St Johns Trust, R. Price Pickard Trustee Al Johnson, Posed as real estate investment partners intereted in buying our home and selling to a 3rd party client of their choosing. Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

We were first approached through the US mail.  When we inquired via phone for more information an appointment was set to meet in person.  These 2 men: Al Johnson and R. Price Pickard showed up and said that there were 5 investor partners and that our house fit into there business model.  They made an offer on the property and we accepted. 

All kinds of promises were made and of course none of the promises were kept.  They placed a couple in there 70's, who just happened to be evicted from their previous residence, in our home with the understanding they would be buying the home. In fact, when we went to notify FL we were no longer FL residents and to remove the Homestead and that the property tax would be increasing, R. Price Pickard asked me to not do that.  I asked him, was he asking me to defraud the state of FL? 

The previous residence the couple lived in was totally gutted and sold as a loss.  Our home was trashed by 30+ cats by what I would term cat hoarders.  They were issued 61 citations from animal protection.  One of the animal protection people was bit, thank God no rabies.  All the animals were destroyed. 

When the eviction finally happened the couple moved onto another residence .2 of a mile from our home.  St. Johns, Al Johnson, gave the reference.  We didn't know until the eviction happened where the couple went.  I did contact the owners of the new home as to who took up residence in their home.   

Be very careful about who is allowed to live in your home and do not trust that just because a property management business says they check references they indeed do.  Make sure you use a licensed realtor that has credentials for that state. 

 I wonder if St. Johns is a legitimate business licensed to do business in the state of FL?   If there are more people out there that have had contact with this business/individuals, please contact me.  Together maybe we can keep this from happening to anyone else.  My hat is off to the Ponte Vedra lady, her explanation of how these guys work was far better than mine, unfortuntely the result was the same.

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH ST JOHNS OR WITH AN AL JOHNSON OR R. PRICE PICKARD.

This happened in Duval County, Jacksonville, FL.