Two months ago, on June 6th, Town of Fort Myers Beach attorney John Herin (pictured) told the town council foreclosure lawsuits the council approved in April would be filed that week. They weren’t. Last week, Herin told the council that two of the five lawsuits were about to be filed. They haven’t been.
When Herin told the council that only two of the lawsuits were about to be filed last week, that didn’t sit well with Vice Mayor Rexann Hosafros who wanted to know why all five lawsuits weren’t being filed. As of today, none of the five lawsuits have been filed, 4 months after Herin was given the approval by council to take action.
The foreclosure actions are being pursued against a handful of beach property owners because the town says they have continuously ignored code violations against them, liens have been put on those properties, and the only remaining step is to seize those properties and sell them out from underneath the owners.
Herin told the council last week that the foreclosure lawsuits against the owners of the Key Estero Shops and 268/270 Nature View Court were being filed. As of Monday of this week, nothing has been filed.
The town says the the owners of the Key Estero Shops parking lot have been operating an illegal parking lot for years, charging as high as $40 per space for a day during peak season. The town put a lien on the property in September of 2020. The fines of $200 per day now total in the tens of thousands.
The town alleges that the owners of 268/270 Nature View Court, owned by Dania Carballo Ortiz and Daisy Garcia, rebuilt the house entirely without any permits and are now illegally renting that house out repeatedly for less than 7 days. The town has multiple code violations on this property. Two began in October of 2020 and now total over $57,000 each, with $250 being added every day. A third lien was recorded in 2021 with fines over $21,000. All in, this property is now over $125,000 in fines with $250 being added every day.
The other properties in the town’s foreclosure crosshairs are:
- 80 Avenue East owned by White Sand Properties. On this property the town has gone after them for working without a permit and having an unsafe structure. The town has three code violations against the property dating back to 2016 and 2019. As of March 2019 the fines had already exceeded $250,000 and $250 was being added to that every day.
- Sunset Grill owner Terry Persaud has the other two properties the town is going after. The parking lot adjacent to Sunset grill in Times Square and the restaurant itself for various violations.
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