Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Liens And Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Special magistrate cuts two long-running Ardmore Road liens to 5%, gives owner one year to pay
Summary
The City of West Palm Beach special magistrate reduced two code-enforcement liens tied to 734 Ardmore Road to five percent of their assessed amounts and gave the property owner one year to pay, restoring the original amounts if unpaid after that period.
Special Magistrate Kevin Wagner reduced two long-running code-enforcement liens on a historic house at 734 Ardmore Road to 5% of the assessed amounts and set a one-year payment deadline. The reductions apply to case CE22050115 (demolition without required permits) and case CE19020068 (exterior and habitability violations). Wagner said the reduced amounts will revert to the original totals if not paid within one year.
The rulings follow testimony from a city code officer and statements from Khaled Hamed, who said he purchased the house and encountered extensive preexisting damage and permitting complications. Wagner said he could not relitigate the original findings but may consider statutory factors for lien reductions, such as hardship and the duration of noncompliance, when deciding relief.
City code enforcement had previously calculated the two liens at approximately $401,000 and $221,600, reflecting long-running daily fines; the city asked the magistrate to reduce each lien to 10% as its offer. Wagner granted deeper reductions to 5% for both cases, payable within one year; he repeated that the original lien amounts would be reinstated if the reduced payments were not made on schedule.
The decision does not remove other administrative or resolution liens the city said might exist (for utility or abatement charges). Wagner recorded that the owner represented he had invested in some repairs and historic-approval processes and that the city stood by its prior offer of 10% but would accept the magistrate’s ruling. The magistrate instructed the owner to stay in contact with code enforcement and comply with permitting and inspection requirements.
The matter concluded with the magistrate’s formal orders reducing CE22050115 and CE19020068 to 5% each, payable within one year or subject to reinstatement of the full original amounts.
Information reported here is drawn from testimony and rulings at the special magistrate hearing and the city’s case files; amounts and timelines reflect the magistrate’s oral orders at the hearing.
