Miami Realtor Profited From Guardianship Property Flips

Companies linked to Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez purchased and flipped nearly three dozen homes once owned by the Guardianship Program of Dade County — more than previously reported.

Many of those deals also involved Antonio Lorenzo, a Miami real estate agent and property appraiser who made tens of thousands of dollars on the sales, according to a WLRN investigation. Lorenzo frequently appears in transactions involving Express Homes, a company owned by Méndez’s husband, Carlos Morales, and Gallego Homes, a company that was owned by Méndez’s mother, Margarita Méndez. The city attorney was registered as vice president of Gallego Homes until 2018, and it was legally dissolved this year.

The Guardianship Program, a nonprofit funded by Miami-Dade County and the state, cares for incapacitated people or those who can’t afford to care for themselves. The agency takes control of their assets and sells them to pay for their living expenses, but any profit later generated from the resale of homes does not go toward paying for the individuals’ care.

Lorenzo, the Miami realtor, co-owned a title company with Victoria Méndez and her husband. He appraised properties on behalf of the guardianship program. WLRN reported that their affiliation started in 2009, when Lorenzo appraised a West Flagler condo at $20,000 that was owned by a woman who was declared incapacitated. The guardianship program sold the unit for $5,000 to Express Homes.

Express Homes sold or transferred real estate that was once under the guardianship agency’s control to a business owned by Lorenzo’s father, Antoliano Lorenzo, within days of the original sale.

Antonio Lorenzo’s wife, Melissa, has also been involved. In 2020, a company owned by her earned a $7,500 commission for the sale of an incapacitated woman’s Liberty City home that sold through the nonprofit for $125,000. Express Homes purchased the property, renovated it, and sold it the following year for $360,000. Antonio Lorenzo brokered that second sale. He hangs his license with Lexan Real Estate, which is owned by his wife.

Miami-Dade County’s Inspector General’s Office has been investigating the Guardianship Program following WLRN’s reporting. Miami-Dade County and the nonprofit agreed to pause property sales until the investigation is complete.

— Katherine Kallergis