Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/320652
Magistrate started fining Siegel more than $500 per day until his house was brought into full compliance with all existing local and federal codes. And nothing happened. Siegel ignored the order of the Special Magistrate as the fines accumulated into tens of thousands of dollars. In the meantime, he was continuing to rent the unsafe dwelling to unsuspecting tourists from out-of-state, col- lecting as much as $4,500 for a single week. In conversations between our reporters and county officials, a fatal flaw was revealed in how inadequate the sanctions the county could impose actually were. If a property owner refused to correct code defects involv- ing a property and simply allowed the daily fines to accumulate without paying them, the only recourse for the county was to turn over the growing debt to a private collec- tion agency. Unfortunately, collection agencies take on these types of debts by pocketing half of any money they collect. And their arsenal of collection strategies consists principally of writing harsh, threat- e n i n g l e t t e r s a n d making harsh, threat- e n i n g p h o n e c a l l s (especially during the dinner hour). Rarely does a collec- tion agency take a debtor to court, because it has to pay court costs upfront and, even if it wins, the debtor might not be able to pay — or the debtor could declare bankruptcy. So the collection agency, after a few months of trying to col- lect the debt through letters and phone calls, typically will package up all of the debts that seem uncollectible and then sell that pack- age to another collection agency, which will start the same process all over again. It is not unusual for a sizable but difficult-to-collect debt to be passed along to as many as half a dozen collection agencies. Meanwhile, the county does not see a dime of that money, and the recalcitrant property owner blithely continues ignoring the law and thumbing his or her nose at Code Enforcement authorities. The silver lining for the county is its ability to attach a lien for the outstanding penalties and any accrued interest against not only the nonconforming property, but against any other properties owned by the same per- son. In the case of Siegel, that proved the lever that broke the proverbial logjam. He had another house he wished to sell, but he could not do so with- out bringing the Sabal Drive house into com- pliance. Reluctantly, it appears, he had contractors tear out all of the downstairs accommodations in the house, along with As with the Craig Siegel properties, county Code Enforcement officers have been frustrated by not only the intransigence of Bob's Boathouse with regard to the timely completion of outstanding requirements for continued operation and adherence to the new noise limitations, but by the utter lack of meaningful sanctions at their disposal to compel that compliance. OPINION Sarasota News Leader May 30, 2014 Page 82