Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #526

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Homeowner Facing $100,000 Parking Violation Wins First Round of Her Lawsuit Against Florida Town
By Andrew Wimer
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—This morning, a Florida court rejected the town of Lantana’s attempt to end a law- suit filed by resident Sandy Martinez, who is contesting sky-high fines she was assessed for minor infractions on her own property. One parking violation, assessed daily for over a year, totals more than $100,000. The total amount the town fined her, which includes two other infractions, comes to an astound- ing $165,000, more than half what her home is worth. In February, Sandy teamed up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a lawsuit asking the court to rule that her exces- sive fines violate the state constitution.
“Six-figure fines for parking on your own property are outra- geous and today’s decision will allow Sandy to make the case that these fines are unconstitutional,”
said IJ Attorney Ari Bargil. “While Florida’s Constitution forbids fines that are ‘excessive’ or ‘shock the conscience’, places like Lantana routinely impose crip- pling fines against residents for minor code violations. It is time that Florida courts make it clear that cities cannot fine people into poverty for trivial violations.”
“It’s surreal that the town still refuses to admit that what it’s doing to me is abu- sive and unfair,” said Sandy. “Like everyone else in my neighbor-
hood, I work hard for what I’ve got. I shouldn’t have to fight in court to stop the city from fining me into poverty. But with today’s decision, I’m glad that I am one step closer to making sure that doesn’t hap- pen—to me or any- one else.”
The $165,000 that Sandy owes is a result of daily fines that the city assessed for property code vio- lations. Most of this amount is a result of the way Sandy’s fami- ly parks their cars. Sandy, her two adult children and her sister
all own cars so that they can get to their jobs. When all four cars are parked in the driveway, sometimes one of them has two tires on the lawn, a $250 per day viola- tion. And those fines continue to accrue until the homeowner corrects the problem and calls the city to inspect the property to confirm it is in com- pliance.
After receiving the parking violation, Sandy called the town like she was sup- posed to, but an inspector never came out. Once Sandy dis-
covered that the fines were still accruing over a year later, she immediately called and passed the inspection. But by then, the amount she owed was $101,750. This fine is on top of fines for two other similarly trivial viola- tions—for cracks in the driveway and a fence that fell over during a storm.
IJ has challenged abusive fines and fees across the coun- try, notably
in Dunedin, Florida, where a homeowner is facing foreclosure after he was fined over $30,000 in fines for tall grass. IJ has successfully protected homeowners
in California and Miss ouri from abusive fines and fees prac- tices. In 2019, IJ released a study of cities that relied heav- ily on fines and fees to balance their budg- ets, “The Price of Taxation by Citation,” and in 2020 released a 50-state survey of state laws governing municipal fines and fees.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine