Marine Returns From Okinawa to Find Her Bungalow Already Sold
“He uses family disputes to get them cheap,” Vance said. “In all three of these cases, the service member was at sea or in Okinawa. He finds a relative who needs quick money, offers to handle the power of attorney, and buys the property for a third of what it is worth.”
“Is my father’s name on these?” I asked.
“No,” Vance said. “But your brother Chad’s name might be on the referral list.”
“Why Chad?” I asked.
“Because Benson needs a scout,” Vance said. “He needs someone local who knows which families are struggling and which houses are empty.”
Vance pulled out a photocopy of the deed for the duplex on Tenth Street.
“Look at the date on this one,” Vance said. “April fourteenth. The owner, a Navy lieutenant, had deployed on a destroyer six days earlier.”
“And the signature on the power of attorney?” I asked.
“It was his uncle,” Vance said. “A guy who ran a bait shop near the marina. He was thirty thousand dollars in debt to a local boat dealer.”
