I was a tenant in a home in foreclosure. Immediately after the home I lived in was sold at auction, represenatives of Select Investment Network, Inc., in Palm Harbor, FL, on behalf of Mikhail Family Trust and Sherif Tawfk Basta (Secretary/Treasurer), came to the home and knocked loudly on the front door, walked around the home, and looked in the windows of my tenancy. The following day while at the office of Select Investment Network, Inc. in Palm Harbor, FL to meet with Sherif Tawfk Basta, trustee of Mikhail Family Trust, Mr. Tawfk Basta told me that he was going to come to my tenancy and break in, causing me to have to go to the Pasco County Sheriff's office to seek assistance.
The same day the certificate of title was issued (the week before Thanksgiving), Sherif Tawfk Basta's wife, Diana Davis Basta of Davis Basta Law Firm, PA, filed a motion for Writ of Possession with the Pasco County Clerk of Court. In the filing, Diana Basta falsely asserted that the owner of the home was my daughter in an attempt to get the judge to issue the Writ of Possession since family members are automatically disqualified for protections under the Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act of 2009 which would compel the new owner to honor an existing lease or provide a 90 day notice to vacate.
If Diana Basta had succeeded in persuading the judge to signed the Writ of Possession, I probably would have been seeing the Sheriff with a 24 hour notice on a Friday night after it was too late for me to file anything to be granted a stay. I had to cancel my trip to see my son and grandchildren for Thanksgiving. This irresponsible and inhumane action made me realize that this group of people intended to retaliate against me until I vacated the home, so I gave a written 10 Day Notice to Vacate as was provided by my lease.
On the final date of the 10 Day Notice to Vacate, Sherif Tawfk Basta contacted me to inform that a fence person would be coming by to install a fence around the a/c system to secure the unit. I agreed, and the fence person showed up at the home while I was away and my cleaning person was working inside. The fence person knocked on the door, and then he tried to enter the home. This alarmed the cleaning person, who then looked out the window and observed the fence person going through the mailbox. He removed my mail and proceeded back to his vehicle. The cleaning person confront the fence person and retrieved my mail from him. When I returned and heard what had happened, I asked the fence person why he tried to steal my mail. He denied that he entered the mailbox, however, the neighbor across the street and the neighbor next door to the west both witnessed the fence person attempt to steal my mail.
Fortunately, I am out of the home now as I could no longer be subjected to the terrorizing tactics of Select Investment Network, Inc., Sherif Tawfk Basta, and his attorney wife Diana Davis Basta of Davis Basta Law Firm, PA. I was so frightened by this group that I barricaded my front door with crates since I had to give them the keys and stayed in a nearby hotel the last days of my stay because I could not sleep at night for fear they were going to come to the home and enter. Nobody should ever have to go through unethical and inhumane treatment. When I have the time to compose my thoughts after this horrible nightmare of an experience, I plan to write a letter to the Florida State Attorney's office and to Congressman Bilirakis. These people clearly do not act in the spirit that the U.S. Congress put in place in the PTFA which was designed to keep tenants from being placed on the street without being given time to relocate. This group is motivated by sheer greed.