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Agenda 01/10/2012 Item #10A1/10/2012 Item 10.A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Recommendation to reject an offer to waive all fines and all County operational costs on a Code Enforcement Action entitled Board of County Commissioners vs. Sergio G. and Patricia Salinas, Code Enforcement Special Magistrate Case No. CESD -2010- 0004913 and Case No. CESD -2010- 0004916, relating to property located at 2756 47th Street SW, Collier County, Florida. OBJECTIVE: That the Board of County Commissioners (Board) reject an offer to waive all fines and all County operational costs on a Code Enforcement action entitled Board of County Commissioners vs. Sergio G. and Patricia Salinas, Code Enforcement Special Magistrate Case No. CESD- 2010 - 0004913 and Case No. CESD- 2010 - 0004916. CONSIDERATIONS: The Code Enforcement Department received a request to waive all fines and all County operational costs from the Law Offices of Henry Johnson & Associates, P.A., representing S &W Partners, LLC; the current owner of the property located at 2756 47th Street SW. CESD- 2010 - 004913: On May 3, 2011, the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate found Sergio G. and Patricia Salinas (Respondents) in violation of the Collier County Code of Laws and Ordinances for "a pool that never received a certificate of completion and three unpermitted structures that included two sheds and one BBQ pit" on the property located at 2756 47th Street SW, Naples, Florida. Respondent was ordered to correct the violations by applying for and obtaining a valid Collier County Building permit and bringing property into compliance on or before June 3, 2011, "or a fine of $100 per day" would be imposed until compliance is confirmed. This order was recorded in the official public records on May 3, 2011, in O.R. Book 4681, Page 2190. Due to non - compliance and based on the above order, the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate entered an order dated July 1, 2011, imposing a lien ( "Lien Order "). The Lien Order was recorded in the official public records on July 15, 2011, at O.R. Book 4702, Page 119. On June 28 2011, Deutsche Bank, N.A. received final judgment on the property through foreclosure and subsequently sold the property to S &W Partners, LLC. The certificate of title was recorded on August 9, 2011.The property was brought into compliance on October 13, 2011, by S &W Partners, LLC (70 days after taking title). The accrued lien amount is $13,812.73 which includes operational costs in the amount of $112.73. Under 4.1.D. of Resolution 2010- 101, which provides consideration for a reduction of fines for new ownership, the reduced fine amount is $7,112.73, which represents the non- compliance period of 70 days beginning from the date of S &W's acquisition and ending on the compliance date, calculated at $100 per day, including $112.73 in operational costs. CESD - 2010 - 004916: On March 4, 2011, the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate found Sergio G. and Patricia Salinas (Respondents) in violation of the Florida Building Code, 2007 Edition and Collier County Code of Laws and Ordinances for "expired permit #2001100506 - never passed inspection, never received certificate of occupancy" on the property located at 2756 47 Street SW, Naples, FL. Packet Page -573- 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. Respondent was ordered to correct the violations by applying for and obtaining a valid Collier County Building permit and bringing property into compliance on or before April 4, 2011, "or a fine of $100 per day" would be imposed until compliance is confirmed. This order was recorded in the official public records on April 13, 2011, in O.R. Book 4671, Page 2313. Due to non - compliance and based on the above order, the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate entered an order dated May 3, 2011, imposing a lien ( "Lien Order "). The Lien Order was recorded in the official public records on May 13, 2011, at O.R. Book 4681, Page 2086. On June 28, 2011, Deutsche Bank, N.A. received final judgment on the property through foreclosure and subsequently sold the property to S &W Partners, LLC. The certificate of title was recorded on August 9, 2011.The property was brought into compliance on October 13, 2011, by S &W Partners, LLC (65 days after taking title). The accrued lien amount is $19,312.38 which includes operational costs in the amount of $112.38. Under 4.1.D. of Resolution 2010- 101, which provides consideration for a reduction of fines for new ownership, the reduced fine amount is $6,612.38, which represents the non - compliance period of 65 days beginning from the date of S &W's acquisition and ending on the compliance date, calculated at $100 per day, including $112.73 in operational costs. It should be noted that the Clerk of Courts, in Case