SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — It's another bailout of sorts for troubled lenders. Seminole County and some cities are forgiving thousands of dollars in code enforcement fines against the abandoned foreclosures that banks are just now taking control of.
The governments need the money, but this waiving of fines is standard practice. After all, what control do the new owners have over how the previous owner cared for the property?
But at one Seminole County house alone, finally locked up after months sitting open to intruders, tens of thousands of dollars in fines may just disappear. With wild peacocks roaming the yard and a tall privacy wall, 1125 Howell Creek Drive is a mansion by most standards, but a mansion in decline.
"This started, I really think, about two years ago, to go so bad inside and be vandalized," neighbor Kirsti Hosstad said.
Neighbors say a foreclosure brought disrepair and squatters. The old owner racked up $62,000 in code enforcement fines for the problems last year.
"It's just not been well taken care of," neighbor Karen Wick said.
But in a scenario that's becoming more common, the new owner, Countrywide Home Loans, will ask county commissioners Tuesday to forgive the fines altogether.
At a Sanford home, Citibank wants more than $70,000 in fines erased. At another, Deutsche Bank wants nearly $60,000 gone.
In most cases, houses have to be brought up to code before fines are forgiven. But some still say, as hundreds of thousand of dollars in fines are forgiven, accountability is lost.
"I've lived on this street over 20 years now, and we've been very responsible for our property. Is no one, does no one have to be responsible anymore?" Wick questioned.
If fines weren't forgiven, code violation cash usually goes into the county and cities' still tight general funds, which could be used for anything from paying workers to improving roads.
It's up to county and city leaders to decide, case by case, whether to demand that new owners reimburse maintenance or other code enforcement costs incurred during the foreclosure process.
The cash these violations bring in isn't budgeted for spending until it is actually in the coffers.
WFTV
