welcome to the March 12th 2025 proceedings of the city of Coco Beach special magistrate my name is Lonnie Groot next to me is Michael Bryan the clerk for proceedings and uh M Danel Crawford is the code enforcement officer
of the city uh before we begin is it I think I see some new faces or other respondents out there who are new okay well I'll go through the process for you real quickly okay uh these are quazi judicial proceedings and
for the anybody who might be watching out there these are quazi judicial proceedings which means they're not they're although they're open to the public to come in and watch they're not public hearings so these are evidentiary proceedings and there's issues between
an issue of some nature between the city represented by m Crawford and the respondents who I guess you two are two of them and uh the city will present it evidence and then you all will present your evidence after the city presents
its evidence you can ask M Crawford questions but also after you present your evidence M Crawford can ask you questions in the nature of cross-examination all testimonies uh under oath and I'm going to swear everybody in in a second I won't forget
that and um at the end of the each case I'll determine what the order will be the order whatever it is will be put writing within a couple of days and uh I'll send those signed orders to Miss Crawford and she'll distribute them to
to all persons so uh that's the way we go and uh with that being said uh I'm going to swear the Witnesses in and if you plan on testifying you please stand up and raise your right hand you plan on
calling any Witnesses no okay let's State your full name first man Rachel Rachel whaton okay Danielle Crawford do each of you Solly swear the testimony about given the matter is not hearing the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
self you guide I do I do thank you okay M Crawford is the C is the docket the agenda as presented or are you going to remove any cases I am going to actually remove the first three cases the first three yes okay um they're substantially
in compliance so we'll good yep so we're going Tove case number 24-32 24- 317 and 24- 319 is that correct yes okay that is the goal to attain compliance and that means that it has
worked so the first case before us today is a compliance hearing otherwise known as a Massie hearing which is the the name of the case that uh causes this type the hearing to have a more legal significance than than than
uh originally was anticipated and this is case number 244-245 the respondent is Brendan Miller the address of the property is 162 bimy Road and M Crawford you may proceed all right um would you like a copy of the
PowerPoint and evidence okay Mr Mill you have any objection uh to you getting a copy of Power Point okay and is submitted as exhibit one for this hearing at the so essentially what I've given you
guys is just a copy of the power point ERS and receipt that I completed the mailings of the orders um so as you stated this um address and reference is 162 bimy Road owned by Mr
uh Brendan Miller um here is the property and essentially at the previous special magistrate hearing on November 13th um he was found in non-compliance of section 13-2 for needing um a business tax receipt for
vacation rental business and 26 . 5-21 um as he needed an rs1 registration uh also for that vacation rental business um it was ordered that he come
into compliance within two weeks uh by completing the BTR and the rs1 registration um which he did to the best of his ability um he has been held up by the city um as he wasn't able to pass a
fire inspection so we were trying to work to see um how we could help move him forward with those applications and so at this time um he's decided to put his future uh listings on hold so
blocked out all of his future dates um and we are just asking that he pay uh the the past owed fees for the vacation rental business and that if he chooses to rent in the future to register at that time
okay so you're you're asking for the the local business tax fine of 250 to be paid yeah and what about the $500 on the other violation that was the for the first day of violation we do not want that you want
to uh resend that find yes okay so that I don't have the order in front of me but that was in the order right that yes and I believe you do have a copy of the order as well oh there there it is son of a gun okay good I was looking at the PowerPoint my
bad let me see what I did make sure I know what I did okay it says if yes okay yeah so resend the fine there this conclude this case basically because there's yes sir
because you've got an agreement with Mr Miller to uh not engage in any violations right but you want to keep this order in effect so that any future violations or repeat violations uh yes sir okay is that understood understood
and that's what you agree to yes sir okay I'm going to enter an order that requires the $250 uh fine to be paid for the local business tax plus whatever other penalties that go along with that
statuto and uh we'll resend the the second fine and leave the order in place otherwise that will put you in Jeopardy of being a repeat violator you okay okay good that's the idea all right the
order will be entered to that effect then thank you thank you m ERS yeah thank you okay the next case is case number 24136 the respondent is Rachel Aragon
and the address is 645 South Atlantic Avenue yes um so as you mentioned um this is case 24- 136 in reference to uh Miss Rachel Aragon um here is the the
property so previously um we have been to the special magistrate um and have had a a Massie hearing as well in reference to this property having an unregistered vacation I remember this okay perfect um so these are the
violations um and on the first order she was issued a $250 fine um and a daily fine of $250 um for every day she did not
complete the rs1 registration and then on the subsequent order uh she was issued a $500 a day fine for every day she was out of compliance for being over occupancy and that was at January 8th
