Central Florida Cops Refuse To Budge; Cite Lack Of Criminal Intent, Insist That 'Foreclosure' Home Trashing Is Nothing More Than A 'Civil Matter'

In Brooksville, Florida, WTSP-TV Channel 10 reports:

• The Hernando Sheriff's Office was inundated with angry calls and e-mails after we reported criminal charges wouldn't be filed against a company which cleaned out and trashed a man's home. After our first story, the sheriff's office re-opened the case, but is now sticking to its guns.

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• But Detective Dustin Mormando says the SO's investigation pretty much contradicted what he was reporting. Mormando says Boudreau had abandoned the property when the mortgage company hired the contractor to clean out the home. However, there was a major problem: the mortgage company hadn't filed foreclosure papers.



• Because the proper foreclosure papers had not been filed, 21 Mortgage really had no right to hire a contractor to go onto Boudreau's property and clean it up. But the sheriff's office says it couldn't file criminal charges, because the local contractor had no idea there was any problem with the paperwork.



• "There was no criminal intent," Mormando says. "It's not up to them to verify the mortgage company filed the proper paperwork." He says the contractors are in a business relationship with this mortgage company, who've given them jobs for years.



• The sheriff's department can't get involved, because as Mormando explains, there are no arrestable offenses committed. Boudreau's only recourse is a civil suit against the mortgage company.

For the story, see Hernando Sheriff's Office says it will not prosecute contractor who cleaned out a home for a mortgage company.