A man accuses the Miami city attorney of misleading him into selling his family home far below market value
City Attorney of Miami Victoria Méndez, along with her husband, is facing a lawsuit for misleading a former client. A Miami citizen, José Alvarez, claims the city misled him and pushed him to sell his family's home for far less than it was worth, only for the spouse of a municipal official to flip the house and gain almost twice as much as the original sale price.
The Little Havana home where the Miami resident's mother resided and passed in 2017 is at the core of the lawsuit containing serious claims against the city.
About the allegations
José Alvarez claims he was tricked into selling his childhood home on "false pretenses" after he contacted Miami City Attorney Victoria Mendez about alleged code breaches. She suggested he speak with her spouse, Carlos Morales, proprietor of the real estate agency Express Homes.
Given the severity of the building code breaches (over $271,000), Morales suggested that Alvarez sell the property to his company for $205,000. Once Morales bought the property in 2017, he performed repairs and eventually had the lien and penalty for code violations removed by the city's code compliance board. According to the complaint, Morales resold the house the following year for $165,000 higher than the amount he had paid to Alvarez.
Alvarez claims that the city attorney exploited her position to unjustly seize his property and profit herself and her husband's company by selectively enforcing the city's construction code. He explained that his family had lived in the house for over five decades and didn't plan to sell it soon.
How Mendez is pushing back
According to Méndez, the case is just another attempt to put pressure on the city in light of the many previous lawsuits already filed against it. She made a statement claiming that Alvarez had been deluded by attorneys and claimants in other instances.
The City Attorney claims the legal firm is trying to pressure her into settling another action against the city, whereby the law firm also represents the claimant, and that the claimant is using this as a means of harassing her and her husband.
What do you think about this case? Who is really the victim, the allegedly bullied attorney or the plaintiff who claims he was swindled?
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Oh this is bad, not just the suit to the person but to the title straight to Miami Dade county ethics committee. Eso Se llama corrupción. Que pena y si vieran como se parten una pata para complacer a los 4 gatos que votan en las elecciones de comisionados.
Gracias por el comentario.