hearing um so since then um a tidle company as well as M uh Rachel has reached out about the the lean total um so we were able to stop the leans on December 31st uh 2024 and so here's a
breakdown um of the lean total which comes to approximately $70,000 um and so uh Rachel is here today to discuss um that lean with you so the the request is to reduce the
amount of the lean um potentially I it's just oh you haven't heard okay well let's hear let's hear M Aron first then and you can get up to the podium so like if you'd
like okay unless you can hear me I want you to hear me I can hear you but can what works best for you guys I can hear uh excuse me I can hear okay go ahead if that's makes you more comfortable yeah um so I did talk to Dan and her
boss I don't have his name in front of me um there were multiple emails going back and forth I actually did file my application last August um I I live in that house and my husband Liv in that house so we aren't
like property friend people we just were doing it to help pay the mortgage because I have health issues and I'm having to go out of state to pay for those um and so we got into Financial issues and so we could R A RoR to that was helpful to us to help with the
mortgage so we rented it for a total of 50 nights like total and and we did have a paperwork here showing that we were not over the Occupy ever um you were not what we were not over the 8 person
occupancy ever like even back in 2022 before we living in it full time trying to move from out of state we rented it a couple times and we never that um the lady who I bought the house from she was using it only for a rental and so I got
a lot of that information from her of what I could and couldn't do I talked to Danielle about that um obviously there have been issued after 2022 when I bought it one of which um I have here
upar ordinance 1645 um the last there's a couple amendments but the last one from 2023 it does say even like the max occupancy doesn't apply if it's being occupied by an own so again we're trying
to do this as we live in this house so it's not like we're you know into this you know to make money or do anything like that and we're looking up things online and be comp I did try to file that application when it was brought to my attention by
Daniel about the violation trying to do everything right way it wouldn't let me go any further into that application it was frozen I I have a screenshot of that and I did email that over to Danielle she did gra graciously give me a contact of somebody to help me with that application I left
a voicemail for that person I never got a call back admittedly and I told this to Danielle with health issues I didn't follow up again I left the voicemail thought okay and then she sent me orders of a mass E heing I was not in in the
state for that I I could do it virtually she said that was not possible so I didn't attend that that hearing so now I'm here I move back here just for this I'm trying to sell the house we I was just going to ask you the reason the
title company is involved cuz you're trying to sell the house I wonder if it you're trying to get a loan or if you're trying to sell the house I don't know like financially I can't you know it's like a bankruptcy I have to give it this so
I'm asking for I don't know reduction of fine I totally I did not complete the application again in the system it would not let me go forward it was like Frozen and I have that screenshot if you want to look at it okay let me ask you some
questions you don't have to answer them sure okay what's the have you listed the house yes okay I'm I'm only going to ask you the listing price I'm not going to ask you what you would sell it for what's the listing price 26 excuse me 2.6 million
okay and you don't like I said you don't have to answer the questions what's you you have a mortgage I do what will you tell me what the amount of the mortgage is it's 2.3 million 2.3 I'm not
making much money I have Renovations that I had to the hurricane damage that I had to do took loans to pay for that so again you you you're selling it for two your your asking price is 2.6 you have a $2.3
million mortgage what's the what's the acred penalty 70,000 70 I have I have to have a sworn witness tell me sorry I'm so sorry I don't know what the question I'm sorry oh what's
the amount of the lean what's the fine right now I'm so sorry so the the lean total is is at 70,000 okay there's the breakdown 70 even more or it's yeah it's even okay so what's your proposal M
er um so I I need to pay the fine for not having the registration through I think there's an application fee I don't know the exact amount there application fee that was not paid well let's back up let me interrupt you you don't you don't contest that you
violated the not paying the local business tax I don't contest that I didn't complete the application well it's not paid right correct okay and you don't contest that you didn't register the property well
arguable I like I said I did register it I I went through that application and then it locked me out because they wanted the business okay you tried the let's put I'm trying to hear what you're saying okay you tried the Reg which you
it's not registered however that happened okay and that but and you're also asserting now although it was adjudicated earlier that you never exceeded the maximum occupancy correct
okay do you have anything else before I turn it over to Mr Crawford to see what she says about what you just said yeah and I guess she may answer that question anyway that spreadsheet that you have pulled up it says myed 2018 I didn't own the property and I
apologize that was a a scrivener's error and I have it updated on here and then I also brought updated copies I'm just so hang on let's make it I want everybody to be clear about everything that's been said so what you're saying Mr Crawford is that the $70,000 is all
