You may remember the story from September about the man in Florida who was caught red-handed (or at least sweaty-palmed) pleasuring himself to a Sports Illustrated magazine in the toy section of his local Walmart. Now it looks like the man has cut a deal that would keep him out of jail — and away from the retail giant and any other store that sells toys for children. [More]
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Scammed In A Refi, Woman Loses Home
By 11.23.10
A woman who thought she was doing a simple refi for $50,000 and became the victim of an elaborate swindle was just dealt her final savage blow: her house is getting foreclosed on. [More]
Florida Couple Already Camping Out For Black Friday At Best Buy
By 11.19.10
People have too much time on their hands. Need an example? A couple in Florida have decided it’s better to spend the next week, which happens to include Thanksgiving, camped out in front of a Best Buy. [More]
Airports Looking To Replace TSA Screeners With Contractors
By 11.18.10
In case you hadn’t heard, there’s been a slight bit of public push-back to the TSA’s increased use of full-body scanners and invasive pat-downs at security checkpoints. And at least one airport in Florida is telling the TSA “no thanks,” opting to use a private contractor instead. [More]
Buy A Truck, Get A Free AK-47
By 11.15.10
A used truck dealer in Florida, birthplace of dreams, is offering an interesting promotion. Buy a truck and get an assault rifle thrown in the back for free. [More]
Some Reusable Shopping Bags Have Lead
By 11.15.10
Scrape off the trendiness and a popular “green” choice is actually “gray” underneath; some reusable shopping bags contain lead. [More]
Paying The Foreclosure Lawyer With A Second Mortgage
By 11.10.10
Ever the hotbed of innovation, a new innovation in foreclosure defense is emerging in Florida. Until now, the big question for foreclosure lawyers is “how do we get paid?” If their client can’t afford to pay the bank, how are they going to pay for legal services? One firm has figured out a way. After the original mortgage is nullified or reduced, the client takes out a new mortgage for 40% of the savings, and pays it to the lawyer. [More]
"Adversely Possessing" Empty Houses: Robin Hood Or Fraudster?
By 11.9.10
Citing a law from the 1850’s, Mark is going around Florida looking for foreclosed and abandoned houses and filing paperwork to try to claim their deeds. It’s called “adverse possession.” [More]
It's Probation For Florida Man Who Punched Walmart Greeter
By 10.21.10
You might remember our story from January about a Walmart greeter in Florida who was fired after getting punched by a customer. Earlier this week, the man who threw the offending fist was given one year probation. [More]
Robosigners Showered With Jewels, Cars, Even House Payments
By 10.19.10
It’s hard work signing thousands of documents a day, even if you don’t have to read them. Your hand can cramp like something awful! [More]
Stinky-Smelling Drywall Maker Will Repair 300 Homes
By 10.15.10
One of the manufacturers being sued for selling drywall that reeked up houses with the smell of rotting eggs is participating in a pilot program to make repairs on 300 homes. Awesome, only a few more thousand to go. [More]
Deduct Costs Of Stinky Chinese Drywall From Your Taxes
By 10.1.10
You can get some money if your home was ruined by defective Chinese drywall that emitted nasty-ass sulfuric fumes. The IRS yesterday said that homeowners could treat the damages to both their homes and appliances as a casualty loss and deduct it from their taxes. [More]
Guitar Center Customer Loses Fight With Elmo
By 9.28.10
Who would punch Elmo in the back of the head? A disgruntled customer at a Guitar Center in Florida, that’s who. The Elmo performer was working a gig at a toy store next door, then wandered over to Guitar Center. That’s when a customer came in, played some drums, behaved aggressively toward other customers and staff, then punched Elmo. [More]
Foreclosure Firm Allegedly Forged Bank Execs' Signatures On Affidavits
By 9.23.10
A foreclosure firm listed “Bogus Assignee” as the mortgage owner on the documents they submitted to the court to process the foreclosure. That’s one of the many oddities surfacing in the investigation of a Florida foreclosure firm for allegedly using improper documentation to speed up foreclosures. Another is an employee “Linda Green” who signed of on thousands of foreclosure affidavits claiming to be executives from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and other lenders. [More]
BofA Forecloses On Man's House, Even Though He Has No Mortgage
By 9.23.10
Bank of America stole Jason’s house from him, putting it through foreclosure even though he has no mortgage, with them or anyone, and he paid for it in cash. [More]
Feds Tell Reporter It's Illegal To Build Sand Castles in Florida
By 9.20.10
A journalist who was searching the Florida Gulf Islands National Seashore for signs of oil pollution got a silly reason to go home from federal agents. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representative told the WEAR ABC 3 Pensacola reporter, who was using a shovel to dig through the sand, that he needed to produce a permit that said he could do so. Soon after, a National Parks Service rep told the reporter the same thing. [More]
Wendy's Testing "Natural" Fries In Some Areas
By 8.25.10
Perhaps unhappy with the fourth place finish of its french fries in the annual Zagat fast food survey, Wendy’s has recently begun testing a new recipe for fries that goes along with the company’s new emphasis on “real” ingredients. [More]
Museum That Lets Visitors Handle Gold Directly Has Gold Stolen
By 8.24.10
A 74-ounce gold bar that was salvaged from the ocean floor in 1980 was stolen from the Mel Fisher museum last week. It’s valued at $550,000, and it was kept on display in a special case that let visitors stick their hands in to lift it. Supposedly the case was designed to prevent any removal of the bar, but somehow a guy managed to pull it out and put it in his pants pocket before walking out. The insurance company is offering a $10,000 reward for its return. [More]
