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After five-year lapse, Ocala board limits lien to city's hard costs for property owner
Summary
The board reduced a previously accrued lien tied to a 2020 code-enforcement prosecution, approving only the city's hard costs ($184.45) after the respondent said he had not been notified earlier; staff had reported accrued fines totaled $9,750 before the board's reduction.
Staff told the board the case had been prosecuted previously and fines had accrued to a total of $9,750 for noncompliance; hard prosecution costs were $184.45. Staff initially proposed assessing a reduced lien of $500 plus hard costs considering mitigating circumstances, but the board voted to assess only the city's hard costs.
The respondent said he was surprised by the lien and that he thought the work had been inspected and completed years earlier. "I never heard anything at 1st till 5 years later," the respondent said, adding that it was difficult to recall details from five years prior. Staff walked through the permitting chronology, reporting the permit was issued Feb. 25, 2020, and the permit was closed Oct. 1, 2020. After exchange, Board member Darrell O'Kane moved to file a lien limited to the city's hard costs of $184.45; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.
Staff instructed the respondent that he may pay $184.45 at the city office or await certified notice; unpaid amounts will remain as a lien filed against the property for the statutory period. The board's action removed the previously assessed fine portion and limited the filed lien to documented hard costs.
