Mod: Were you aware that Florida state law shields financially at-risk residents from having their primary home seized by creditors? With no regard whatsoever for how astronomical the hut's value? What could be behind Javanka's move to Billionaire's Bunker? (The Guardianlink): Florida is a great place to move to if you are a retiree or a criminal. As well as sun, sea and sand, it boasts a number of laws that may appeal to someone desperate to keep their hands on their money. These include something called a “homestead exemption”, which protects a Florida resident’s primary home (of unlimited value) from being seized by creditors.
Back in 2008, for example,
Bernie Madoff’s wife suddenly switched her primary residence from
New York to
Florida and applied for a homestead exemption to protect her $9.4m home. Weirdly, she applied for this exemption just a few months before
Madoff pleaded guilty to running a massive
Ponzi scheme.
This is just some interesting
Florida trivia, by the way. I wouldn’t want you to read too much into it. It’s just a little titbit that came to mind, for no reason whatsoever, when I read the recent speculation that
Jared Kushner and
Ivanka Trump have decided not to move back to
New York and are heading to
Florida.
According to the New York Post, the pair have spent over $30m on almost a hectare of land near Miami Beach. While that may seem like a wild amount to spend on a relatively small piece of empty land, it is situated on the super-exclusive Indian Creek Island, which has the nickname Billionaire’s Bunker.
There are only 41 residences on the island and it has a 13-strong police force as well as its own round-the-clock armed marine patrol. It’s supposedly one of the most secure places in the world. Although, to be honest, I can think of a few places with even higher security where some of the
Trump family may end up next.
Mod: Come to think of it, didn't Donald also change his primary residence from New York to Florida? Probably just a coincidence, though his new neighbors aren't very happy.Mar-a-Lago neighbors to Trump: Spend your post-presidency elsewhere (The Washington Postlink): Next-door neighbors of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla., that he has called his Winter White House, have a message for the outgoing commander in chief: We don’t want you to be our neighbor.
That message was formally conveyed Tuesday morning in a demand letter delivered to the town of
Palm Beach and also addressed to the
U.S. Secret Service asserting that
Trump lost his legal right to live at
Mar-a-Lago because of an agreement he signed in the early 1990s when he converted the storied estate from his private residence to a club.
The current residency controversy tracks back to a deal Trump cut in 1993 when his finances were foundering and the cost of maintaining Mar-a-Lago was soaring into the multimillions each year. Under the agreement, club members are banned from spending more than 21 days a year in the club’s guest suites and cannot stay there for any longer than seven consecutive days.
Before the arrangement was sealed, a
Trump attorney assured the town council in a public meeting that his client would not live at
Mar-a-Lago.
At the time, the town’s leaders were wary of Trump because he had sued them after they blocked his attempt to subdivide the historic Mar-a-Lago property into multiple housing lots. Placing the limitations on lengths of stays ensured that Trump’s property would remain a private club, as he had promised, rather than a residential hotel.
Mod: Imagine the interest his many creditors will have in this story. More at the link.
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