“Carlos has and continues to pay market price or higher for homes on the cusp of tear down to allow wards to liquidate their homes and cover the costs of the care that they and their families so desperately need,” wrote Ladd. “Everything, EVERYTHING, was completely above board.” Ladd, Morales’s attorney in a statement to WLRN. “Morales and his company, Express Homes, are in the business of buying properties in disrepair and remodeling them,” wrote Matthew E. He said the program secures a court order before selling any home, as required by law.Ĭarlos Morales, through his attorney, said his company is helping the Guardianship Program care for their incapacitated wards. In response to WLRN, the executive director of the Guardianship Program, Carlos McDonald, said the nonprofit works with multiple realty companies, and that realty companies sell homes from the program at higher prices because they typically require extensive repairs and renovation. ![]() Public records show Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, during his time as a city commissioner, was involved in several transactions with Express Homes as a real estate attorney.The couple was sued last week in Miami-Dade Circuit Court by Jose Alvarez, a former Miami-Dade resident who accused the couple of using their ties to the city to make a hefty profit on a home they bought from him at "below market value." Each said the allegations are baseless. ![]() Morales is the husband of Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez.Carlos Morales, owner of Express Homes, has gotten more than $400,000 in fines removed by the city of Miami Code Enforcement Board on properties purchased from “incapacitated” owners or their relatives, city records show.Guardianship Program of Dade County former President Sergio Mendez owns a private law firm that was involved in five property sales in connection with Express Homes.Other findings of the WLRN investigation: The gains collected from those subsequent sales, however, did not go towards the care of the program’s incapacitated clients. The rest were sold more than a year later or are still owned by Express Homes. In two other instances, the properties were fixed up and sold within a year. WLRN found that Express Homes sold three Guardianship properties within the same week - or even the same day. The program has worked with other real estate companies, but Express Homes has appeared 14 times over 12 years in sales linked to the agency. An online sales listing claimed a new roof, along with other renovations.įollowing a monthslong review of probate court records, real estate sales data and other public documents, a WLRN investigation found that the Guardianship Program has been selling homes of those under its care for years to the same realty company, Express Homes. It’s unclear if Express Homes made any renovations to the Kendall home, but Miami-Dade County records show no permits for major work done on the property. Four months later, Express Homes sold the property for $695,000. Last February, the Guardianship Program sold a Kendall home owned by Annette Sasportas, a woman unable to care for herself. That same day, Express Homes sold it for $240,000, a $50,000 gain in less than 24 hours. In 2013, the Guardianship Program sold another home - again to Express Homes - that had been owned by 89-year-old Amanda Solis, also declared incapacitated. The very next day, Express Homes sold the property for $64,000, for a reported gain of $12,000. In the Rodriguez case, the Guardianship Program sold their home in 2012 for $52,000 to Express Homes, a Miami real estate company. The staff takes control of their assets - including vehicles and real estate - and sells them to help pay for future care and living expenses. The private, nonprofit agency cares for those deemed by a court to be incapacitated and who don’t have the money to afford a private guardian, and who have no friends or family willing to take care of them. When Carlos and Racquel Rodriguez could no longer take care of themselves, the elderly couple from Hialeah came under the supervision of the Guardianship Program of Dade County.
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