The owners of some of South Florida's most problem-plagued apartment buildings were stripped of their control by a Miami-Dade judge Thursday.
Judge Barbara Areces appointed a receiver to take control of the properties owned by Abraham and Denise Vaknin, the Miami Herald reported. They will still own the buildings but the receiver, a private attorney named Linda Leali, will be able to use the rent to make repairs to the nine buildings they own.
NBC 6 was the first to report on the deplorable conditions for families in one of the buildings owned by Denise Vaknins, at 1231 Northwest 61st Street in Liberty City. In addition to structural deficiencies, mold was everywhere, along with trash and rodents.
The City of Miami had ordered the landlords to make repairs, and they racked up more than $2.4 million in unpaid fines. The city filed a lawsuit in October after the landlords ignored demands to repair the buildings.
Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado has also spoken out about the issue, saying the city should pursue criminal action.
“I think we should go the routes of the courts, but also criminal action. Criminal action should be taken,” Mayor Regalado said in January.
A recent inspection found fewer violations than before, but serious repairs are still needed. Keith Silverstein, an attorney for the Vaknins who was recently hired, called the lawsuit political but acknowledged the buildings had serious problems.
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"The conditions at the property have been occurring for too long for the current property manager to come in and after only three weeks be accused of not repairing the entire scope of the violations," Silverstein said, according to the Herald. "I can not respond to the allegations specifically against the landlord that have gone on for months and months, because of 48 hours that I’ve been involved."