NO.: 1 1-2008-CA-007138 Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Plaintiff v. Sergio G. Salinas and Patricia Salinas, Defendants) executed and filed a Certificate of Sale on July 26, 2011 for the property at 2756 47th Street SW as sold to S & W Partners, LLC. On August 1, 2011, after the purchase of this property at the foreclosure auction by S & W Partners, LLC, Ms. Swick with Aries Title, Inc. inquired whether any part of the payoffs (lien amounts) are negotiable for the new owner. No prior contact in regard to the process for reduction of lien amounts or code case information on the property was made by S & W Partners or their representatives.. An Affidavit of Compliance was completed for code case CESD20100004916 following a re- inspection on October 13, 2011; an Affidavit of Compliance was completed for code case CESD20100004913 following a re- inspection on October 18, 2011. The offices of Henry Jonson & Associates on behalf of S& W Partners, LLC; have requested a complete waiver of all fines and all County operational costs. Pursuant to Resolution 2010 -101 and BCC approval, a waiver of fines in the amount of $19,400.11 would occur following payment of $13,725 for the fines that accrued after new ownership. FISCAL IMPACT: Fines and operational costs are owed in the amount of $ 33,125.11. GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: There is no growth management impact associated with this Executive Summary. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS: This item is legally sufficient for Board action and requires majority vote for approval (or disapproval) of staff's recommendation. —JW. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board reject the settlement offer. PREPARED BY: Marlene Serrano, Operations Manager, Code Enforcement Department, Growth Management Division, Planning and Regulation. ATTACHMENTS: (1) Request for Waiver of Fines (2) Backup Documentation Packet Page -574- 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. COLLIER COUNTY Board of County Commissioners Item Number: 10.A. Item Summary: Recommendation to reject an offer to waive all fines and all County operational-costs on a Code Enforcement Action entitled Board of County Commissioners vs. Sergio G. and Patricia Salinas, Code Enforcement Special Magistrate Case No. CESD -2010- 0004913 and Case No. CESD- 2010 - 0004916, relating to property located at 2756 47th Street SW, Collier County, Florida.(Diane Flagg, Director, Code Enforcement, Growth Management Division /Planning & Regulation) Meeting Date: 1/10/2012 Prepared By Name: SerranoMarlene Title: Manager - Code Enforcement Operations,Code Enforce 12/15/20119:47:58 AM Submitted by Title: Manager - Code Enforcement Operations,Code Enforce Name: SerranoMarlene 12/15/20119:47:58 AM Approved By Name: F1aggDiane Title: Director - Code Enforcement,Code Enforcement Date: 12/16/2011 5:25:51 PM Name: PuigJudy Title: Operations Analyst, CDES Date: 12/20/20114:21:40 PM Name: MarcellaJeanne Title: Executive Secretary,Transportation Planning Date: 12/21 /2011 8:09:57 AM Packet Page -575- 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. Name: WrightJeff Title: Assistant County Attorney,County Attorney Date: 12/28/20119:02:25 AM Name: FederNorman Title: Administrator - Growth Management Div,Transportati Date: 12/28/20114:02:19 PM Name: KlatzkowJeff Title: County Attorney, Date: 12/29/20118:46:41 AM Name: IsacksonMark Title: Director -Corp Financial and Mgmt Svs,CMO Date: 12/31/2011 1:34:48 PM Name: IsacksonMark Title: Director -Corp Financial and Mgmt Svs,CMO Date: 1/3/2012 3:30:07 PM Packet Page -576- HENRY PAUL JOHNSON, ESQ. JEFFREY D. SAM, ESQ. HENRY JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES, P.A. ATTORNEYS -AT -LAW November 30, 2011 Vitt E -mail Waneflazg(i�Folliergounet) and Regular U.S. Mail Ms. Diane Flagg Collier County Code Enforcement Department 2800 Horseshoe Drive N. Naples, FL 34104 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. 6640 WILLOW PARK DRIVE, SURE A NAPLES, FLORIDA 34109 -8916 TELEPHONE (239) 591 -0133 FACSIMILE (239) 591.0787 hp)law ®emborgmolLcom Re: Our client: S & W Partners, LLC Property: 2756 47`h St. SW, Naples, FL 34116; Folio 935993680007 k Dear Ms. Flagg: As I indicated telephonically to you greater than one week ago, our Office serves as counsel to S & W Partners, LLC, a Florida Limited Liability Company (hereinafter referred to as "S & W " ). Our client acquired title to the following described property as a consequence of a Collier County, Florida foreclosure sale on July 26, 2011: LOT 4, BLOCK 94, GOLDEN GATE 3, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT THEREOF AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 5, PAGES 97 THROUGH 105, INCLUSIVE, OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA At the time of acquiring title, there existed the following Orders signed by Collier County Code