Sweetness & Light: Exposing The Truth About Henrietta Hughes

I shoved the print-out copies of Henrietta Hughes' property records into the hands of a WINK radio news family member at the Ft Myers Tea Party I attended last week. Now, radio "news" has turned into little more than an oral rebroadcast of what's written in local newspapers these days, but I felt that I should at least try to get the truth out there.


After all, I had gone to the trouble to make my sign and everything:

Out of around 4,000 people there, the site where Barry came down and hugged the neck of Henrietta, only one person approached me to ask what was meant by my sign. Luckily, I came prepared with 3 copies of the fine research that had been conducted by the above-average readers of my favorite blog, Sweetness & Light.

After giving a quick summary of how Henrietta wasn't the poor, pitiful victim she claimed to be, the guy and his wife (both doctors here in Ft Myers), gladly accepted the two pages I had stored in my cargo pockets.

I was simply glad that I had anticipated this conversation, had come prepared to back up my claims with proof, and that I was spreading the word about this small cog in what is turning out to be the biggest Trojan Horse "rescue" in American history.

Don't get me wrong: I know that the economy is in bad shape. After all, I lost my job 6 months ago as a computer tech at a cancer doctor's group here in Ft Myers, when the doctors laid off the entire IT department, calling it a "business decision".

I moved from my duplex in Lehigh Acres back into a 12 x 12 hurricane room in my grandmother's house. And I know that I'm one of the lucky ones. Thank God I don't have kids, like the rest of the IT staff. Three of the guys are still so upset that they are trying to extort more of a severance package from the doctors by threatening to expose HIPA violations on the network. Bad times, indeed.

But at 41 years old, having been raised in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia, I've known hard times in my life, and this is right up there near the top. But I've always been something of a miser, and living on next to nothing is not a painful thing for me. I've never owned a house, or land, and when my father died 4 years ago of alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver he left nothing to me and my brother. I still carry on with a student loan to pay off, but no credit card debt. I don't have much, but I don't need much to be happy.

So believe me when I say that I know a thing or two about living within your means. I've run into people who cry "poor me" a few times in my travels, and I'm always sensitive to it, because there are tons of people less fortunate than myself, and it is always something of which I take note, and try to base my own good fortune against.

This is why I smell such a foul odor in this story of Henrietta. From the truly hard-luck stories I've seen in my life, the sincerely down-and-out don't make displays like this:

Well, now the WINK TV News team have done a follow-up on poor Henrietta. Nothing of my Sweetness & Light data made it to this news story, of course. I didn't think it would, but at least I have my little free blog here at Blogger. Before you read the latest about Henrietta, who is living rent-free in a house provided for her by a local Republican politician's wife, I ask you to review her property records first reported at S&L:

The Property Records Of Henrietta Hughes
According to Lee County, Florida property records:

6/18/01 Property (Lot 19, Block 35, Unit 9, Sec. 20, Twnshp 44S, Range 27, Lehigh Acres Subdivision) purchased by Henrietta and Corey Hughes

10/10/03 - $124,400.00 lien release due to payment in full to Henrietta and Corey Hughes.

8/9/06 - Quit claim deed signed by Henrietta Hughes granting full ownership to Corey Hughes.

No transactions since for either Henrietta Hughes or Corey Hughes which means that Corey Hughes still owns the property. Taxes current (paid) on 1/1/09.
There are a number of mortgage lien holder transfers between 2001 and when it was paid off in 2003. This is normal as liens are often sold (think one mortgage holder buying out another). What is interesting is how this lien for $124,400.00 was paid off in less than 28 months.

To access the records:
http://www.leeclerk.org/OR/Search.aspx

Enter last name first, first name last.

Has this property been sold in 2005, a transfer would have been recorded since the county records not only purchases but sales as well. Also, why would someone sell a property they paid at least $124,000.00 for in June, 2001 for $47,000.00 in 2005 when market prices were still high?

The fact is this scam artist did not sell her property that was jointly owned with her son, Corey Lamont, from day one. What she did do was sign a quit claim deed in 2006, giving TOTAL ownership to her son Corey Lamont. I would guess this is because the value of the property would affect SSDI benefits along with Medicare/Medicaid. It would also affect any welfare she might be eligible for under SSDI. My guess is she applied for SSDI and was told that she could only have so much worth. Yet, the 2004 Rochester, NY article states she is already receiving Medicare/Medicaid.

It is also interesting that in 2004, Corey Lamont Hughes sought, and received, free medical treatment in Rochester, NY while he and his mother were still owners of property in Florida…

Retire05 also added this:

Here is the history (remember to keep the lot numbers separate as that is important):

6/18/01 - Henrietta and Corey Hughes purchases Lot 18 and 19, Block 35 of Lehigh Acres

8/17/01 - Henrietta and Corey Hughes purchases Lot 22, Block 35 of Lehigh Acres

10/29/01 - Henrietta and Corey Hughes receives building permit for Lot 19, Block 35 of Lehigh Acres. The builder is Holiday Builders of Cape Coral, Florida

10/29/01 - (same day) Henrietta and Corey Hughes secures mortgage financing from Riverside Bank of The Gulf Coast, Cape Coral, Florida (this would be for the building of the structure constructed by Holiday Builders) in the amount of $124,400.00

7/15/03 - Forclosure filed by Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast on Lot 19, Block 35 Lehigh Acres in an amount of slightly over $123,600.00 (meaning she paid about $800 of the mortgage in 21 months)

10/16/2003 - Mortgage satisfaction filed by Riverside Bank granting ownership to Henrietta and Corey Hughes for Lot 19, Block 35 of Lehigh Acres for $124,400.00
6/30/05 - Lot 22, Block 35 of Lehigh Acres sold to Homeland, LLC.
8/9/06 - Quit claim deed signed by Henrietta Hughes to Corey Hughes for Lot 18, Block 35 of Lehigh Acres.

She originally owned 3 lots, #18, #19 and #22. Number #22 was sold in 2005 (when she claims she lost her home) to Homeland, LLC in June, 2005 and #18 was transferred to her son, Corey Lamont, on 8/9/06 (signing a quit claim deed gave him total ownership of #18 which they had bought jointly).

I can find no record of any subsequent sales of the home build on Lot 19.(source)

Pretty wild, huh? She has had more property in her life than most people I've ever known. Yet the world and Barry trip over themselves to showcase and help her. In fact, here's the sympathetic story that just ran from WINK TV News.

Oh well. There are as many cheats and scams as there are welfare dollars extracted from our paychecks every payday. I can't get too exercised about it. I've got my eye on bigger things: