DUNEDIN, Fla. — It's been eight years since Kristi Allen and her husband Keith moved out of their Dunedin home. They foreclosed in 2011 and started a new chapter or so they thought.
Now, Allen says she can't pay for her son's speech therapy or daughter's gymnastics because she's paying a lawyer to take on the City of Dunedin.
The city fined the Allens for more than $100,000 because of a bad pool and high grass but get this - they had moved out years before the fines started piling up.
The city says that doesn't matter and now it's suing her for the money.
Dunedin City Attorney Thomas Trask explained Kristi Allen is on the hook because the code violations occurred when she owned the home and they're allowed to let those fines pile up until the violations are corrected. Trask cited, Florida Statute 162.09(3) A fine imposed pursuant to this part shall continue to accrue until the violator comes into compliance or until a judgment is rendered in a suit filed pursuant to this section, whichever occurs first.
In September 2018, Allen received a letter in the mail from the city of Dunedin stating she had 15 days to pay fines that accumulated from 2014 to 2016. The city was charging her $100 a day because the pool and grass at a home she used to own weren't being maintained.
Allen said all that time she was never even notified about the violations.
"I would have figured out something to do. I would not have just let the fees and fines pile up day after day, year after year. I would have done something. I was just never given the opportunity to."
Trask said the city did send Allen notifications of the violations and was within their legal rights when they used the address of the home Allen moved out of years ago citing Florida Statute 162.12, all notices must be sent to the address listed in the tax collector’s office for tax notices or to the address listed in the county property appraiser’s database.
Allen hired an attorney and braced for the worst.
"It was four days before Christmas, I got a knock on the door and a man handed me some papers and said 'you're being served a lawsuit through the city of Dunedin.'"
Since then, Allen has been working with her lawyer to fight this suit.
In an e-mail, Allen's lawyer told 10News the fact that the city knowingly sent the notices to a vacant property which were returned, shows intentional bad conduct by the City of Dunedin.
Allen explained the city did have her correct and current address because they sent her a utility bill every month after she foreclosed on the house in 2011.
"We paid every month until the foreclosure was finalized. The city of Dunedin did have my address. They just never bothered to research their own records."
This isn't the first time Dunedin is in a legal battle with a property owner over code violations. Jim Ficken is suing the city after he says he was fined close to $30,000 for letting his grass grow too tall.
According to a city employee, Dunedin collected a total of $48,535 from code violation fines in 2008. Last year, they brought in $1,148,577.10.
The City of Dunedin City Manager sent this statement:
"The primary purpose of code enforcement is to maintain the appropriate high standards that make Dunedin such a special place, and to maintain property values and the quality of life that our residents expect and deserve. The broad goal of any code enforcement action is to compel property owners to meet the same unified standard as their neighbors – and to bring their property into compliance, as the rest of the community cooperatively and consistently does.
The City of Dunedin has no desire to impose large fines or foreclose on residential property. Our goal has been, and remains, to ensure that Dunedin is a high-quality community for our residents and visitors alike. The law-abiding residents of our wonderful community routinely and regularly maintain their properties consistent with this reasonable goal – as good citizens and good neighbors. Homeownership is a choice and a responsibility, and the owner of the property, in this case, has repeatedly failed to uphold that standard."
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