Daytona Beach has a message for the hundreds of property owners who collectively have stiffed the city on $4.46 million in code violation fine payments: Pay up soon, or the city's coming after your land and buildings with foreclosure actions.
The city has compiled a list of 395 code violation cases going back to 1997 that have yet to be settled with payments of fines. Two land owners just need to scrawl out a check for $50, and about 55 more could clear their names for $1,100 or less. But nearly 300 fine dodgers owe $10,000 or more, including one who's racked up a $76,400 debt.
The days of waiting for properties to sell to collect on code enforcement liens are ending, city officials say.
"People will see that we're serious, and hopefully they'll pay their fines and make repairs," said City Commissioner Aaron Delgado, a strong supporter of the new effort to go after deadbeat code violators. "We won't tolerate people who just let liens back up and do nothing."
Delgado, an attorney, said the city is zeroing in on a handful of properties that could be the first to face legal action. He said the list includes the Grandview Live gentleman's club just off Seabreeze Boulevard; the J Food Store at the corner of Ridgewood Avenue and North Street; a beachside home at 404 Revilo Boulevard that's been taken over by squatters; and five beachside rental homes owned by GEA Seaside Investments.
City commissioners will decide which cases should be pursued for legal action, and they could vote on the first set of foreclosure candidates as early as their meeting Wednesday night. If they decide to pull the trigger on those first few properties, City Attorney Bob Jagger and his staff will start sending cases to Circuit Court for bench trials decided by judges.
"We're looking at all of the cases," said City Manager Jim Chisholm. "If they're on the list, it's quite likely we'll go after them if they don't pay."
The code fine crackdown is part of a larger effort the city has kicked off in recent weeks to ratchet up the aggressiveness of code enforcement in Daytona Beach. Chisholm said he's responding to citizens deeply concerned about rundown properties, a problem highlighted in The News-Journal's recent five-day "Tarnished Jewel" series that took a close look at how property tax dollars have been spent on the beachside between Oakridge and International Speedway boulevards.
Code officers are now systematically going after residential rental property owners who don't have licenses required to lease to tenants. Last week alone, 51 cases went before a special magistrate and the Code Enforcement Board.
City commissioners are looking at adopting new rules to deal with dangerous and dilapidated structures that would allow city officials to go after them for condemnation and demolition more swiftly and forcefully.
And today, police are kicking off a new Problem Oriented Policing program that will target blighted, crime-ridden areas in the city. The idea is to go beyond crime fighting and get to the root of problems with a house or neighborhood, said Police Chief Craig Capri.
Police will partner with city officials in code enforcement, building inspections, the city attorney's office and the fire department, Capri said.
"You can't arrest your way out of it," Capri said. "You can't keep going to these houses over and over. Let's get to the bottom of the problem."
This isn't the first time the city has made a concerted effort to pare code violations and collect unpaid fines. In 2010, when the ailing economy and housing market were making it difficult for some owners to maintain their properties, the city tried an amnesty program for code fines and liens.
In exchange for correcting the problem that created the fine, the city offered a chance to reduce the amount of money owed. Those accepted into the program were able to get fines reduced to anywhere between $250 and $7,500, depending on the type and value of the property.
Delgado, who took office in November, recently said he wanted to try some sort of amnesty program again. But longtime City Commissioner Rob Gilliland warned that many property owners just manipulated the program to their advantage.
"Last time it turned into a stall tactic," Gilliland recalled. "Everyone completely took advantage of it. I remember it not working out."
Delgado said an option might be allowing property owners to negotiate lien reductions on a case-by-case basis, but only if they negotiate in good faith.
"I'm not looking for people to take six more months and waste our time," he said.
Gilliland said he's glad to see the new approaches teed up.
"I've pushed for years for us to get better about foreclosures," Gilliland said. "You want to get a property back in compliance, and some owners just won't. Others just do a quick fix to comply, and you still have a property that's an eyesore."
The city could hire 10 more code officers, but that would just build up more delinquent cases, Gilliland maintains.
"Foreclosure is the only thing that works with the types who play games with code enforcement," he said.
The long-term solution is economic development that draws in people with higher incomes who take better care of properties, but for now the city has to do what it can, Gilliland said.
Longtime beachside resident Mike Denis, who's been outspoken about blight, is among those happy to see the city getting tough on code violators.
"The teeth that have been put into code enforcement are sharp and do take a hunk out," said Denis, president of the South Atlantic Neighborhood Association. "I thought, like many others, we needed more code enforcement, but hiring more people to measure the height of people's lawns is not the solution. Sharpening the teeth that code enforcement can show is part of the solution."
Singling out properties for foreclosure will send a chill down the spines of property owners who've been ignoring fines for years, he said.
Chisholm said the city's attorneys will handle the new effort to collect code fines, some of which haven't hit the $15,000 and $20,000 caps yet and are still growing. Several years ago, the city hired outside attorneys to go after delinquent fines, but the effort wasn't as effective as hoped.
The city has done "a pretty good job" of getting properties cited for violations, and now it's time to step up efforts to enforce the fines, he said. It could take years to work through the 395 cases, but the city will patiently make its way down the list, Chisholm said.
Those who the city decides to go after now for payment will get a notice, he said. The city will carefully look at a building's financial past to determine whether it makes sense to foreclose, avoiding houses that are homesteaded and those that have mortgages that exceed the value, property tax liens and especially expensive repairs.
Any properties the city successfully forecloses on can be put up for auction, and after debts are satisfied the city can pour the proceeds back into code enforcement and grants to fix up properties. If a property doesn't draw any bids at auction, the city can take possession or sell the property itself.
One of those who could be getting a foreclosure notice is Kyriakos Drymonis, who along with his brother and uncles owns the Grandview Live property that's leased out to business operators. Grandview Live owes $25,010 for a code violation on an outside sign that's since been remedied, Drymonis said.
He's been trying to get the operators of the gentleman's club to pay the $25,010, which he says is their responsibility, but they're embroiled in a lawsuit over ownership of the business. Drymonis said there's also an eviction action aimed at getting the business owners off his property working through the legal system.
"It's all tied up in court," said Drymonis, who's also a managing partner of the Oyster Pub and Razzles on Seabreeze Bouelvard.
He said he hopes the city will understand his "plight," but if necessary he could cover the fine and continue to try to get the money from the business operators. He said he takes care of his properties and he's all for the city getting tougher on code enforcement.
Also on the short list of fine debtors the city is going after first is Jack Aberman, who owns residential rental company GEA Seaside Investments. Aberman owns dozens of rental homes in Daytona Beach, and dozens more in South Daytona, Port Orange and Daytona Beach Shores.
Aberman has repeatedly been cited for code violations in Daytona Beach over the past decade, and last week he was called before a special magistrate because 29 of his properties don't have the required residential rental licenses. The hearing was delayed a month after Aberman said he wasn't property notified about it or the violations.
Aberman didn't return a call last week seeking comment on the fine crackdown, but his attorney, Joel Osborne of Orlando, did.
"We've already been in talks with the city, and we're trying to get in compliance on all his properties," Osborne said. "It takes time to get the (work) permits, and we're having trouble getting them. But at the end of the day, we'll get in compliance."
Aberman has the second-highest debt tally of all Daytona Beach code fine violators, and he's going to request a reduction on his liens, Osborne said. Aberman owes $66,675, second only to J.H. and Mary J. Dickerson, who owe $76,400. Also high on the list are TRSTE LLC, which owes $62,380, and Halifax Realty Inc, which owes $50,200. Six more people and companies owe between $40,000 and $45,000, city records show.
Another business the city is looking to push for its fine payment is the J Food Store on Ridgewood Avenue, where there's often a small crowd of homeless people and vagrants hanging out in the parking lot. J Food Store owes $20,010 for a code violation, records show.
"Citizens think we don't take code enforcement seriously, and we're going to change that," Delgado said. "This is about protecting quality of life, and protecting those who do comply."
