$30G Fine for not cutting your lawn?

[MoKelly]

particularly since the various news sources seem to be omitting (whether intentionally or not) quite a bit of information ...which will inevitably whip at least some of the readers into a frenzy demanding their desired actions/remedies be put in place, which drives more regulation/legislation continuing the cycle.....

I’m shocked! The news leaves out important information? Shocked!!!

MoKelly

 

[LD1]

So I found more to the story from another article which explains the max fine imposed.

I'll still reserve harsh judgment of the guy....without knowing the WHOLE story. Which I think none of us ever will.

What were these past 12 complaints in the last 14 years (less than one a year)?

Were they because he set his mower at 4" and neighbors wanted it 3.5"? Was it because he had dandelions because he chose not to spray 24d? Was it because his shutters didnt match the house?

I mean some of the stuff I read that goes on in cities and HOA's is laughable IMO. So I wont hold much stock in the fact that he had past issues. ITs still ridiculous IMO to think you fan fine someone $30 freaking grand because they were out of town and didnt mow for a whole whopping 2 months

 

[Diggin It]

On the flip side, I'm curious to know what he's spent on legal fees fighting it. Lawyers to take something to Federal Court aren't cheap. Yes, you can file on your own and represent yourself, but most don't.

 

[Diggin It]

But then, I find this article:


"The fines kept accruing the entire time Jim was away—totaling about $7,000 by the time he returned home. But because the city issued no notice, Jim still had no idea he was being fined. And, like his grass, the fines continued growing.

Only after a happenstance encounter with a code enforcement officer—who cryptically warned Jim that he was “going to get a big bill from the city”—did Jim finally learn that he was being fined. At that point, he immediately did what any responsible homeowner would do: He cut the grass.

It was too late. The city’s $500 daily fines had been running for weeks, and Jim now owed roughly $24,000. The city then tacked on an additional fine of $5,000 for another ten days of alleged noncompliance—even though these were days after Jim had mowed."

This tasty morsel is in there too:


"With six active cases across the nation, including three class action suits, IJ is exposing and ending schemes in which cities use abusive code enforcement and outrageous fines to fill their coffers at the expense of innocent residents. Jim’s case is IJ’s latest such effort and builds directly on our recent U.S. Supreme Court victory in Timbs v. Indiana. In Timbs, the Court explicitly applied the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause to state and local governments. "

Mowing Down Abusive Fines in Florida - Institute for Justice

It all started innocently enough. Last summer, Jim Ficken left his modest home in Dunedin, Florida, for Columbia, South Carolina, to tend to his late […]

ij.org

Wouldn't it be fun if the city ended up owing him $30 grand?

 

[tradosaurus]

I'll still reserve harsh judgment of the guy....without knowing the WHOLE story. Which I think none of us ever will.

What were these past 12 complaints in the last 14 years (less than one a year)?

Were they because he set his mower at 4" and neighbors wanted it 3.5"? Was it because he had dandelions because he chose not to spray 24d? Was it because his shutters didnt match the house?

I mean some of the stuff I read that goes on in cities and HOA's is laughable IMO. So I wont hold much stock in the fact that he had past issues. ITs still ridiculous IMO to think you fan fine someone $30 freaking grand because they were out of town and didnt mow for a whole whopping 2 months

From another article:

In his lawsuit, Ficken admits that the Dunedin home is not his homesteaded residence. But Ari Bargil, the lead Institute for Justice attorney on Ficken's case, said that's merely a clerical matter. Ficken moved from his Clearwater homestead into the Dunedin property in the spring of 2017, Bargil said Ficken's nextdoor neighbor, Randall Johnson, said he doubted Ficken moved in then. Johnson said he has complained to the city multiple times over the years about the condition of Ficken's home.

"The guy never lived there," Johnson said in an interview at his home. (Bargil said that his client did live at the home, he just kept to himself.)

Ficken was hardly blindsided, considering the city deemed him a repeat code violator in 2015 — subjecting Ficken to $500 per day fines for future violations, Bramley argued. Records show that Ficken has been cited a total of 15 times by the city for code violations dating back to 2007.

The more I read to them more I side with the city. I'm going to guess that this Ficken didn't live full time at this property and therefore didn't care to keep up with house and lawn maintenance creating an eyesore to the neighborhood. So for 11 yrs these neighbors had to live with this guys disregard of city codes. I'm surprised it took this long.

I've told my wife that the the only way I would return to living in a neighborhood is with a draconian HOA.

It only takes one a-hole neighbor to ruin your living environment.

 

[Diggin It]

It only takes one a-hole neighbor to ruin your living environment.

And if the neighbors consider YOU to be that ONE?

 

[Steppenwolfe]

And if the neighbors consider YOU to be that ONE?

Same thing as on an internet forum....

 

[tradosaurus]

And if the neighbors consider YOU to be that ONE?

Then I would be the one fined and eventually have to move. But I can abide by rules that I've agreed to before buying a house.

 

[Jstpssng]

Then I would be the one fined and eventually have to move. But I can abide by rules that I've agreed to before buying a house.

It's always helpful to provide links when you cite outside sources. Last night I serched the guy's name with his town, yet all that I came up with was dozens of stories verbatim to the one which the OP linked.

 

[Oaktree]

I dont believe one bit the city's BS about it devaluing properties, attracting snakes and vermin, etc. ITs a ploy to try and cash in and nothing more. If the city truly cared about the neighbors (or if the neighbors truly cared).....they just would have stepped up and mowed the darn lawn themselves. But to levy a $500 fine per day.....seriously. 2 months isnt that long......and to come home to a $30k bill becasue the guy you hired to mow it passed away....seems unreasonable to me

I'm not so sure about that, given how touchy some TBN'ers are about "tresspassing", I don't think that would go over very well.

The more I read to them more I side with the city. I'm going to guess that this Ficken didn't live full time at this property and therefore didn't care to keep up with house and lawn maintenance creating an eyesore to the neighborhood. So for 11 yrs these neighbors had to live with this guys disregard of city codes. I'm surprised it took this long.

I've told my wife that the the only way I would return to living in a neighborhood is with a draconian HOA.

It only takes one a-hole neighbor to ruin your living environment.

Yeah, there's such a thing as a-hole neighbors, but having draconian rules isn't the solution. There is absolutely no way I would live where there was a HOA with all their stupid rules to "protect property values". What a load of BS. I hear way too many horror stories about people who got fined for having a clothesline, or because their mailbox didn't match everyone else's.

BTW what is a "homesteaded residence"? Never heard the term before. Is it some Florida thing?