Enforcement Special Magistrate Brenda C. Garretson, copies of which are attached hereto as Composite Exhibit "I" and incorporated herein by reference: I. Order of the Special Magistrate Imposing Fines /Liens dated March 4, 2011 2. Order of the Special Magistrate Imposing Fines/Liens dated May 3, 2011 3. Order of the Special Magistrate Imposing Fines/Liens dated May 3, 2011 4, Order of the Special Magistrate Imposing Fines/Liens dated July 1, 2011 It is respectfully requested that you, pursuant to Collier County Resolution 2010 - 101, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit "2" and incorporated herein by reference, recommend immediately a complete waiver of all fines which are the subject of Composite Exhibit "1" based upon all that which is examined herein. Packet Page -577- 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. KEY FACTS 1. All fines were imposed prior to our client taking title to the subject property. 2. All alleged violations which are the subject of Composite Exhibit "I" were caused by a prior owner who based upon the information of our client had abandoned the property greater than 12 months prior to our client acquiring title. 3. Additionally, the following is critical to note: (a) We understand that the pool which Collier County found to lack a permit was constructed on or about 2001 and had been unpermitted since that time and due solely to the diligent efforts of our client this long - existing violation has been corrected. (b) The fence which was placed on one side of the property was never permitted and due solely to the diligent efforts of our client this violation has been corrected. (c) We understand that a barbeque was constructed and never permitted and due solely to the diligent efforts of our client this violation has been corrected. (d) A wood frame shed and a play house were constructed in the backyard and were not permitted and due solely to the diligent efforts of our client this violation has been corrected. (e) S & W was aware of the alleged violations at the time of acquiring title and immediately contacted a Collier County representative to work to resolve and correct all alleged violations and could only commence remedy of the violations after it had a legal right to do so; after the acquisition of title. (f) Our client has corrected all violations and since acquiring title to said property diligently pursued abatement of all violations and achieving complete compliance. APPLICATION OF KEY FACTS TO LAW Resolution 2010 -101, Sections 4 and 4.1 state: "4. The Director of the Code Enforcement Department may recommend settlement of those code enforcement liens, upon consideration of specific criteria set forth herein, and may prepare certain documents necessary in the execution of this authority, subject to Board Approval" 2 Packet Page -578- 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. "4.1 Before a code enforcement lien settlement recommendation is made to the Board, the following conditions must be taken into consideration: A. Fine/lien amount is fixed and no longer accruing on a periodic basis. B. Underlying violation(s) resulting in the fine/lien has been abated or correct. C. History of violations involving the offering party. D. For code enforcement liens and f nes on a property that has new ownership, fines that accrued prior to transfer of title would be considered for waiver so long as the new owner has diligently pursued abatement and compliance has been achieved. E. Extent to which payment of the full lien amount would impose a severe financial hardship on the property owner; fines accrued by an existing owner would be considered a waiver as long as the existing owner has diligently pursued abatement and compliance has been achieved. F. The amount recovered will equal or exceed the costs and expenses incurred by the County in prosecuting the violation and obtaining, recording, and enforcing the fine /lien. Pursuant to said Resolution, you, as Director of the Code Enforcement Department, we respectfully submit should recommend settlement of Code Enforcement Liens. This is a classic situation where we specifically submit you should recommend that all Liens should be settled by our client paying no money whatsoever. We contend that Resolution 2010 -101 is designed so that you can view the alleged violations not through the eyes of a past violating owner, but through the eves of the new owner. When looking at the criteria of Section 4.1 to the instant facts we suggest the following: (A) Our client could not correct any violations until it acquired title. (B) All underlying violations have been abated and corrected. (C) There have been no violations on the subject property since our client took title. Collier County permitted, upon information and belief, violations to exist for over 10 years and only after our client's aggressive efforts complete resolution occurred. 