Pastor Accused Of Squatting In Home

rockin'robin

rockin'robin

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Man Cites Florida Statute To Stay In $500K Home He Doesn't Own

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. -- Pastor Marcellous Dunbar threatened to defend property that he doesn't own Thursday evening.

"You're trespassing. I'll shoot," Dunbar, the pastor of Fishers of Men World Harvest Church, told Channel 4's Tarik Minor when Minor tried to interview him.

Realtors said Dunbar and others moved into the half-million dollar house without paying a dime.

"It was sold to a lovely family. They had plans to move in. Now we have a family with four children who don't know where to go," said Realtor Laila Salameh.

Salameh said owners closed on the home last week, but when she returned to check on the property days later, Dunbar and several others had unscrewed the locks and moved in.

Dunbar told Channel 4 by phone that he filed for adverse possession of the property, a controversial Florida statute that Dunbar says will help him solve the homeless problem in Jacksonville.

"We're going to use their property for good means. We're going to clean up the homelessness in Jacksonville," Dunbar said. "Other than that, I don't have anything else to say."

Inside the home, there is expensive furniture and even a picture of Dunbar at the door. Channel 4 spoke with the actual owners, who didn't want to be identified. They said they paid $440,000 for the house.

"I purchased the property legally, and on the same day I've got an individual that went in and filed for occupancy of the home," said the homeowner.

Clay County deputies are investigating the trespassing claims, but Dunbar said he's within the confines of Florida law.

"Do you really feel in your heart OK with this?" Channel 4's Tarik Minor asked him.

"Tarik, have a good day, sir," Dunbar said.

Pastor Accused Of Squatting In Home - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville
 
rockin'robin said:
Salameh said owners closed on the home last week, but when she returned to check on the property days later, Dunbar and several others had unscrewed the locks and moved in.
Click to expand...

that's breaking and entering
 
after reading "Adverse Possession" statute... I've gotta admit it. This pastor is very clever. He definitely got a help from real estate lawyer or similar.

Sux that homeowners have to get a very good lawyer and it's going to get long and expensive.
 
Jiro said:
after reading "Adverse Possession" statute... I've gotta admit it. This pastor is very clever. He definitely got a help from real estate lawyer or similar.

Sux that homeowners have to get a very good lawyer and it's going to get long and expensive.
Click to expand...

One of the most basic things they teach in Real Estate 101... I was telling a few people about this, and they were like "No way..."

Then they said I was evil for even thinking of it.
 
AH-HA!!! I knew it! I knew Pastor would lose because sleezebags always have one little mistake in their plot especially when they think they're so clever.

I read earlier that the biggest thing that adverse possession can effectively work is if they paid tax and this can continue for 7 years. But.... they didn't pay tax so homeowners are in luck!

House Squatter In Clay County Arrested - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville
CLAY COUNTY, Fla. -- Clay County deputies arrested Marcellous Dunbar, who claims to be a pastor at a local church, Friday evening on accusations he's been squatting at a $500,000 home in Oakleaf Plantation for the past few days.
The arrest comes after Channel 4's Jim Piggott questioned Dunbar earlier Friday about living at the home he doesn't own.
"What's going on with the house?" Channel 4's Jim Piggott asked Dunbar.
"It was adversely possessed," Dunbar said. "It was in foreclosure. Do your homework."
"I did my homework," Piggott said.
"I did my homework," Dunbar said.
"We are allowed to be here. This isn't your house. It isn't in adverse possession. It was taken illegally," Piggott said. "There has not been any taxes paid on this. There is a new homeowner moving in today. Your furniture is going out on the street. This is all according to police. They are looking for you to make an arrest. How could you just come into a place? This isn't your house."


Marcellous Dunbar
A family who purchased the home still plans to move in this weekend, even though Dunbar's furniture and other items are inside.
He did file paperwork for adverse possession, a controversial Florida statute that allows change of ownership to a home, but even though it's filed, Clay County officials say it does not mean he owns the house. In fact, the former owner said he had just sold it when Dunbar moved in, or in his words, broke in.
"They took the hinges off the door, changed the locks, moved in and said they went down and paid some taxes. My taxes have been paid up," said Tom Perryman, the former owner of the home.
There are three other houses in the neighborhood for which Dunbar and others have filed similar paperwork. At one of the homes Friday, the front door was left open and no one was in site.


Squatters moved into this Oakleaf Plantation home that was sold to a military family.
Former Jacksonville Council Member Warren Lee is involved in the filing for adverse possession at another house in the neighborhood. Lee was not at the home Friday and was unable to be reached.
Officials in Clay County say they've never seen anything like this.
"I am incredibly surprised. I have been in this business for 31 years, and I have been in this office for over two," Clay County property appraiser Rodgers Suggs said.
The state attorney's office says it is investigating and hopes to have some resolution this weekend. It said Dunbar could be arrested on trespassing and other charges.
Dunbar told Channel 4 he is a pastor at Open Arms Cristian Fellowship on Dunn Avenue, but he is not list as a member of the staff. A call to the church Friday afternoon went to a recording.
Click to expand...
 
Owners: Squatters Left Mark On Home
Squatting Suspect Bonds Out Of Jail

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. -- A man accused of squatting in a $500,000 home has bonded out of jail since his arrest Friday. Marcelous Dunbar, who claims to be a pastor, is charged with grand theft and burglary.

Meanwhile, the family who bought the Oakleaf Plantation house says that when they arrived to move in over the weekend, they found that the squatters had left their mark.

They said they are not going to move in for some time because the house was trashed. The family said there were stains on the floor and urine stains throughout the house.

Clay County Sheriff's Office booking photo of Marcelous Dunbar

Dunbar told Channel 4 before his arrest that he took the house and another in Jacksonville by filing for adverse possession, a controversial Florida statute that allows change of ownership to a home. He said he moved in because the property was abandoned.

Jim Overton, property appraiser for the city of Jacksonville, says the adverse possession law was designed for abandoned shacks and rundown houses.

"It's an archaic law. It needs to be rewritten, and the Legislature needs to take action on it," Overton said.

Homeowners on the Northside of Jacksonville are already taking action and have posted signs telling squatters to stay away.

"This is not the Wild Wild West. It's ridiculous," one resident said.

There have been 23 filings for adverse possession in Jacksonville and five filings in Clay County, all in the last two months.

Four of them were filed by Warren Lee, a former Jacksonville city councilman who ran for mayor earlier this year.

Lee was not at one of the houses Monday to comment. He did call Channel 4 over the weekend and said he was not breaking the law and was doing this to house homeless veterans.


Previous Stories:
September 26, 2011: Squatter Suspect Appears In Court
September 23, 2011: Clay County House Squatter Arrested
September 22, 2011: Pastor Accused Of Squatting In Home

Owners: Squatters Left Mark On Home - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville
 
I think our entire country has that law, I know for a fact my county does, I have personally dealt with BS from it. That law should be trashed, it serves no purpose other than ****ing honest people out of money, and helping criminals
 
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