Seems that former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla doesn’t have enough to worry about with the felony charges against him for money laundering, bribery, unlawful compensation and criminal conspiracy. He’s also trying to get his childhood house back from the bank.
The five-bedroom Little Havana house where Diaz de la Portilla and his two brothers and his sister grew up was sold for $300,100 at a Miami-Dade County foreclosure auction Nov. 15 last year. Owned by the former commissioner and his former wife, Claudia Davant, the home was purchased by Wells Fargo, which won a $628,545 final foreclosure judgment in 2019.
On Nov. 30, 15 days after the sale, Diaz de la Portilla’s sister, Maria Diaz, filed a motion to vacate the sale and judgement. In it, she says others who live in the home did not get notice of the sale. “Unknown Parties/Tenants include several disabled individuals,” it says.
Does that mean Renier Diaz de la Portilla is living back at home? Oh, she may be talking about her parents.
Read related: Bank forecloses on ADLP, who ‘moves’ to run for Willy Gort seat in Miami
The objection seeks to invoke the protections under Chapter 83 Florida Statutes of “the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act,” and says that the judgement and sale should be vacated ” based on the failure to notified disabled unknown parties/tenants of the sale of the property.”
The Landlord Tenant Act provides rights to tenants so that they can’t get kicked out at any time for no reason. But Maria Diaz wasn’t/isn’t really a tenant, is she? She is the mother of the owner, who bought the house from his parents for $10 in 2001 and then mortgaged the shit out of it to fund campaigns and his lavish lifestyle. And besides, Ladra heard mom and dad lived with big brother Miguel Diaz de la Portilla in his Coral Gables home.
In its response filed Dec. 1, Wells Fargo says that no unknown persons or tenants were listed as parties in the case and no lease was provided. “And thus, no determination can be made that it is, in fact, a bona fide lease.”
Furthermore, the law under the Landlord Tenant Act does not apply if:
- The tenant is the mortgagor in the subject foreclosure or is the child, spouse, or parent of the mortgagor in the subject foreclosure.
- The tenant’s rental agreement is not the result of an arm’s length transaction.
- The tenant’s rental agreement allows the tenant to pay rent that is substantially less than the fair market rent for the premises, unless the rent is reduced or subsidized due to a federal, state, or local subsidy.
“It is believed that Diaz is a relative (mother) of Portilla, and thus, any lease agreement is not an arms-length transaction and pursuant to section 3(a), the protections of the Act would not apply. Moreover, there is no allegation that Diaz pays a fair market rent or that she has any other interest in the property other than a temporary possessory interest.
“Thus, Diaz has failed to establish that the protections of Florida Statute 83.561 even apply to her and, even if they do apply, then Diaz was adequately protected at the time of entry of Final Judgment and there are no legal grounds to vacate the Final Judgment.”
In other words, too little too late.
Read related: Miami Commissioner ADLP gets yet another delay on foreclosure auction
This is obviously a last attempt by Diaz de la Portilla, who did not return a call and text to his phone, to thwart the foreclosure process. He has appealed the case and delayed the sale of the house, 1519 SW 19th Street, for years.
A call to the office of Jonathan Kline — ADLP’s new attorney now that Bruce Jacobs has been barred from practicing law — was not returned.
The Maria Diaz motion requests a hearing, which will happen on Feb. 28.
No hearing date yet on ADLP’s criminal case, which is being prosecuted by Broward County Assistant State Attorney Justin McCormack, of the public corruption unit. Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy Fernandez-Rundle recused herself because of her connection to the lobbyist arrested with Diaz de la Portilla, Bill Riley. McCormack, who ran for State Attorney in 2020 and lost — coming in last of eight candidates — was assigned the case on Jan. 11.
Alex Diaz de la Portilla's House Saga continues by Alex Diaz de la Portilla's house saga continues Part II by Political Cortadito on Scribd
Alex Diaz de la Portilla tries to get his foreclosed house back from the bank added by Ladra on
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