Forclosure Bog Down

From Tribune - Kathy Steele


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TAMPA - The fine meter for Cycle Masters and its owner, Scott Bitman, runs at $80 a day. At three years and counting, the meter is approaching $93,000.

Residents are counting on the city to send Bitman's code enforcement case to criminal court, foreclose on the property they call an eyesore, or both.

"They're trying to run me off," said Bitman, who has been selling motorcycles, dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles at 7601 Nebraska Ave. since 1998. He said he's reorganizing after a bankruptcy.
His shop is under the scrutiny of the city's code enforcement division. The fines started running in 2003 when the code enforcement board found him guilty of illegal street parking and not demolishing an add-on to his shop that is too close to the street.

"It could very well happen soon," code inspector Bill Davidson said of a criminal court case against Bitman.

But a foreclosure? Not so fast.
Nearly two years ago, Mayor Pam Iorio issued an order authorizing foreclosures on non-homesteaded properties with liens and outstanding fines of 90 days or longer. City attorneys anticipated as many as 15 foreclosures a month.

As of last week, the city had not foreclosed on a single property. The city attorney's office reported five pending foreclosures filed at the Hillsborough County courthouse.

Since November 2005, city records show, code enforcement has referred about 80 cases for possible foreclosure, including Cycle Masters. The referrals are reviewed by the real estate department before the legal department decides whether to seek foreclosure.

"It's a little disappointing," City Attorney David Smith said, expressing surprise at the lack of foreclosures.

Office Changes Affect Pace

The slow pace partly can be traced to personnel changes and a reorganization, Smith said. The assistant city attorney who handled code enforcement cases shifted to the real estate department and his replacement started in June.

In 2005, the city council approved increasing maximum daily fines from $250 for first offenders and $500 for repeat offenders to $500 and $1,000, respectively.

The city collected about $1.3 million in code enforcement fines in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, up from about $821,000 in 2005 and $614,000 in 2004.

Smith said there also have been challenges in coordinating foreclosure efforts among code enforcement, real estate and his office.

"It's a typical city situation where you have multiple departments," he said.
Bill Doherty, code enforcement deputy director, said he screens cases from a list of about 1,500 with active liens, eliminating those with homestead exemptions and sending remaining candidates to the real estate department.

He said it is frustrating when the city "can't take the final step we have. We want foreclosures."
In August, Doherty received an e-mail from Smith's office outlining guidelines for identifying 20 cases a month for possible foreclosure: properties should be non-homesteaded, have five or more code enforcement cases within three years and more than $200,000 in fines.

Under those guidelines, Doherty said, some cases could drag on for years.
Smith said the guidelines are not hard-and-fast rules.

Residents Seek Action
At a recent code enforcement workshop in Seminole Heights, residents said the city's legal department ignores cases filed by code inspectors.

Residents living near Cycle Masters point to years of repeated violations for open storage, junk vehicles, debris, illegal parking and an add-on structure built without permits and too close to the street.

Court records show the city fined Bitman about $43,000 in a 1999 code case involving inoperable vehicles and open storage but never collected.

"It just doesn't quit," said Susan Long, chairwoman of Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association's code enforcement committee.

The city is telling offenders "you can get fined and get away with it," association President Randy Baron said.

Smith said the city does not want to be in the business of acquiring properties, particularly those that might drain city coffers because of environmental problems, liens and other issues.
"It's not as simple as it looks," he said.

The five pending foreclosures are in Seminole Heights, Ybor City, and West and East Tampa. Among those cases, the oldest violations date nearly 10 years to a vacant lot at 1306 North Bay St., which has fines totaling about $107,000.

The case with the largest total fines, $263,700, involves the former Coarsey Groves Gift Shop property, 6703 N. Armenia Ave.

Bitman, whose property is not among the pending foreclosures, also has a code case dating to August. The case, which involves citations for debris accumulation and illegal open storage, is set for a code enforcement board hearing Jan. 10.

Bitman said he plans to build a storage facility to replace trailers that code enforcement says are illegal. Within the past weeks, he said, he complied with an inspector's request to clear debris from atop a trailer. He also said an illegally parked vehicle has been moved.
Bitman said he is a small businessman who brings jobs to the neighborhood.
"We keep our area nice," he said. "We have a nice business here."

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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....guidelines are not hard-and-fast rules! Duh! None of it is hard and fast, and that is why violators play fast and loose! Nothing will ever be done about any of it until people know what the rules are and that they mean something. We have years of letting it slide. Forgiving and looking the other way. We now have what we ordered up! No one worries about the rules at all! Only people who abide by them are the people who don't need them.

...........multiple departments
is that supposed to be a good excuse? It is one of the most serious issues with the city. There are many excellent people in many excellent departments. But none of them have the facility or ability to interact effeciently. Why is this so obvious to an outsider and not to someone in city?

...............the oldest violations date nearly 10 years to a vacant lot at 1306 North Bay St., which has fines totaling about $107,000.
This is a real lot in a real neighborhood and could probably find a buyer. It has been a trash can for years. Somethng we battled and battled. And now it lingers.....why?

....................The slow pace partly can be traced to personnel changes and a reorganization
have we been reorganizing for ten years?