Egregious Conduct By South Florida City In Violation Of State Homestead Exemption Laws Threatens Loss Of Home

In South Florida, the Broward-Palm Beach New Times reports on the story of a city of Hallandale Beach homeowner whose failure to keep his home properly maintained resulted in the city imposing fines for code enforcement violations against him. While the imposition of fines may well have been justified, those familiar with the Florida homestead laws know that such fines do not constitute liens on the homestead of a Florida resident and, consequently, can't subject the home to foreclosure.

However, that didn't stop the City of Hallandale Beach, their City Attorney, and an apparently out of control mayor from going to court to foreclose the liens anyway. The case was heard by Broward County Judge Patti Englander Henning, who might be described, at best, as "out to lunch," and at worst, as bordering on the corrupt for her decision in this case. The judge ruled in the city's favor despite the homestead laws (Article X, section IV - Florida Constitution) to the contrary. It took the work of skilled legal counsel on behalf of the homeowner to get the lower court decision reversed on appeal, essentially reaffirming the painfully simple proposition that city liens for code enforcement violations do not attach to a property owner's homestead and, accordingly, cannot subject the home to foreclosure.

A year after the Florida appeals court decision, the City of Hallandale Beach started again with the harassment by going back into court, reopening the case (with Judge Englander Henning again presiding), and obtaining a $2.8 million judgment against the homeowner and his wife, reportedly without giving him notice of the court hearing. The homeowner and his counsel are now again drawn into battle with an ostensibly out of control municipal government.

For more, see Storming the Castle (Hallandale Beach and a Broward judge are trying to drive a man from his home).

For those who are "court case oriented," see Pelecanos v. City of Hallandale Beach (Fla. App. Ct. - 4th Dist. - 11-23-2005) for the Florida appeals court reversal of the lower court's decision in this case (case made available online courtesy of Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal).

Postscript

For those of you unfamiliar with Greater Fort Lauderdale and some of the notables who serve or have recently served as part of the Broward County judiciary, here are a couple:

1) Judge Larry Seidlin - He's the judge who humiliated himself by weeping on national television when presiding over a part of the late Anna Nicole Smith child custody proceeding several months ago - see If Anna Nicole Smith case is a circus, judge is ringmaster.

2) Judge Lawrence Korda - He's another judge who presided over a small part of the late Anna Nicole Smith matter several months ago. While he did nothing to embarass himself or the judiciary the way his colleague did, Judge Korda was subsequently caught by cops in a city park smoking marijuana out in the open - see Broward judge faces possible removal by state panel for smoking marijuana.

3) See, generally, Courts Answering ‘a Call for Help’ (South Florida Daily Business Review), which summarizes the recent alleged escapades of several Broward County judges (Judge Larry Seidlin - again, facing a criminal investigation for allegedly asking a lawyer for gifts and financially exploiting an elderly woman; Judge Lawrence Korda resigned after being caught smoking pot in a Hollywood park; Judge Robert Zack faces an investigation for allegedly taking a loan from an attorney; Judge Cheryl Aleman faces ethics charges from the state Judicial Qualifications Commission for acting discourteously to defense attorneys; others).

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4) See also the Miami Herald (8-19-07): Is Dr. Phil the answer for errant judges in Broward? (Broward's judges are a dysfunctional family in need of treatment, according to a group of high-powered lawyers).

5) Maybe not coincidentally, the presiding ringmaster over all these characters, Broward County Chief Judge Dale Ross, recently resigned his position as Chief Judge after all these events bacame public, although he remains a sitting judge.

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