Below is a clipping from the Miami Municipal Code containing the two methods that can be used by the City to forgive municipal liens on property to be used for affordable housing.
- Going before the City's Hearings Board
- Release granted by City Manager (through Dept of Housing & Community Development)
Irrelevant provisions have been deleted ("snipped").
Municipal Code - City of Miami
ARTICLE X. CODE ENFORCEMENT
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Sec. 2-817. Administrative costs, fines; liens.
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(d) An enforcement board or special master may reduce a fine once a violator has complied with the order, and for good cause shown. The board or special master however, hereby authorizes the city to mitigate fines with violators, provided that the total amount of the daily fine imposed by the enforcement board or special master may only be reduced to the percentage stated in the schedule below:
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Any reduction below the percentages set forth above must be brought before the board or special master for its approval. If subject fine is reduced and violator fails to pay said reduced fine within a period of 20 days from the day the offer to settle is made, then the original fine shall be reinstated. In addition to daily fines, violators shall pay cost(s) of prosecution, if any, which have been incurred by the city with respect to such violation.
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(h) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision contained in the Code, the city manager may authorize a subordinate lien position on loans for the finance or refinance of construction improvements, or release or satisfy any lien placed on a property by the city or by any of its agencies and instrumentalities IF:
(i) The property is used for the development or rehabilitation of affordable homeownership or rental housing projects by a project sponsor that has been allocated funds by the city commission or the city housing and commercial loan committee for such project, OR
(ii) The property is located in a neighborhood development zone or its equivalent as defined within the effective community development block grant program approved by the city and accepted by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, as may be amended, and is used for the development or rehabilitation of affordable homeownership or rental housing projects in accordance with the city's five-year consolidated plan, as amended.
(2) City liens which may be subordinated, released or satisfied include but are not limited to: demolition liens, lot clearing liens, solid waste liens, code enforcement liens and nuisance abatement liens.
(3)(i) The lien or liens on the property shall not be released or satisfied, but may be subordinated, unless all certificates of occupancy required for the project, or their equivalent, are issued. The lien or liens on the property shall not be subordinated, released or satisfied if, in the judgment of the city manager, circumstances relating to the project make the release or satisfaction inappropriate or unwarranted.
(ii) If a certificate of occupancy for an affordable housing project is not issued within 24 months of the lien or liens being subordinated, the subordination of the lien or liens shall become null and void unless the city manager approves an extension for the certificate of occupancy to be issued.
(4) The city shall record any subordination, release or satisfaction in the public records of the county.
(5 ) The city shall not release or satisfy any lien on a property owned by the person whose actions resulted in the lien being placed on the property. The city shall not release or forgive any lien on a property owned by an immediate family member or a firm, corporation, partnership or business entity of a person whose actions resulted in the lien being placed on the property. For purposes of this section, the term "person" shall mean any individual, business, corporation partnership, firm, organization or other type of entity or association. For purposes of this section, the term "immediate family member" shall mean spouse, child, parent, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle, grandparent, grandchild or anyone having one of these relationships by law.
(6 ) Release or subordination of a lien under this section shall not prohibit the city from collecting the underlying fine/sum due by other legal means. Release of a lien pursuant to this section shall not be deemed to mean that a violation underlying the lien has been cured.
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