North Port reducing liens due to code violations

[mark handler]

North Port reducing liens due to code violations

North Port reducing liens due to code violations - Sarasota News | Mysuncoast.com and ABC 7: 7 South Newsroom

Posted: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 5:23 pm | Updated: 7:36 pm, Tue May 14, 2013.

Contact Josh at jtaylor@mysuncoast.com | 0 comments

Posted on May 14, 2013

by Josh Taylor

NORTH PORT Florida- For years the city of North Port got a reputation of fining its own residents for code violations - escalating to tens of thousands of dollars for some. This week commissioners taking the final steps to settle outstanding cases.

Richard Schaed's family started getting daily fines for having an above-ground pool in the backyard without a nearly $200 permit. "We are on a fixed income. It was an imposition to us for a $95 Walmart swimming pool."

Turned out they were getting fined $100 a day. "They ended up fining me $14,000. I got an attorney for another $1,000."

The Schaed's weren't alone. Search YouTube for North Port Code Enforcement and you'll find more,, from tens of thousands for a car without a license plate, to improper mailbox numbers. "The word is out that North Port is a terrible place to live because of their code enforcement."

"It definitely was not something that really put the city in a good light." In 2010 city leaders voted to cap future fines. It wasn't until a vote Monday night that a new commission, including Mayor Linda Yates, approved a lien reduction program for those who still owe. "It didn't address those that had accumulated prior to that time. It set caps moving forward."

In many cases the fines became liens on the home. It caused some to simply walk away. One example the city provided now shows a fine on a home going from $33,000 down to around $2,000. "What you had, abandoned homes that were not able to be sold because they had these outstanding leans on them."

Yates says the city, which at the time spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on attorney's fees to fight homeowners will move forward with a not-so-heavy hand. "It's just another step I think in the community moving forward. Really making North Port a great place to live."

As for Richard, well he says he settled his fine a while back for around $4,000, paying monthly installments. "Yeah. I could go for a little of it back. It's got to be down there somewhere."

North Port officials say there are less than 100 outstanding large code violation cases they are hoping they can now wrap up.

North Port city code violations are now capped at around $1,000. Building code violations are capped at $5,000.

 

[Architect1281]

City alows residents to electrocute neighborhood children by turning blind eye to inadeguate pool installations due to minimal permit costs being considered burdensome is an equally distasteful headline

 

[ICE]

liens are an ineffectual way to deal with code violations. Especially liens with a cap, which is what my AHJ implements.

So let's say that an addition to a dwelling has been built without approvals or permits. I'll toss in a swimming pool for dramatic effect. We post a notice and send a registered letter stating that if the process has not begun within XX days, a lien will be placed against the property. The lien has no dollar amount attached but there is a fee to file the lien and a fee to release the lien.

The fees amount to $1500.00 Then we enjoy the benefit of being a lien-holder. Which is to say, we do nothing. Of course, the property is encumbered and that will be a stumbling block in the future.

There you have it. For $1500.00 one can do pretty much anything for as long as one wants.

In the end, we get compliance and their money.

I bet that we take in millions with this arrangement.

I wonder if anybody has thought of charging interest on the filing fee.

Hey Hey Hey I could be in for a bonus.

Nine times out of ten, the code enforcement action started as the result of an anonymous complaint.

The person that called in the complaint?.......I'm not so sure what they get out it. Almost always, the behavior that spurred the complaint has nothing to do with the complaint. A few of my real world examples: "Teenage boy leers at his daughter....cats shi↑↑ing in his cactus garden". I want to get the problem solved but I am not allowed to do that. I want to say "So put clothes on your daughter" and "Have you ever tried to train a cat? Trust me, we pay no attention to you".