Miami

Miami Takes Steps to Address Absent Landlords

The city of Miami is trying to give hope to residents living in deplorable conditions across South Florida with no landlords anywhere to be seen.

Thursday, the Miami City Attorney filed a legal action asking for the courts to immediately find that landlords who allow terrible and unsafe conditions in their complexes have surrendered their ability to fight back in court.

The city of Miami wants a permanent injunction preventing the landlords from continuing to violate codes prohibiting them from allowing any new tenants and a judgment for money owed to the city.

“This is huge in the city of Miami,” said Mayor Tomas Regalado. “This is happening also in Allapatah and Little Havana; absentee landlords that just don’t care. They are milling cow and not repairing things. We get complaints from all over the city.”

NBC 6 has reported on apartments in Liberty City that residents said were in deplorable condition. The residents showed NBC 6 reporters dumpsters in hallways, showers that don’t function, toilets that had feces come up in them after flushing, no smoke alarms, and other problems.

Many of the residents came to a meeting Thursday to meet with Miami Commissioner Keon Hardemon’s staff. Hardemon has spoken repeatedly about wanting to help the residents in his district.

“At the end of the day, if you lease a property and it’s not in the condition that it’s supposed to be in; we have to do what we can as a community all of us to find those property owners and to put them out of business,” Hardemon said.

Denise Vaknin owns one of the buildings the city has targeted. NBC 6 tried to reach Vaknin but she didn’t come outside, respond to phone calls, emails, or text messages. The city of Miami said she also didn’t respond to their legal action to fix up her building either.

“I think we should go the routes of the courts, but also criminal action. Criminal action should be taken,” Mayor Regalado said.

NBC 6 discovered ghost landlords around the city owe huge amounts from fines and utilities. Vaknin owes $65,000, but others dwarfed that number. NBC 6 found landlords who owed between $295,000 and $991,000.

The city’s actions helped pick up the spirits of some of the residents NBC 6 talked to, but they also said that while the action is some movement; they are still going home to the same conditions and don’t know when that might change.

Contact Us