Quick AnswerA Miami homeowner is facing the threat of foreclosure over a $55,650 code enforcement lien tied to work that city records connect to the previous owner — a fence and driveway visible in aerial imagery from before she bought the home. She and The Code Clinic searched the city’s own public records three different ways and could not find the lien recorded. The case shows why a code lien should be examined closely, not paid on sight, and how a homeowner can contest one before a Special Magistrate.
In July 2026, CBS News Miami reported on the case of Angelica Martinez, a Little Havana homeowner who says the City of Miami placed a $55,650 code enforcement lien on her property and is now threatening foreclosure — over a fence and driveway that city records tie to work done before she owned the home.
Attorney Ari Pregen of The Code Clinic represents Martinez. As he put it to CBS News Miami: “The City of Miami is stopping my client from fixing her own home over a lien that doesn’t exist.” He described searching the city’s own public records three separate ways without finding the lien recorded — and yet, he said, it is still being used to freeze what she can do with her property.
What the CBS Miami story reported
According to CBS News Miami’s reporting, Martinez bought her Little Havana home in 2019. Before closing, she says she retained an attorney and had a title search performed, and the property’s history came back clean — no debt, no liens, no open violations. The fence and driveway she was later cited over appear in Google Earth imagery from February 2019, months before her purchase, and the city’s permit records for that work reference the prior owner rather than Martinez.
Despite that, the city’s position is that a code enforcement lien accrued after a January 22, 2025 board finding and an unmet compliance deadline, growing to $55,650. Notably, CBS News Miami reported that it could not locate a record of that lien online, even as the city maintained it had been filed. Martinez says the cloud over her title has prevented her from renovating or selling while the dispute continues.
Why a code lien deserves a close look before you pay
The Martinez case is an unusually clear illustration of a broader pattern: a code enforcement lien is not automatically valid simply because a city asserts it. Before treating any lien as a settled debt, these are the questions worth examining with a lawyer:
- Is the lien actually recorded? A code enforcement lien’s enforceability depends on proper recording in the public records. If a lien cannot be located in the county records, that is a threshold question with real consequences for whether it can support foreclosure at all.
- Who did the work? If the condition cited predates your ownership — and permit records or aerial imagery tie it to a prior owner — that fact bears directly on whether the current owner should carry the violation and the fine.
- Was there proper notice? Florida’s code enforcement statute, Chapter 162, requires proper notice and an opportunity to be heard before fines accrue into a lien. Defects in that process can be raised.
- Is the amount negotiable? Even a validly imposed fine can often be reduced. Under Florida Statute §162.09, accrued fines and liens are frequently mitigated — sometimes dramatically — at a reduction hearing.
None of this guarantees a particular outcome; every case turns on its own facts. What the Martinez story underscores is that paying a five- or six-figure lien on sight — or letting the threat of foreclosure go unanswered — is almost never the right first move.
Facing a code lien or foreclosure threat?
Have it reviewed before you pay or sign anything. Flat fee. No surprises.
Can a city really foreclose over a code lien?
It is a question many homeowners ask only after a lien has already attached. In Florida, a recorded code enforcement lien can, in some circumstances, be foreclosed — which is exactly why the validity, recording, and amount of the lien matter so much. We cover the mechanics in detail in Can a City Foreclose on a Code Enforcement Lien in Florida? The short version: the threat is real enough to take seriously, and precisely because it is real, the lien deserves scrutiny rather than automatic payment.
What to do if you are facing a code enforcement lien
Before you pay or panic
- Do not ignore a foreclosure threat. Deadlines matter. See what happens if you miss a code enforcement hearing.
- Confirm whether the lien is recorded. Pull the county public records. Whether a lien actually exists in the record is a foundational question.
- Gather your purchase history. Closing documents, the title search, inspection reports, and dated aerial imagery can establish that a condition predates your ownership.
- Do not assume the amount is fixed. Code enforcement fines and liens are routinely reduced at a mitigation hearing.
- Get it reviewed before any deadline. A Miami code violation attorney can tell you quickly whether to challenge validity, contest the amount, or negotiate — and handle the hearing for you.
Part of a bigger South Florida pattern
Martinez’s case is not isolated. The Code Clinic has represented homeowners across South Florida facing outsized code enforcement fines — from Hialeah homeowners cited over concrete on the swale in front of their homes, coverage that ran on Telemundo 51, to property owners hit with six-figure fines across Broward and Miami-Dade. The through-line is consistent: cities increasingly use code enforcement as a revenue tool, and many property owners never learn that a citation or lien can be contested at all.
Facing a Miami code enforcement lien?
The same attorney featured in the CBS News Miami coverage can review your citation or lien — free, with no obligation. The Code Clinic, PLLC offers flat-fee code violation defense for homeowners across Miami, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and statewide Florida. Call (305) 396-1495 or visit thecodeclinicpa.com. One flat fee. No hourly billing. No surprises.