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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says the allegations involving Ukraine and his son Hunter Biden are actually a desperate attempt by President Trump’s campaign to smear Biden and his family. (Oct. 21)

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The claim: Biden owns four homes worth $3M million-$7.5M million

With the election just days away, Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s adversaries continue to push false narratives about his finances to try to raise doubt around “Middle Class Joe’s” trustworthiness. 

“Bidens 4 3.7.5 million-dollar homes on a 200k a year salary,” a reads meme posted to Facebook Oct. 20.

The meme shows four of Biden’s current, temporary and previous homes, most of which cost less than $3 million. But Biden has not made a senator’s salary for more than a decade, and hasn’t been vice president since 2017.

More: Fact check: Joe Biden’s childhood apartment later became Section 8 housing

Town & Country Magazine displayed the same four aerial photos in a Sept. 29 article about Biden’s real estate ventures. The meme shows his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; former DuPont mansion in Wilmington, Delaware; rental home in McLean, Virginia; and main residence near Wilmington.

USA TODAY has previously debunked several claims that Biden’s purported unexplainable and suspicious fortunes.

Neither the Facebook user that posted the meme nor Biden’s campaign has responded to USA TODAY’s request for comment.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Rehoboth Beach vacation home

In June 2017, Biden and his wife bought the six-bedroom, 5.5-bath, 4,786-square-foot home in the North Shores neighborhood of Rehoboth Beach. The couple paid $2.7 million for the home.

“Throughout our careers, Jill and I have dreamed of being able to buy a place at the beach at home where we can bring the whole family. We feel very lucky that we’re now able to make that happen and are looking forward to spending time with our family in the place that matters most to us in the world,” Biden wrote in a statement that year.

The couple purchased the vacation home after the former vice president left office, the same year their income jumped nearly $10 million from speaking fees and book deals.

Zillow estimates the home is now worth more than $1.9 million.

Shown here in July 2012, Vice President Joe Biden walked the streets of Rehoboth Beach on Thursday shaking hands and greeting people on Rehoboth Avenue as his wife Jill signed copies of her new book at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach. (Photo: Chuck Snyder/Special to the Daily Times)

DuPont mansion

Biden bought the five-bedroom, 2.5-bath former DuPont mansion at 6 Montchan Drive, Wilmington, Delaware, in 1974. He nicknamed the home “The Station” and used it as campaign headquarters during his 1988 election run.

He bought the 10,012-square-foot home in disrepair for $185,000. He spent two decades renovating and living in it before selling it for $1.2 million in February 1996. Redfin estimates the home is now worth $1,654, 478.

More: Fact check: Biden leveraged $1B in aid to Ukraine to oust corrupt prosecutor, not to help his son

Greenville main residence

After selling The Station, Biden, then married to Jill Biden, bought 4 acres of land in suburban Wilmington for $350,000. He built a home on the secluded lakefront property in Greenville, an affluent neighborhood.

Zillow estimates the Biden’s nearly 7,000-square-foot home may be worth nearly $2.9 million.

A black SUV sits outside Joe Biden’s Greenville, Delaware residence on Tuesday as speculation about his pick for a vice presidential candidate ramped up. (Photo: Patricia Talorico/The Delaware News Journal)

McLean rental

After leaving office, Biden began renting a large Georgian-style home in McLean, Virginia, not far from D.C. The Washington Post reports former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who served under President Ronald Reagan, once owned the home in the upscale neighborhood.

Zillow estimates renting the five-bedroom, nine-bathroom, 11,943-square-foot home costs $19,795 per month. According to Zillow, the home is worth nearly $5 million. The Bidens never owned it.

More: Fact check: In 1973, Biden said ‘the two-party system’ was ‘good for the negro’

As of February, the Biden’s were no longer renting the McLean home.

Our ruling: False

We rate the claim that Joe Biden owns four homes worth $3-7.5 million FALSE because it is not supported by our research. Biden owns two homes, a main residence in Wilmington, Delaware, worth $2.9 million and a vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, estimated to be worth $1.9 million. The other two homes pictured in the viral meme were previously sold or rented by Biden. Neither Biden home is worth the amount claimed.

Our fact-check sources:

  • Tom Padukiewicz’s Oct. 20 Facebook Post
  • Town&Country, Sept. 29,”All of Joe Biden’s Homes, In Photos”
  • USA TODAY, Oct. 19, “Fact check: Joe Biden no longer owns house highlighted by Eric Trump in online posts”
  • USA TODAY, Oct. 21, “Fact check: Tax returns show Biden amassed wealth since 2017 through speeches and books”
  • Cape Gazette, “Two presidential candidates have homes in Rehoboth”
  • Long & Foster Real Estate, 32 Far View Road Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
  • Cape Gazette, June 8, 2017, “Biden purchases home in Rehoboth”
  • Zillow, 32 Far View Rd, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
  • The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 28, “In His Own Words, Joe Biden Was ‘Seduced by Real Estate’”
  • Redfin, 6 Montchan Dr Wilmington, DE 19807
  • AFP Fact Check, Oct. 19, “Eric Trump pushes misleading corruption claim over former Biden home”
  • The Washington Post, June 25, 2019, “Once the poorest senator, ‘Middle Class Joe’ Biden has reaped millions in income since leaving the vice presidency”
  • Zillow, Aug. 25, 2008, “Joe Biden’s House Endures the Media Swarm”
  • The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 6, “Primary Homes: Where Five Democratic Front-Runners Head After the Campaign Trail”

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Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click here, for more.

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