A Miami Gardens apartment building was issued more than 20 citations before a weekend fire left the building destroyed and up to 200 residents displaced.
The NBC 6 Investigators found Miami-Fade Fire Rescue issued the New World Condominiums 21 citations for fire code violations since 2010, most recently in May of 2021.
About half of all those code enforcement cases remain open, but just last year, the condominium association was found guilty of five fire code violations that were discovered in 2020 and ordered to pay more than $21,000 for those violations.
Liens recorded in county records said the violations had not been corrected, the association has not appealed, and it failed to pay the initial civil penalties. The records do not detail the nature of the violations but cite violations of the fire prevention codes.
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Miami-Dade Fire Rescue had responded to the fire at the building on Northwest 177th Street just before 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Officials said 75 apartments were affected by the fire and the second floor of half of the building collapsed.
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No injuries were reported but nearly 200 residents were left without a home.
Red Cross officials said around 39 displaced residents spent Monday night at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex while they await a more permanent solution. Many are in limbo and some said they're living paycheck-to-paycheck.
"It's a zero-zero situation, like we have lost everything," resident Zorodzai Rukwasi said Monday. "I’m staying here in the shelter with my husband and my son for now until we figure out. Because we’re still trying to comprehend it. We’re just thinking maybe we’re gonna wake up and we have a place again."
To add insult to injury, the building manager told renters and owners Tuesday that the condominium association had no fire insurance after owners declined to pay a special assessment for a 40-year re-certification.
An August 2021 report by an inspector showed the building was deemed structurally and electrically safe for use while certain repairs were made, including to the roof.
The building's permit inspection history showed there is currently a permit for the roof, but as of Jan. 11, the inspection partially passed.
One unit owner said there was a special assessment passed for the roof, but not for the recertification.
Unit owner Melvin Lawson said there was no meeting for owners to attend regarding the assessment of the roof.
"I don't know if they keep meeting. In recent times now, they go and spread the paper around. They just call a few people, especially board members, and they gather around and they sign in private," he said.
NBC 6 has reached out to some of the condo board members but none have wanted to comment.
Fire officials said Monday that due to the extensive fire damage, the cause of the fire is deemed to be undetermined.