3 Packet Page -579- 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. (D) Section 4.1(D) makes pre -title violations absolutely waiveable. /% (E) Certainly the payment of any Lien would constitute a hardship on the new owner as abatement with certain substantial costs to our client has been achieved. (F) No or minimal costs have been incurred by Collier County since our client acquired title due to our client's wholly cooperative effort. Quite candidly, our client should not be punished for the non - actions of a prior owner dating back to, perhaps, as far as 2001. It is furthermore important to understand the following: 1. After payoff of the balance of the foreclosure sale principal price to the Collier County Clerk of Courts on July 26, 2011, our client contacted its closing title agent Diana Swick. Ms. Swick, in turn, contacted Collier County representative Iliana Burgos regarding the alleged violations. Ms. Burgos, who we understand, demanded a $24,000.00 pay off. When Ms. Swick requested the process to be utilized to abate the violations by Ms. Burgos, she was told to take immediate steps to abate the violations, which our client did. 2. On August 8, 2011 a Certificate of Title, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference, was issued to our client. 3. On August 8, 2011, our client representative Steve Hamro met with Al Gubala of Residential Property Maintenance (CC #062819) to work out a course of action to correct all alleged violations. The violations related to fence, barbeque, wood frame shed and playhouse were corrected by August 15, 2011. 4. After diligent efforts, all pool- related violations were resolved by October 2011. This, our client contends, was a reasonable number of days to resolve these violations based upon the following and fairly accounts for why the original 30 days provided to abate the violations relating to the pool was not practically reasonable: (a) Our client had to work to obtain what was essentially a past construction permit. To do so, our client and its agent found it necessary to: 1. Spend countless hours in an attempt to find out who originally built the pool. It is at this juncture that it discovered that the original contractor did not obtain a permit. Ultimately, it was discovered that the original pool contractor was out of business. 2. After determining that the pool contractor was out of business, our client worked diligently with Collier County officials to obtain what is tantamount to an after the fact permit / Certificate of Occupancy. I Packet Page -580- 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. 3. To obtain the after the fact permit / Certificate of Occupancy, our client's agent had to obtain an architectural design of the pool which took substantial time. Only after the redesign was the C.O. issued and all matters were resolved. In the end, the following is noteworthy: 1. Four of the issues were resolved within the 30 -day window of the original compliance orders. 2. The pool matters were resolved within a reasonable period of obtaining the title certificate on this property. Had our client been the property owner at the time of the Collier County Enforcement hearings, it would have requested a realistic 90day period to resolve the more complex pool permit / Certificate of Occupancy issue. We respectfully request that all fines be waived and that immediate cancellation of Liens in recordable form be provided to our client in care of this Law Office. We thank you for your attention to this matter. Enclosures HPJ /jds cc: Client 5 Packet Page -581- Esq. HENRY PAUL JOHNSON, ESQ. JEFFREY D. SAM, ESQ. HENRY JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES, P.A. ATTORNEYS -AT -LAW December 1, 2011 Via E -mail (dianetlag colliergo>~.net) and Regular U.S. Mail Ms. Diane Flagg Collier County Code Enforcement Department 2800 Horseshoe Drive N. Naples, FL 34104 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. 6640 WILLOW PARK DRIVE. SUITE A NAPLES. FLORIDA 34109 -8916 TELEPHONE (239) 591 -0133 FACSIMILE (239) 591 -0787 hpJIow *embargmaILcom Re: Our client: S & W Partners, LLC Property: 2756 4' St. SW, Naples, FL 34116; Folio #35993680007 Dear Ms. Flagg: Please be advised that our Office acknowledges receipt of your email of November 30, 2011. It is our understanding that our Client's request for a complete waiver of fines shall be the subject of an item before the Board of County Commissioners regular meeting of January 10, 2012. We would appreciate receipt of a copy of the notice of said meeting and all summaries prepared, by you or by any party authorized by you relative to that Board of County Commissioners' agenda item. This will confirm the fact that you shall convey to the Board of County Commissioners that S & W Partners, LLC has requested a Release of Lien and complete Waiver of Fines that include fines both; before our Client owned the