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Property owner asks for lien reduction under amnesty; resident raises concerns about improperly perfected code liens
Summary
An attorney for JMP Ventures asked the City of Opa-locka to accept $20,000 as full settlement of outstanding code-enforcement liens on a property now in compliance; a resident separately warned the city may have unenforceable liens where judgments were not properly mailed or posted.
An attorney representing JMP Ventures asked the City of Opa-locka commission to approve a discretionary reduction of code enforcement liens under the city's lien amnesty program, saying the property at 3120 NW 130th Street is now in compliance but the current reduced balance remains unaffordable.
Attorney Adrian Acosta told the commission the property's reduced balance was "$126,798.60" (as stated in the record) and said his client had secured $20,000 through a private loan as the maximum available immediate payment, and asked the commission to accept that amount as full settlement. Acosta said he had provided a supplemental declaration of hardship and verified payment confirmations for delinquent taxes.
Acosta also referenced state and local legal authority for the commission's ability to modify enforcement liens, citing Florida Statutes and the city's ordinances. “Section 1 6 2.09 of the Florida statute expressly authorizes the modification or discharge of being able to court enforcement, liens by petition,” he said, and referenced the city's code sections he said vest the commission with settlement authority.
Following Acosta, resident Mark Cooper raised separate but related concerns about the city's code enforcement processes. Cooper said he found a magistrate order from Sept. 27, 2022 where the property owner had not received notice of a hearing and the city had no public-records proof it mailed or posted the judgment; he warned that the city could be treating liens as valid when they were not properly perfected. “So now you have a property owner that has a running lien at $200 a day for about 2 years, and the city thinks it's sitting on valid liens and it's not,” Cooper said.
Mayor Taylor advised both speakers to work with the city manager and staff so administration can evaluate the requests and, if appropriate, bring a formal settlement recommendation back to the commission. “She'll bring it to the commission for us to vote it up or vote it down,” the mayor said.
No formal action was taken at the meeting. The commission received documentation from the JMP Ventures attorney and heard complaints about enforcement procedures; the administration will review the materials and is expected to return with a recommendation or proposed settlement for commission consideration.
