North Miami Attorney

A title search reviews the official records kept by the Miami-Dade Clerk. North Miami keeps a second set of records of its own. According to the City’s Lien Search page, its Collections & Liens Division at 776 NE 125 Street reports recorded liens and amounts due for water, sewer, sanitation, and stormwater; special assessments; and code compliance violation tickets, liens, and other dues. Requests go in person or by mail; the posted fees, effective October 1, 2022, run from $70 for five business days to $120 for 24 hours. Sellers can order one before listing so an old violation does not surface the week of closing. See our Q&A on how a lien affects selling your home.

Under Fla. Stat. 162.09, a fine imposed under Florida’s code enforcement statute generally may not exceed $250 per day for a first violation or $500 per day for a repeat violation. A city of 50,000 or more people may adopt an ordinance raising those limits to as much as $1,000 per day for a first violation and $5,000 per day for a repeat violation (162.09(2)(d)), and a fine for a violation found irreparable or irreversible can be higher still. The fine keeps accruing until the property comes into compliance or a judgment is entered. Once a certified copy of the order is recorded, it becomes a lien on the land where the violation exists and on other real and personal property the violator owns. Such a lien may not be foreclosed on a homestead, but it stays in the records and still has to be resolved before a buyer can take clear title.

North Miami offers a written process to ask for relief. Its Mitigation of Code Enforcement Lien page says the property must first be brought into compliance and every other balance owed to the City paid in full. The request includes the City’s form, a City lien search dated within the last 30 days, a letter of explanation with supporting documents such as repair invoices and photos, and a non-refundable $250 application fee per folio number. After a Finance Department recommendation, the City Manager has sole discretion to approve, set the amount, or deny. We can help you assemble a complete request; no one can promise how the City will decide.

Landlords should also know Fla. Stat. 180.135(1)(a): a city may not refuse or cut off water or sewer service to a rental unit’s owner or a new tenant because a former occupant left charges unpaid, except to the extent the current owner or tenant directly benefited from that service. For tenant problems, see landlord-tenant and eviction help. Florida does not require an attorney to close a sale; read title company or attorney closing, how we handle residential closings in Miami-Dade, how a title search and title insurance work, and our real estate law services.