Being a homeowner is a huge accomplishment. You no longer have to worry about paying rent every month. And your hard-earned money can go to other needs. You know that you have a property and a house to live in as long as you want.
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But owning a house comes with responsibilities. Aside from the homeowner’s association, the local government also has certain laws that every homeowner should abide in. This is to maintain some level of order and presentability in the area.
Meet Sandy
Sandy Martinez thought moving to Florida would be paradise. While her friends envied her for living in a place where it felt like it was summer all year long, Sandy was merely tolerating it all. Living in Florida had its lows too.
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Although there were a lot of job opportunities around, most of them were minimum wage jobs. Just like most workers in the area, Sandy was underpaid and had to live from one paycheck to the next.
Florida homeowner
The housing market in Florida happens to be one of the most competitive ones in the USA. Fortunately, Sandy was able to acquire a house way before prices started going up in the market. She has been a homeowner for 17 years.
Source: CBS12
Her three grown daughters had their own jobs but they still had to save up for their own places. They could not afford the rate of today’s houses so they all still lived with Sandy. Aside from that, Sandy’s mother was also staying with them.
Full house
In time, Sandy’s home began to shrink and became too tight with four grown women living in it. And the lack of space was not limited inside the house. It could also be felt in their lawn and driveway.
Source: Institute for Justice
Sandy’s daughters had their own secondhand cars so overall, there were four cars on Sandy’s property. Only two cars would fit in her driveway and because of this dilemma, the other two had to be parked on Sandy’s lawn.
An urgent notice
One day, Sandy was surprised to receive a letter from the local government. The letter was marked “urgent.” It was stated in the letter that she had a $250 fine for how the cars were parked on her own property. It was ridiculous.
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This was in accordance with a law in Lantana, Florida. The law states that “All off-street parking spaces, including driveways, but not including parking spaces located in swale areas as permitted by sections 17- 34, shall be asphalt, concrete or black, and shall be hard surfaced and in good repair in compliance with town codes.”
Abiding with the law
Sandy was breaking this law because she had cars parked out on her lawn. The lawn was not made out of asphalt or concrete. Sandy was confused at first about why this was a big deal. After all, the lawn was her property so she could do whatever she wanted with it.
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Nevertheless, Sandy did not want any trouble. She tried to do what she could to make things right as a citizen. So, she made an appointment with a city inspector to check and make sure that her family was parking their cars correctly.
Nobody showed up
Sandy waited for the inspector to come but nobody showed up on the agreed date. She waited on the porch and called the city inspector’s number. She left countless voicemails to follow up on the inspection from the city but to no avail.
Source: PostFun
Since nobody from the inspector’s office bothered to get back to her, Sandy assumed that her case was taken care of and that the parking issue was settled. Eventually, she forgot all about it and went about with her everyday life.
More trouble
Then, Sandy received more letters from the city. These times, they were for fines on other issues. There was a fine for a patch of cracked pavement on her driveway. There was another fine for a damaged fence from a storm.
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The fines seemed to be ridiculous but Sandy did her best to fix things from her end. In Sandy’s mind, she knew the best way to make the fines go away is to fix the issue. She wired some money and got professionals to fix her fence and the driveway.
Still a no show
Once the repairs were made, Sandy then called the city inspector’s office and asked for an inspector to drop by and confirm that she had made the required repairs. But then again, nobody came. No fines came to her after that.
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Nobody came knocking on her door and because there were no more notices about the fines, she thought the issue was settled. Maybe the inspector dropped by while she was gone and had already filed a report.
The fines never stopped
Then, one year later, Sandy got an urgent notice. Apparently, she was being charged $250 per day by the city for the fines. No inspector came by to see if she had done the necessary repairs so the city was still charging her fines per day.
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Sandy was in shock. She had lived in that house for 17 years and suddenly she is getting all these hefty fines all in a short period. She could not afford to pay these unreasonable fines – she had trouble making ends meet as it is.