property as well as alleged fines accrued since our Client has owned the property. This also will confirm the fact that our Client is also requesting a Waiver of the County Operating Costs that are outlined in the orders referenced in our prior correspondence to you. We appreciate your immediate attention to all that which is set forth herein. HPJ /scot cc Client Jeffrey Wright, Collier County Attorney Packet Page -582- AFFIDAVIT OF ALBERT GUBALA THE STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF COLLIER 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared ALBERT GUBALA who, after being duly cautioned and sworn by me, upon his oath, deposes and says: 1. My name is ALBERT GUBALA, I am the owner of Albert Gubala Residential Property Maintenance. 2. I am fully familiar with the facts contained in this Affidavit, and make this Affidavit of my own personal knowledge. 3. Prior to July 26, 2011 when I understand S &W Partners, LLC (hereinafter referred to as ( "S &W') took title to property located at 2756 47th Street SW, Naples, Florida, I personally met with Steve Hamro III, a representative of S &W to discuss correcting code violations that were found to be at 2756 47th Street SW, Naples, Florida. 4. At that time Mr. Hamro as representative of S &W told me what the violations were and asked that I correct five (5) permit issues (four (4) of which were bundled as one (1) violation and one (1) that was for an unknown reason was not included with the bundle of four (4)), Mr. Hamro further stated that his closing/title agent had communicated with representative of Collier County who said that S &W "first needed to correct the problems ". 5. Neither Mr. Hamro or myself were aware that we were not being given a grace period to perform these corrections and at no point did anyone that I spoke to with Collier County inform me that fines were accumulating at $200 /per day during the time we were working to fix claimed violations. 6. Because there were five (5) violations against the property S &W and myself carefully marked out a plan and decided we would wait to get an Official from Collier County to provide a Certificate of Occupancy after we corrected everything, instead of having individual inspectors come out to the property at 2756 47th Street SW, Naples, Florida on five (5) separate occasions. 7. No more than three (3) days following August 8, 2011 the date when a certificate of title was issued for the property to S &W, I and S &W removed a fence, BBQ pit, and two (2) wood frames shed that were not permitted. I and S &W did not have Collier County review this at that time because we still needed to find out what we needed to do to get the pool permitted. Packet Page -583- 1/10/2012 Item 10.A. 8. Over the course of a few weeks following August 11, 2011, I made numerous trips to the Collier County permitting office to find out what I needed to get a pool (that was already in the ground) permitted. I came to find out I would need an architectural design (blueprints) of the pool. It took time for me to track down the original pool builder and look for the owner of the pool contractor's name. I ultimately found out the pool contractor had gone bankrupt during the housing crash. 9. Next, I diligently worked to find someone who was willing to draft pool drawings for S &W and myself. Specifically, numerous companies over the course of several weeks were contacted and none wanted to take on the job because they did not want to be responsible for drawing a design of a pool that they did not install and that they did not view prior to and during the course of construction. 10. After continued diligent efforts we did locate someone who agreed to do the drawing. I scheduled him to come visit the property and in a couple of weeks, he was able to-do SO. 11. Following the completion of the pool design drawings I took the drawings to Collier County and scheduled a review. Eventually, after one (1) item (electric) failed the first inspection, we did get a Certificate of Occupancy. 12. These original violations which were corrected by S&W were caused by a prior owner who had long abandoned (over twelve (12) months) the property. 13. I believe S &W worked diligently to correct all Collier County violations. 14. Specifically, I believe that Collier County should not saddle -S&W with any fine given that S &W did not cause any problems and S &W diligently corrected all problems thus turning any eyesore in the community into a nicely remodeled home. Albeit Gubals The foregoing instrument was sworn to, subscribed and acknowledged before me this a day of December, 2011 by Albert Gubala who is personally known to me or who has produced as identification. ?•; ;+f W COMS M t DD 8150 3 EXPIRES: September 13,2D13 „ �" ` Bonded Thru Notwy Pubic Underman 2 Packet Page -584- I-11a'y ztr NOTARY PUBLIC _De441_4_e P FV eA,. tGa Printed Name My Commission Expires: