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For sale: LaBrake's dream home
By JEFF TESTERMAN, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- The South Tampa home that launched a federal investigation, sank two city careers and kept the public titillated for months has been put up for sale. With debts mounting and no job possibilities in sight, former Tampa housing boss Steve LaBrake and former aide Lynne McCarter decided Friday to put their four-bedroom, 31/2-bath, 4,200-square-foot home on the market for $650,000. "We've been looking at it the last couple of weeks, and we just said there's no way out of this," LaBrake said. "If we don't sell and nothing comes up for us, in another couple of months we'll be sucking wind." A week ago, Ryan Construction filed a lawsuit to foreclose a $168,431 lien on the two-story home at 3608 W Corona St. That was followed Wednesday by a lien filed by Henry Gonzalez Plumbing, which said it is owed $8,289 for plumbing work completed in November. McCarter owes nearly $230,000 on the USF Federal Credit Union mortgage used to build the home. LaBrake said the couple owe another $125,000 borrowed on credit cards. "We haven't been able to make any payments on the credit cards in four months," he said. "There's just no way to catch up." The Corona Street home has been in the news since last spring, when WFTS-Ch. 28 reported that LaBrake was getting a bargain-basement deal from Ryan, a company that profited from more than $1-million in housing contracts from LaBrake's city department. Ryan signed for $105,000 to build the shell of a house that some estimated might be worth as much as $750,000. LaBrake, a licensed general contractor, said he intended to do most of the finish work, but his quadruple bypass surgery changed those plans. The FBI is still trying to determine whether improper influence was involved in the financing and construction of the house. Chester M. Luney, former chief of the nonprofit Tampa-Hillsborough Action Plan, has acknowledged providing numerous favors to McCarter in connection with the dream home. Luney agreed to lease McCarter's Riverview home for $1,400 a month to improve her financial statement. He committed THAP funds to buy out her car lease, haul away an old home on the Corona lot and pick up construction debris. THAP, which provides housing and medical services for low-income residents, received millions in city contracts while LaBrake was Tampa's $105,000-a-year director of business and community services. The Florida Ethics Commission also is investigating a series of complaints regarding the home and McCarter's rapid advancement in LaBrake's department. She moved from a $6-an-hour clerk to a $55,723-a-year senior redevelopment counselor. LaBrake, who was forced from his city job, is in the midst of a bitter divorce from his wife. It is scheduled for trial next month. McCarter, who delivered the couple's baby in December, has been on maternity leave. LaBrake said she is unlikely to return to her city job. "It's impossible for her to go back to that hostile atmosphere," he said. LaBrake said the $650,000 price tag on the home is below a recent appraisal, though he declined to reveal the value. If the home can fetch the listing price, McCarter would be left with enough money after real estate commissions to start over with a new house. "It won't be in South Tampa," LaBrake said. "It's too expensive down here." LaBrake also said McCarter is considering filing for bankruptcy, whether the Corona Street house sells or not. "It was always called a sweetheart deal and a dream home, but that was just the media," LaBrake said. "The dream went south when the media started harassing us about it. Lynne didn't even want to move in." LaBrake insists he and McCarter have done nothing wrong and says they have no plans to leave town. "I feel we will be fully vindicated," he said. "Besides, I love Tampa."
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