Homestead Exemption Cheaters Beware!

The following is an exerpt distributed by the the Sarasota County Property Appraiser:

"IF YOU ARE VIOLATING HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION LAWS YOU WILL BE CAUGHT! So BEWARE, penalties can be severe.

The Property Appraiser has added powerful fraud detection weapons to the office's investigations arsenal. Using these new tools we're instituting a neighborhood and condominium homestead audit program, so WATCH OUT fraudulent homesteaders!

• The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Department is providing us with access to the Driver and Vehicle Express (DAVE) database. With this tool we are able to confirm driver's license, car registration status, residence addresses and any homestead exemption recipient who is holding an out-of-state license.



• We've contracted with a private sector data provider for an indepth investigation program allowing us to find other addresses, licenses, where and when someone votes, telephone numbers, and any persons other than the homesteader who may be residing on the property. This tool has already proved very effective.



• The Sarasota County Utility Department has given us access to their database. Using this tool we can find non-owner account holders and consumption patterns. We're working on database access with North Port, Venice and the City of Sarasota.



• We have put to use the Department of Revenue list of duplicate social security numbers. Using this tool we identify people trying to claim homestead on multiple properties across Florida.

This office will always depend on its most valuable weapon; information from our taxpayers. We will also continue to use those tools proven to be effective, such as:

• The databases of Propery Appraisers, Assessors, and Tax Collectors across the country to determine who might be benefiting from residency linked tax benefits in other states.



• The databases of the Division of Business and Professional Regulation, the Department of Health and the Office of the Secretary of State to confirm primary addresses.



• The Clerk of the Court's official, civil and criminal databases for addresses listed on recorded or filed documents such as lis pendens, summonses, evictionproceedings, and subpoenas.



• Returned mail, field inspections, permitting and code enforcement.

The Property Appraiser's office is committed to finding homestead violators, removing the exemption for the current tax year, and recovering any previous years' improperly exempted taxes, plus interest and penalties. In 2009 this office

1. recovered over $290,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest through homestead lien process and



2. removed the homestead exemptionfrom 2,967 parcels, returning over $220,000,000 in taxable value and over $2,500,000 in taxes to the community.

Which is pretty good when you think about it-but we believe there are more fraudulent homesteaders out there waiting to be caught."

For more information on Venice Florida Real Estate, contact Wayne Welsh, P.A. or visit http://www.live4venice.com/