'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Since 2011, police have seized control of dozens of favelas from drug gangs, and things have changed so dramatically that some of the slums are now seen as hot real estate investments — so hot, in fact, that two Europeans recently locked horns in a legal battle over a battered favela house.
Or maybe he'll sell; he says he has been offered $300,000 — 30 times what he paid — but won't settle for less than $750,000.
"It was unbelievable," Mr. Wielend said. "This house was my baby. I worked so hard to renovate it, and then I'm kicked out on false pretenses. It was surreal."
