a profit on the subsequent sale of these properties.

The reporters reviewed thousands of pages of legal records, building a comprehensive database from scratch with information from the roughly 800 foreclosure suits filed by Weidner. The team revealed that the city of Fort Pierce retained Weidner in 2021 to file lawsuits against these property owners. The reporting revealed similar deals he made with eight other Florida cities – among them Bradenton, St. Petersburg and Clearwater – netting his firm some $3 million in total.

Targeted properties included what are called “heirs’ property,” which is passed down from generation to generation without proper legal paperwork. This gap leaves the property residents particularly vulnerable to legal action, including citations and fines for anything from unmowed lawns to unsafe structures. Often, the residents of these properties could not pay any of the fines they were being issued in quick succession, leading to a foreclosure. The Herald reporters interviewed several of these property owners. The reporters detailed the property owners’ attempts to retain their properties and comply with the many fines issued against them.

The Herald’s yearlong investigation had a positive impact on homeowners in the state. The public interest group Pacific Legal Foundation cited the reporting and filed a case with the Florida Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the property fines. The city of Bradenton drastically reduced fines for at least one homeowner, allowing her to retain her property. Bradenton also overhauled its foreclosure process. St. Petersburg initiated a new program to help people keep properties vulnerable to foreclosure.

 

Article by: Leyla Shokoohe