2009-27081 ResoRESOLUTION NO. 2009-27081
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF
THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, SETTLING VARIOUS
LIENS ON PROPERTIES IN THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
PURSUANT TO A DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION OF
THE FINANCE AND CITYWIDE PROJECTS COMMITTEE ON
MAY 5, 2009.
,WHEREAS, the City Commission has directed that the Administration make a
concerted effort to review and resolve outstanding liens on properties in the City of
Miami Beach; and
WHEREAS, a specific series of recommendations for settlement of liens
consistent with the direction of the City Commission was discussed by the Finance and
Citywide Projects Committee on May 5, 2009 and a recommendation in support of the
proposed lien resolutions was approved by the Finance and Citywide Projects
Committee and forwarded to the City Commission for action; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT DULY RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND THE
CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the liens
identified in Attachment "A" (which is attached hereto), as reviewed and recommended
to be released by the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee at their meeting on May
5, 2009, are hereby approved to be released and that the City Manager be authorized to
execute any and all documents necessary to release the liens listed.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 3rd day of June
2009.
Ma r
A ~A Matti Herrera Bower '
W~
CI CLERK ~•~E~'~~'!'~~®~'~
Robert Parcher
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COMMISSION ITEM SUMMARY
Condensed Title:
A Resolution settling various liens on properties in the City of Miami Beach pursuant to a discussion and
recommendation of the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee on May 5, 2009.
Ke Intended Outcome Su orted:
Ensure compliance with code within reasonable time frame.
Supporting Data (Surveys, Environmental Scan, etc.): N/A
Issue:
Shall the Mayor and City Commission approve the Resolution?
Item Summa /Recommendation:
At the May 5, 2009 Finance and Citywide Projects Committee meeting, the members of the Committee
had a detailed discussion on outstanding liens on properties in the City of Miami Beach and an initiative
being undertaken by the Administration to improve procedural practices for the resolution of liens, as well
as to resolve most of the liens.
At the May 5, 2009 Finance and Citywide Projects Committee meeting, the Administration described how
outstanding liens in the City were being analyzed so as to provide for both full compliance, as well as
resolution of the subject liens. Those liens which in the aggregate for any given property exceeded
$400,000 have been identified and analyzed in detail by the Administration. This group of liens was the first
undertaken and are the largest and among the oldest liens on properties in the City. In each case, the liens
have been evaluated to determine if the lien has an appropriate factual and legal basis and to determine if
the property in question is in compliance. In the analysis, the Administration was able to identify a number
of common categories for which recommendations for settlement/resolution were made to the Finance and
Citywide Projects Committee.
The two categories of liens for which Commission approval is required are those liens that were associated
with tenant violations and for which the tenant is no longer in business. For these liens, a dismissal of the
lien in its entirety is recommended because of the extraordinary circumstances associated with the
properties and the City's inability to collect from the tenant cited. A property that has liens associated with
failure to obtain a 40 year recertification is also recommended for dismissal as the building no longer
exists.
There are eight (8) liens that fall into the out of business and/or recommended dismissal category and are
identified in the attached Exhibit by address, a brief description of the nature of the violation and also a
brief description of the rationale for recommending dismissal of the lien.
It is recommended that the City Commission approve dismissal of the liens as indicated on the attached
Exhibit per the recommendation of the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee and the analysis and due
diligence for each of the respective properties undertaken by the City Administration.
Financial Information:
Source of
Funds: Amount Account
OBPI Total
Financial Impact Summary:
Cit Clerk's Office Le islative Trackin
Robert C. Middaugh, Assistant City Manager
Sign-Offs:
Department Director Assi City Manager City anager
R JMG
T:\AGENDA\2009\June 3\Consent\IiencommSu -3-09.doc
m MIAMIBEACH
uC/
AfiEIyDA ITEM C~
DATE ^d
m MIAMIBEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City mmission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
DATE: June 3, 2009
SU6IECT: A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, SETTLING VARIOUS LIENS ON PROPERTIES IN
THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH PURSUANT TO A DISCUSSION AND
RECOMMENDATION OF THE FINANCE AND CITYWIDE PROJECTS
COMMITTEE ON MAY 5, 2009.
ADMINISTATION RECOMMENDATION
Adopt the Resolution.
ANALYSIS
At the May 5, 2009 Finance and Citywide Projects Committee meeting, the members of the
Committee had a detailed discussion on outstanding liens on properties in the City of Miami
Beach and an initiative being undertaken by the Administration to improve procedural
practices for the resolution of liens, as well as to resolve most of the liens.
Two (2) specific recommendations were made by the Finance and Citywide Projects
Committee for the consideration of the full City Commission. The Committee recommended
that the City Code be amended to provide that the time of jurisdiction for any City Code
violation case be extended for the Special Master from its current one (1) year from the time
of imposition of a fine to three (3) years from the date of compliance for a violation. Further,
that the Special Master be empowered to establish a maximum fine or a cap on the fines to
be incurred by any one property for a specific violation. The Ordinance amending the
jurisdiction time for the Special Master, as well as the Special Master's ability to impose a
maximum fine is contained in a separate item on this agenda. The second recommendation
of the Committee was to support the settlement of a number of liens described further below.
Recommended Lien Settlements
At the May 5, 2009 Finance and Citywide Projects Committee meeting, the Administration
described how outstanding liens in the City were being analyzed so as to provide for both full
compliance, as well as resolution of the subject liens. Those liens which in the aggregate for
any given property exceeded $400,000 have been identified and analyzed in detail by the
Administration. This group of liens was the first undertaken and are the largest and among
the oldest liens on properties in the City. In each case, the liens have been evaluated to
determine if the lien has an appropriate factual and legal basis and to determine if the
property in question is in compliance. In the analysis, the Administration was able to identify
a number of common categories forwhich recommendations for settlement/resolution were
made to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee.
One category of lien was identified as requiring further action on a part of the Administration
to insure compliance. For these liens compliance had not yet been achieved and the
Administration is in the process of undertaking an effort to contact each individual property
owner to advise them of their lien status and that they must contact the City within a period
of thirty (30) days in order to discuss resolution. Those property owners failing to contact the
City will be reviewed in detail to ascertain the nature of the violation, any efforts undertaken
by the property to achieve compliance and any other circumstances which can be identified
before pursuing the City's legal remedies, which may include foreclosure. As with the other
settlement categories, properties that contact the City and come into compliance will be
evaluated to determine if settlements can be recommended. At that point in time, the
properties in this category will be brought to the attention of the Finance and Citywide
Projects Committee for a subsequent recommendation.
Another category of liens for which no immediate action is required by the City Commission
was condominium properties which had achieved compliance and had violations thatwere of
a minor and non-life safety nature. For these properties, the Committee recommended that
the City recover those costs associated with writing the violation and moving it through the
City's system, currently estimated at approximately $2,000 per property, as an offer of
settlement. In ali cases this will result in a very substantial reduction of the respective lien as
an offer of settlement for the property. Once a settlement has been acknowledged and
agreed upon with the property owner, it will be bought to the City Commission attention for
approval.
A category of liens that also requires no immediate action by the City are those liens which
currently are in foreclosure. A number of the properties with outstanding liens in the City are
currently in some level of foreclosure activity and as such the City is barred from collecting
the lien as most of the liens are subordinate to mortgages. !n al! of these cases the City lien
is in a secondary position to the lending institution associated with the respective property.
Only one of these properties has been identified as a neighborhood nuisance property and it
is being addressed directly by the City's respective enforcement agency to bring it to an
improved and safe status.
The two categories of liens for which Commission approval is required are those liens that
were associated with tenant violations and forwhich the tenant is no longer in business. For
these liens, a dismissal of the lien in its entirety is recommended because of the
extraordinary circumstances associated with the properties and the City's inability to collect
from the tenant cited. A property that has liens associated with failure to obtain a 40 year
recertification is also recommended for dismissal as the building no longer exists.
There are eight (8) liens that fall into the out of business and/or recommended dismissal
category and are identified in the attached Exhibit by address, a brief description of the
nature of the violation and also a brief description of the rationale for recommending
dismissal of the lien.
The Administration has embarked on the next group of liens that are valued between
$200,000 and $400,000 and is currently building background files on each respective
property to identify and categorize for the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee
2
consideration a future series of recommendations. In this manner, the Administration
expects to systematically work through the outstanding inventory of liens such that they are
significantly reduced in the months ahead.
As indicated earlier, the Administration is also implementing procedural changes at different
points in the lien process to assure that property owners are correctly identified, receive
contact from the City regarding the violation associated with their property and that
appropriate and timely follow-up occurs on behalf of the respective enforcement agencies of
the City. This will help assure full knowledge of the violation and that all necessaryfollow-up
inspections have been made relative to the violation on the property. These administrative
procedures should significantly reduce the number of liens that reach a significant size and
eventually an unreasonable burden on any individual property within the community. Taken
together with the recommended Ordinance changes under a separate agenda item, the
overall lien process in the City of Miami Beach should be made significantly more user
friendly and compliance oriented, resulting in less misunderstanding and impacts on the
property owners in the City of Miami Beach.
CONCLUSION
It is recommended that the City Commission approve dismissal of the liens as indicated on
the attached Exhibit per the recommendation of the Finance and Citywide Projects
Committee and the analysis and due diligence for each of the respective properties
undertaken by the City Administration.
JMG\RCM\sam
T:WGENDA\2009\June 3\Consent\liencommemo6-3-09.doc
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