Florida Keys : Scammers Paradise

This story reminds when after Hurricane Wilma blew away the roof and a roofer charged my then 88 year old mother $7,000 as a down payment for materials for the roof, he showed up with a bunch of drunks one day made a bunch of noise and never showed up again . This despite me chasing him down and begging him to fix the roof to get my parents out of the elements.

When I went to the authorities, I was told this was a "Civil Matter" and because of the legal complications I wrote it off.

Here is another example of Justice "Florida Keys Style" a schemers paradise.

• We have a House that is padlocked for being in what the court deemed to be uninhabitable condition.
  
• The schemers advertise the home as Ocean Paradise Villa and collect at least $57,365 from victims.
  
• The Victims go to Monroe County Sheriff's Office and State Attorney's Office who declined to pursue criminal fraud charges against Turner and Workman, saying that rental agreements are typicallycivil matters.
  
• The scammers continue to advertise the property and scam other innocent un suspecting victims.
  

You can scam outsiders for thousands, or take little old ladies for all they have!

This are all civil matters! But Don't touch our lobsters!Mess with our cats! or our dogs. Because if you do that law enforcement will be out in force, take your cars, boats and confiscate your house.

The Florida Keys: a Schemers Paradise

Long Key , Florida Keys USA Key West Citizen By Robert Silk

Monroe County has asked a judge to block the leaseholders of a padlocked Long Key home from advertising it as a vacation rental.

Marcia Turner and husband Denny Workman have collected at least $57,365 in rental payments for the home at 65890 Overseas Highway since April 5, 2007, when a judge issued an injunction forbidding occupancy, according to a July 28 motion filed by Monroe County Assistant Attorney Cynthia Hall.

The actual figure is almost certainly higher, since Hall did not include payments made by several individuals who have previously made complaints against Turner and Workman to local law enforcement or shared their stories with The Citizen.

Of the $57,365 Hall has documented, none has been returned to the renters, she wrote. In the meantime, the five renters listed in the motion, hailing from as far away as Ireland, were unable to stay in the padlocked home.

• Turner and Workman have continued to advertise the home, which they call Ocean Paradise Villa, as a luxury rental since it was padlocked for being in what the court deemed to be uninhabitable condition. Listed rental prices have varied, but one site listed the home at $5,000 to $9,000 per week while another gave a monthly rate of $20,000 to $34,000.

The county cannot remove the padlock until a Code Enforcement officer issues permits for repairs to the home. Those permits must be authorized by property owner Garabet Khatchikian. But Khatchikian, who has been engaged in a long-standing court fight with Turner over future ownership of the house, has declined to do so.

In the meantime, both the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and State Attorney's Office have declined to pursue criminal fraud charges against Turner and Workman, saying that rental agreements are typically civil matters.

In a recent interview, Hall said the county waited until now to press forward with its attempt to block Turner from advertising the home because other efforts have failed.

"We have been trying to get Ms. Turner to voluntarily stop advertising rentals and collecting money from people knowing that she cannot rent the property. Unfortunately she wouldn't do that," she said.

Hall also said that until last December, the county was unaware that Turner and Workman had continued to advertise the property after it was padlocked eight months earlier. That response signaled a disconnect within Monroe County offices.

The ongoing marketing efforts ofTurner and Workman, who live in Twin Falls, Idaho, were first detailed in a lengthy article about the so-called Ocean Paradise Villa in The Citizen's Aug. 5, 2007, edition.

The July 28 motion isn't thefirst step Monroe County has taken to block the duo from advertising the home. On April 24, Special Magistrate Larry Sartin sided with the county in a code case brought against Turner for operating a vacation rental without a license. Sartin ordered Turner to pay $40,000 and take down her Web site, www.oceanparadisevilla.
corn. That site since has been removed from the Internet. But as of July 28, advertisements for the home remained on various other vacation rental sites, Hall wrote.

A hearing on the county's injunction request is scheduled for Sept. 24. If the injunction is granted, and Turner continues to advertise the Long Keyhome as a vacation rental, she could be open to both criminal and civil contempt of court charges, Hall said.

Turner did not answer calls to the Idaho phone number she listed as hers in court records.

rsilk@keysnews.com