In what’s turned into a years long battle, dating back to the previous town manager and town attorney, Fort Myers Beach property owner Jesse Schmid has been fighting to get a lien removed from his property at 80 Avenue E. It’s a messy situation Schmid believes he resolved years ago.
Before Schmid owned the property at 80 Avenue East it was owned by Leo Dibiasi then Joe Orlandini. In 2015 the town issued code violations to Dibiasi for an unsafe structure. Additional violations were issued in 2015 for work done without a permit. Town records show Dibiasi never abated the violations and $250 per day fines started accruing.
In July of 2016 Joe Orlandini purchased the property, and along with it the unresolved code violations. Town records indicate that the violations were never resolved, the fine total was now at $257,150 (and growing), and the town was placing a lien on the property.
In 2019 Schmid gets involved with the property and this is also where the situation gets even more confusing. At a Town Council meeting in December of 2019, Schmid pledged to pay $50,000.00 towards the liens on 80 Ave E in exchange for partial release of 1560 I St. from the scope of the liens on 80 Ave E. because Schmid was also going to purchase 1560 I St. The town tied the Orlandini properties together because the code violations were not being resolved at 80 Avenue East.
During public comment Jesse Schmid stated that he was buying a house with lien issues (1560 I St.) and pledged to pay $50,000.00 towards the liens. The town says former Town Manager Roger Hernstadt indicated to the Town Council they could craft an agreement for them to proceed with satisfying part of the lien for the property in the lien umbrella (1560 I St) and council members agreed with the action.
Schmid delivered a $50,000.00 check to the town to release 1560 I St. from the liens recorded against 80 Ave E and purchased 1560 I street in early 2020. Schmid was under the impression from conversations he said he had with Hernstadt that the $50,000 would also put an end to all the violations at 80 Avenue E. The town has been saying that’s not the case, that the issues at 80 Avenue E were never resolved.
Town records indicate that in May of 2020 former Town Manager Roger Hernstadt made Schmid an “offer.” If he acquired the necessary permits and paid the town $61,000, the lien on 80 Avenue E would go away. If Schmid did not take the deal immediately, a fine of $1,000 per day would be assessed. It’s important to note here that we’ve been told that only the special magistrate could impose fines on residents for code violations, not the town manager and his staff. By November Hernstadt’s “offer” had increased to $75,000. Schmid did not pay the $75,000.
In August of 2022 the town filed a foreclosure lien on 80 Avenue E.
On September 28, the structure on the property is completely demolished by Hurricane Ian which deems the property compliant. Being in compliance does not mean the fines go away and now the town says the fines have accrued to nearly $1.2 million. The town council agreed to reduce the fine to $247,000, however, Schmid doesn’t believe he owes the town any money because of the $50,000 check he wrote to the town. So the town has again issued a lien on the property and Schmid will be back before Special Magistrate Monica Schmucker Thursday morning at 9AM. Schmid says he has paperwork from the town that states the $50,000 he paid released all the liens placed on 80 Avenue E.
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Those fines are beyond astronomical…very abusive. The town charge a old lady and her family over $600’000 because she didn’t get a roof repair permit. I could not sleep for three night just thinking about what the town did to her and her family… awful.
$600,000 fine? Highly unlikely.
And it should be no surprise that if you choose not to get a permit where required, there will be consequences.
The 8th amendment to the constitution prohibits excessive fines. It also says The 2019 Supreme Court case of Timbs v. Indiana incorporated the Excessive Fines Clause, making it applicable to state and local governments, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation. So in a state or federal court based on the citizens ability to pay this would be thrown out and deemed unconstitutional. The town attorney should know this if they practice law in any manner
This town only enforces code violations when they want to. Others, their friends get a pass. This will come out during the fema deep dive.
Smells Fishy
Not to hijack this thread but since we’re talking about unsafe areas, how about the big ugly lot located right next to the pier? The fence that is cobbled around it doesn’t keep anyone out and a number of times I’ve seen people poking around in there.
Sounds to me that if the statements are true, the payment of the $50k should have resulted in the town filing release of lein on the I St property with leins and fines accruing on E St only.
How do you sell a property with Liens against it? I would think that the liens need to be taken care of by either the seller or buyer before purchase
You would think. And that is what title insurance is for.
What a great story. It’s got it all – extortion, government malfeasance, slums flipping, meaningless code enforcement and fines, permisssive councils, idle threats.
What a great book. A peek at true
laissez-faire governing and what it costs taxpayers.
And the parking lot guys situation has gone silent.
Code violations and liens do not go away when property is sold.
But the town can make them go away. They do that all the time for their “friends”.
Both of the above comments are correct. The town needs to stop using its Nazi tactics to coverup its un organized incompetence.
Outrageous for the town to attempt to foreclose after years and a total destruction of the structure on the property. Further imposing of illegal fines by the town manager could expose the town to extorsion or other such counter claims. Doesn’t the town have better focuses after two major disasters. The whole compounding fines seems grossly excessive and punitive.
This town council and town staff, especially Frankie K. gotta go. He’ll make anything happen for his or council member friends even if it doesn’t meet code or floodplain regulations. He is the main reason this town is in chaos! We lost our entire finance departments because of him (and Andy). Will better see this and clean house fast.
The town should not of let the property sell the 1st time with a lien on the title .
Just release all liens and do better next time .