The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday the arrests of two people who were allegedly renting out seven properties they didn’t own.
55-year-old Rosemary McCoy and 38-year-old Elton McCall have been charged with racketeering, organized fraud and trespassing, among other things.
Bill Whitney, with JSO’s economic crimes unit, says the two advertised the houses on Craigslist, which, he says, is rife with illegal activity.
"We have a great number of scams occurring on Craigslist, and this is just one of them. So just be extremely careful when you’re talking with someone, and do your due-diligence and maybe even follow up with the property appraisers website to find out who the owner of the property is."
Whitney says most of the properties in this case were bank-owned.
Under Florida’s adverse possession law, someone who lives openly in an abandoned house for 7 years, pays property taxes and makes repairs can seek to become the legal owner.
