Tampa Family Gets Fleeced For $7,000 After Paying For House Rental For Home In Foreclosure, Then Not Allowed By Lawyer/Owner To Move In

In Tampa, Florida, WFTS-TV Channel 29 reports:

• A Tampa family paid thousands of dollars to lease a house, but they said the owner refused to leave or even give them their money back.
  
  And they later learned that house was in foreclosure. Now the homeowner is suing the family saying they backed out of the agreement.
  
  “We were going to move in here with three children,” said Joezette Hite, who saw a rental listing for a South Tampa Home on Zillow in June. She says she called for an immediate showing, then quickly signed a year-long lease.
  
  “We needed to move in by the 29th at the latest, because were closing on our house on the 30th. And I asked him could we move a few days prior and he said absolutely,” Hite said.
  
  The house is owned by Tampa attorney James Lee Clark and was marketed by Florida Recovery Property Solutions, Llc.
  
  The Hites paid a total of $7,000 for a deposit and first and last months' rent.
  
  But when they tried to move in, she says Clark was still there. [...] She had to rent three storage units to store her own belongings, then stay in a hotel until she could find another place to rent.
  
  But she says Clark refused to return her money.
  
  “They have sent their certified letters as undeliverable back. I have showed up at James Lee Clark’s office because he's an attorney here in Tampa, but the people there say he hasn't been there in weeks,” she said.
  
  Hite later learned Clark's house received a final foreclosure judgment two days after she signed a year-long lease, something she says Clark and Florida Recovery Solutions never disclosed.
  
  “They received a letter from the court that it's going to be auctioned off in a couple of months,” she said. The current auction is scheduled for October 19.

Source: Foreclosure house at center of rental dispute (Tenant says she paid thousands but couldn't move in).