(WSVN) - A South Florida woman was set to inherit several properties after her father’s death, but she inherited nothing but problems. The Nightteam’s Kevin Ozebek with tonight’s 7 Investigates.
This is the Miami duplex where Natasha Johnson spent her childhood.
It badly needs repairs, but she says there’s nothing she can do.
Natasha Johnson, inherited properties: “It hurts. It hurts because my dad would never have allowed this.”
When Natasha’s father died in 2019, he not only left her this duplex, he also passed on several other properties.
She planned to renovate and rent them out, but instead, she opened the door to a huge headache.
Natasha Johnson: “They just come in. They break in, and this is their home.”
She says squatters moved in, not just taking over this unit, but also the one next door.
Natasha Johnson: “They moved in a refrigerator, a stove. Supposedly, they put some tile down.”
Our cameras spotted people outside another one of the homes her father left her.
Kevin Ozebek: “Do you live here?”
The woman sitting outside would not say if she was paying rent.
Natasha found people living in all five properties she inherited from her father.
None of them are the people who legally rented the homes a few years ago.
Natasha Johnson: “They’re turning on the water. They’re turning on the lights. I’ve called down there to the water company because they’re now sending me bills.”
Natasha’s father had dementia, so his estate was placed under a court-ordered guardianship before his death.
She thought it would end when he died.
Instead, she says the guardian and attorneys are still arguing over how much each should be paid from the estate.
In the meantime, the houses are racking up code violations.
Natasha Johnson: “These properties shouldn’t be in the condition they are. These properties shouldn’t be behind on taxes as they is. A guardian is supposed to take care of all these things.”
Natasha is worried the homes could fall into foreclosure before the guardianship is lifted.
If that happens, she’s afraid there won’t be anything left to inherit.
Natasha Johnson: “If they could just release my father’s assets, then I could be able to go out and do the repairs that need to be done because it costs money to do this.”
7News called the guardian listed in the court papers.
We wanted to ask why the case is taking so long to get resolved.
We are still waiting for our message to be returned.
CONTACT 7INVESTIGATES:
305-627-CLUE
954-921-CLUE
clue@wsvn.com
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