Archive Episode: Miami Property Scammers, Part 1

In this 2021 episode, Miami’s historic West Grove neighborhood has recently become a hot real estate market. So hot, in fact, that it has attracted the attention of scammers. It wasn’t always so. Shirley Gibson’s family has owned property in West Grove since her great-grandmother immigrated from the Bahamas over 100 years ago. Now in her 80s, Shirley had hoped to pass on the property to her niece and nephew. But when Shirley goes to pay her taxes one day, she learns that her property has been sold without her knowledge for $230,000. When another of her properties shows up on Zillow, it becomes clear this is not a fluke but an elaborate real estate scam, targeting property owners in this historically Black neighborhood.