Taking it to court
This time, Sandy sought legal help. She heard of the Institute for Justice, an organization that helped people who were placed in unfair situations by the government. When Sandy presented her case to the group, they knew that they should help her.
Source: PostFun
The Institute for Justice prepared to take the city of Lantana to court. With the help of the lawyers assigned to her, Sandy prepared all the documentation that she would need. She was ready to fight back.
They wanted more
After hearing her testimony in court, the city government brushed off the fact that Sandy had requested a city inspector but never got one. In fact, they had more demands waiting for her.
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This time, the city of Lantana wanted Sandy to pay an extra $165,000 for the broken fence and cracked driveway. This was their counter to Sandy’s suit. They were totally unfazed by the fact that Sandy decided to take them to court.
They ignored evidence
Sandy and her lawyers were shocked by their demands. She had already paid the fine and had the issues fixed. Sandy had all the receipts and photos to prove it but the city was insistent that they did not matter because the repairs were not confirmed by an inspector from the city.
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Luckily, Sandy’s lawyers kept up a good fight. After several days of presenting testimonies in court, a city representative contacted Sandy and her lawyers. They wanted to reach a settlement. Sandy saw this as a good sign.
It was not fair
And just when Sandy and her lawyers thought that there was hope, they found that the settlement was an insult. The settlement proposal read that the city was willing to reduce Sandy’s fine from $165,000 to $25,000.
Source: CBS12
Sandy felt so mad, she ended up ripping the paper into pieces. Sandy knew that the city was being unfair and she did not want anyone else to fall victim to it. She was determined not to pay a single penny because she knew the opposition was abusive and wrong.
Letting the public know
It seemed like the city officials were not taking Sandy seriously and planned to intimidate her with all these hefty fees. This was the moment she and her lawyers decided to go public. They posted the case on social media to spread the word.
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Sandy wanted to prove a point – people should be free to manage their own property without the government’s control. The things that she was being fined for were not harming anyone else so it did not make any sense.
The press conference
Soon enough, the local news got ahold of the story. Everyone wanted to interview her. And this is when Sandy held a press conference in front of her house. News vans came by and parked outside of her house.
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At the press conference, Sandy shared her story from the beginning. She told the media how she sent numerous voicemails to the city asking them to send an inspector but nobody came and nobody bothered to call her back.
Recovered evidence
Despite all the media attention, the city was still unfazed. They held on to the fact that Sandy had no actual proof of the voicemails so her testimony could not be used as evidence in court. With the city still stubborn, Sandy’s lawyers urged her into suing the state itself.
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Fortunately, a journalist who was following Sandy’s story was able to get her hands on a recording of one of the voicemails Sandy made, asking for an inspector. Sandy was able to get a copy of the recording and submit it as evidence.
A show of support
A lot of homeowners related to Sandy’s situation. There was an outpour of support and encouragement. People admired her willingness to go through so much trouble for something that would benefit all homeowners in the city.
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Some people left comments on social media about similar battles they have had with the government about their properties. They believe all these strict rules defeat the purpose of having more freedom to do what you want in your own place.
The naysayers
But not everyone was loving Sandy’s stance against the city officials. These people believed that without the government, there would be no laws imposed. As a result, there would be nothing but chaos. For them, the city laws are there to implement the order.
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Another argument the naysayers had was that having four cars in a small driveway is an eyesore. You should only own the right amount of cars that your driveway can accommodate.
An ongoing battle
For now, the case of Sandy against the state of Florida is still ongoing. Sandy and her lawyers were hoping for a declaratory judgment to support her lawsuit. Sandy had a goal to get her fines deemed unconstitutional.
Source: Institute for Justice
Things seem to be going well in Sandy’s favor. Everybody is anticipating the court’s final decision. This just proves that you can fight for your rights no matter how big the enemy is. As long as you know you are right and that you are not stepping on anyone’s toes.