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Speculator profited from his tiny tracts
Don Connolly's practice of pressuring neighbors prompted reforms in delinquent tax sales.
By BILL VARIAN
Published January 25, 2005
TAMPA - Don Connolly, the Valrico real estate investor who proved wrong the adage that good fences make good neighbors, has died. He was 46.
Connolly gained notoriety two years ago by buying slivers of land at delinquent tax sales and then offering to sell them to his new neighbors at vastly inflated prices.
He sometimes pressured them into buying by making his presence known in unwelcome ways, such as using the property to erect a fence that blocked his neighbors' views.
Norman Cannella, his criminal defense attorney, said late Monday that Connolly had died in his sleep within the previous 24 to 36 hours. Cannella said he was notified about the death by a close mutual friend Monday morning.
Cannella didn't know the cause of death and said an autopsy is being performed.
"I thought he was a wonderful fellow, if you want to know the truth," said Cannella, recalling a person who contributed to community causes. "There was more good to Don Connolly than there was bad."
Many of Connolly's former neighbors may not agree.
Connolly attracted attention with his speculative land purchases. He bought small parcels on the cheap at delinquent tax sales. The parcels were often in common areas or along narrow ribbons of land that some of his soon-to-be-neighbors thought they owned.
Connolly would make his presence known, sometimes in a way the neighbors found unpleasant. Then he offered to sell the land at marked-up prices.
His investment tactic came to light in May 2002 when he purchased a thin band of land around a 4-acre lake in the Tarpon Woods subdivision in the East Lake area of Pinellas County. Many of the residents whose back yards backed up to the lake thought they owned the lake and land around it.
Actually, the land had been owned by the subdivision's original developer, who had let the tax bill lapse. Connolly gobbled up the property for $1,000 at a delinquent tax sale, then erected a 6-foot-tall pink fence with sparkles on it that blocked his neighbors' lake view.
He offered to sell the land to the homeowners. His price: About $30,000 per home.
News accounts soon revealed that the move was part of a larger investment strategy by Connolly, which prompted legislation aimed at curbing the practice and also sparked procedural reforms among county tax collectors and property appraisers.
It brought Connolly other unwanted attention.
Connolly was later charged with perjury and violating his probation stemming from a 1997 tax fraud case. Prosecutors said Connolly had lied on his application to become a notary - a felony - and that he had missed a meeting with his probation officer and fell behind in restitution ordered in the 1997 case.
He was convicted on the felony charge, given one year of house arrest and ordered to perform 150 hours of community service.
Cannella, his attorney, said he had recently communicated with Connolly by e-mail. The lawyer said his client was on the verge of paying off his restitution in the initial case and was asking him to set up a court hearing so that he could ask that his probation be ended.
--Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
[Last modified January 30, 2005, 09:42:25]
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