A.G. Gancarski
In Jacksonville’s House District 14 Democratic Primary, one candidate (Leslie Jean-Bart) is a trial lawyer. And the other, Kim Daniels, careens from legal woe to legal woe.
Daniels, who has already qualified for the HD 14 ballot, is fortunate to have that much behind her … especially given that her divorce from fellow minister Ardell Daniels, which was a narrative in her campaign for City Council re-election, is still an issue in her current 2016 race.
FloridaPolitics.com has learned that Ardell and Kim Daniels have a divorce mediation on April 27, with court-ordered updated financials on husband, wife and Daniels’ Spoken Word Ministries due on Wednesday in Broward County.
This comes as Ardell Daniels fights eviction from their $1 million home, which is tax exempt due to the ministry. And that Broward County manse is in full-blown foreclosure with a hearing scheduled in two weeks.
Regarding the home, which led to serious questions about Daniels’ Jacksonville residency that weren’t fully answered during her previous run for office in Jacksonville, Kimberly Daniels has already managed to remove two of the three residents, Tiffoni Daniels and Cardell Brantley from the property via a “writ of ejectment.”
Now, Ardell’s attorney claims, Kimberly is seeking a “writ of possession against ‘all’ defendants living at the subject property.”
Ardell is fighting the action, claiming that it is illegal and that he “should not be removed.”
The foreclosure notice, meanwhile, was served on March 24, and a May 10 conference has been set up in Fort Lauderdale.
The Davie home, referred to previously as a “parsonage,” has an interesting history.
Bought in 2010 by Kim Daniels with a G.I. Bill loan, it was quitclaimed to Spoken Word Ministries in October 2010. In April 2011 it was quitclaimed back to Kim and Ardell Daniels, at the same time she was running for office in Jacksonville. In November 2011 it was quitclaimed back to Spoken Word Ministries. All the while, the home carried the same G.I. Bill mortgage. Typically, a mortgaged property can’t be quitclaimed.
The divorce filing from Ardell Daniels contended that the quitclaim on the shared property was an “attempt to keep the interest of the property from the Husband” and “avoid paying taxes to the IRS.”
We are reaching out to Kimberly Daniels’ camp for comment on this story. Previously, she has held that these matters are “personal” and not germane to the campaign, but if we get comment, we will update.
