‘Antonio of Italy’ Owes $900K In Code Fines

He calls himself Antonio of Italy. He owns rental homes across Orange County and he owes the county almost $900,000 in code enforcement fines. Now, the county wants to seize all of Antonio of Italy's properties.

One of his properties has a fresh coat of paint on the outside. It looks better than previously, but the county says his houses have massive electrical and plumbing problems, not to mention the illegal activity.

Last spring, WFTV caught up with Antonio Dimauro as he spruced up one of his 30 rental properties. He knew Orange County Code Enforcement was after him then for major violations. At the time, he owed $500,000. He claimed he didn't owe the money.

“Yeah, I got a few code violations. Not me, the people who owned the house before,” he said at the time.

But he bought the liens with the house and, to this day, continues to violate numerous codes.

One of his homes on South Rio Grande is racking up $500 a day in code violations. The renter told WFTV it's one house that's been divided into a duplex, but it's wired electrically for just the one house.

Dimauro now owes Orange County $897,000 in fines. Attorney Wade Vose says the county just wants Dimauro to come into compliance, but it has filed a lawsuit to foreclose upon all 30 of his rentals.

“He has had numerous chances. These are just our files that we have in our office. The files we have at the county complex stack up this high,” Vose said.

Dimauro’s tenants would not talk on camera, but WFTV learned many of them pay more than $800 a month in rent and have put down $800 deposits. That's roughly $24,000 a month that is not going to what he owes or repairs or getting into compliance.

“It would be a difficult burden for him to show he is absolutely changing his ways,” Vose said.

If the county takes over the properties, it could make repairs and put them up for sale. The county could even rent out the homes, but that is not likely. Foreclosure can take months, even a year.