Neighbors Disgusted Waiting Four Years for Action

The old adage, “what came first the chicken or the egg,” may well apply to the issue of the city’s Code Enforcement efforts. A more relevant question might be whether the focus should be on “enforcement” or “compliance” to the City Codes and what mechanism should be followed to ensure compliance and fines are paid? That is a question councilors are asking staff to respond to. 

The men and women who work within that division of the Marco Island Police Department might even be scratching their heads on occasion as they continue to get mixed messages. Depending on who you speak to within the city you quickly find that the subject of “Code Enforcement” or “Code Compliance” can be very subjective. 

The broader question of how we handle the task of having residents and businesses “comply” to our Codes is one which is still being struggled with and was on display at a recent council meeting. During citizen’s comments, a gentleman came forward to complain of a home that has been in disrepair for over four years now. During that segment of the meeting, it was revealed that same residence on Apataki Court had accumulated over $1,000,000 in violation fines and that amount continues to mount daily.

Code Enforcement Officers from the city and the county had been doing their job, as the garage door and front door of the residence had multiple citations from the last two to three years taped to them. Those abutting neighbors were quick to come out to register their disgust with the situation as we viewed the residence in question.

A search of the county’s tax records regarding the home located at 1870 Apataki Court would reveal that the former owners of the home were foreclosed upon on May 10, 2018. That asset (the home) was now owned by Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2004-10, but is being managed by OCWEN Loan Services, LLC. When Coastal Breeze News reached out to OCWEN Loan Servicing LLC our calls were not returned.

Months ago then Councilor Erik Brechnitz, now Council Chairman, questioned why nothing was being done at the time to recover some of these unpaid fines. At the last meeting of the council this one particular issue was once again questioned as a result of the citizen’s complaint about the unkept nature of the property.

Research shows the city does have the right to lien the property and seek a summary judgment and force a foreclosure on that property. “It is time we start sending a message to many of those that feel our codes lack any teeth. Our residents deserve better than this,” said Brechnitz in an interview.

Recently the City Magistrate was given a reissuance of her contract by the council, while discussions have been ongoing in regard to possibly adding a second Magistrate position. The process to collect and secure compliance is still a question yet to be addressed before council.