Home dispute spurs suit

Couple claim company stole ownership

A Brazilian couple’s lawsuit claims a South Florida company stoleownershipof theirParkland homeusing a fraudulent quit-claim deed with a forged signature.

“My client never signed anything, never sold their home, this came as a total surprise to them,” said Elias Hilal, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who is representing the married couple, Hectory Ferreira and AudreyNieman. “They are the rightful owners and have maintained their property in good standing.”

Hilal said Ferreira and Nieman have owned the home since 2011. The home is assessed at $566,000, according to the property appraiser.

The couple lived in the house, in the 8100 block of Northwest 124th Terrace, for several years and then rented it to a family friend after they moved back to Brazil.

The friend, Andres Walter, was denied entry into the gated community on Feb.19, according to the lawsuit. A security guard told Walter that the house had been sold, the suit says.

Multiple requests over several days to Powermind for comment were not answered. According to the Florida Department of Corporations, Powermind is run by president Roody Silverain and four others individuals with the same last name. No complaints against Powermind had been logged with the state corporations department.

Quit-claim deeds are used to transfer ownership of real property but come without a title or warranty. They are most often used to transfer ownership between family members.

A total of 93,035 quitclaim, warranty and other deeds and titles were recorded last year at the Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury Division, but that office does not investigate whether documents are fraudulent.

“We do not have an investigativearmin our office, nor do we have any way of determining if a deed is fraudulent, as we index the document based on the in-