It sounds like Benie and others bought from the same seller and they didn't run into the same issue. So probably it is just mine. The previous owner didn't reset it in the right way. It's a safety feature that the government almost forced manufacturers to come up with in order to discourage thefts. A couple of years ago my sister in law had placed her $1,000 phone on a table at a fast food restaurant. A kid grabbed it and ran away. $1,000 laying around on table is just too tempting, I guess. It is just amazing how many young people lose, drop, and break their phones. Looks like there is a whole industry out there to break this FRP - factory reset protection.

I told the seller to check his tablets before shipping even for his own sake to save on shipping both ways when a buyer has to return it.