BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
A woman caring for two children is asking a judge for more time before deputies force her out of her home.
Amy Ortiz Reyes wrote to a judge that she leased the house at 798 West Pratt Street and was unaware of a foreclosure lawsuit on the property.
“These children were placed in my care in May of 2022 by the Department of Children and Families,” Reyes wrote in an emergency motion, “and I was not prepared to be caring for the children for such an extended period.”
A Tampa real estate company won the auction for the home the county clerk’s office held to settle a mortgage foreclosure.
Zach Taborelli of Taborelli Properties LLC submitted a winning bid of $73,100 for the West Pratt Street property in the Saratoga Heights neighborhood.
In April, Community State Bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit against property owner Christina Nicole Demar, claiming the defendant defaulted on a $35,000 mortgage note dated November 18, 2016.
A judge agreed with the bank and, on September 22, determined that Demar owed the financial institution $35,953.74. Circuit Judge George M. Wright ordered the auction of the home if the defendant had not paid the bank by November 16.