attributed to the period of time Mr Aragon owned the property right correct so the now you can now you can ask the any question well that's not true you're still got the floor if you that's not true either are you
through with your presentation or did you want to say one more thing you said oh um no I guess I just had question okay well Miss Crawford just said it was $70,000 all attributable from when you own the property you can ask for a
question about that okay and then again on that document 2018 St it I did not receive that and then thean breakdown um you don't have what year so I'm trying to figure out yeah
well let me ask you what do you assert the lean is so 2022 I rented it for two months not not the whole two months but there were a couple days so as opposed to 70,000 what do you say the lean is so 50 days is what I have so 50 days time
I don't have 250 that's 12,500 isn't it and yeah 1200 you so you're saying the lean should be 12,500 I'm saying if you hold me to your
$500 a day and $250 a day with my50 days out that's 37,5 so what are you asserting the lean is give me a total 37,5 oh 37 okay all
right okay and You' be ready to pay that that's a loaded question um I'm trying to sell it in order to I'm not I'm not agreeing to it I can't agree to it I'm just asking you that question yeah yes you would pay that I it depends
on if I could do a payment plan well let me ask well let me ask am I am I do you have anything you want to say specifically or is this helping the situation it is helping the situation um the the well let me ask you a question
then yeah you're not going to the city will not satisfy the lean until you're paid in full correct correct so that sort of answers the question about a payment plan so and you want the you want title clean the city won't make it clear until
the lean's paid in full whatever that amount is so there in lies the issue now M Crawford you had the floor so go ahead on yeah and I just wanted to again apologize for the the date um scrivener's error so the the lean
started after um the the first order which stated if she remained in non-compliance after September 30th that's when that of 2024 that's when that lean would begin so it's September 30th of 2024 through December 31st 2024
and that's where we collected um these numbers so and that's where the $70,000 why did it stop um is there compliance because the the regist the listings were reduced back to eight
occupants so that stopped a $500 a day um fine and then truly um the the listing remained up and there were even bookings in January but as a courtesy we stopped that fine also on December 31st
so it's your position that you could have kept the fine running yes after September of 2024 but you didn't after December 31st yes we could have yes okay so what's the
city's position the full $770,000 or do you agree to any reduction in that lean amount we would be agreeable to a reduction um I just would like to hear like what well miss aragan has said that the
the the way she calculates it is 3755 would the city agree to that yes would you agree to pay that and if so how much time would you need well like you pointed out I have to have my title cleared so time is up the
essence I got you who is trying to close on it shortly so how quickly would that process take if I could make that payment how quickly how quickly does that process take if I make that payment the how long does it take you to record
a satisfaction probably a day probably a day and how do how can I make that payment can I do it savings account like how do you take payments I believe Finance takes um checks or certified
checks in in person so I don't have the ability to do check or certif Well here here's before we get into the nitty-gritty details about how to pay if there's an agreement about 37,500
I can ISS enter an order reducing the fine on the overall case to $37,500 if it's paid within C City what what number of days would you agree 30 days 30 days that's
typical that's I was going to so you would have 30 days to get with the city and however the mechanics are which you guys were talking about which is something being on me and I wouldn't have anything to do with but it would be
37,500 the city paid they they is they issue a satisfaction record it now you've got clean title at least as to this issue and in the meantime I can issue an order that says that but it reverts
back if it reverts back to this is that all your is you have concluded that you're going to go 70,000 Max on this case yes okay well I will enter an order that reduces the overall fine to 70,000 but reduces it to
37,500 if is paid within 30 days of the date of the order the order won't be entered until sometime this weekend is what we usually do so you'll have 30 days from Saturday or
Sunday to pay the 30,000 37,500 and sooner the better I suppose for you I was going to add that I can days any oh you don't have you don't
have to wait for 30 I'm sure the city will take your money as soon as you offer it to I just need to understand because again I don't have access to checks or cash like money is in account I can only wire money the 30 days is just real
quickly Mr Aron just I I don't want to hear this particularly okay I mean no I'm not I'm not saying I want to cut you off it's just not something I NE need to hear because that you guys are just talking about how to pay but what I want you to understand is what the orders the 30
days all that means is you have 30 days or else it reverts back that means the city and you have agreed that to give you some time you know like I said the city's if you if you gave the city a check now they'd be glad to cash it I'm sure uh so I do have one question then
and I don't know if you're in the bound of doing this it would be really helpful if I could have a clean title H the proceeds from the sale and then pay the well I know that's why I asked the question of M Crawford to begin with
because that' be the easiest for every oh I know it well it wouldn't make City's the city's not going to clear title if you're going to close within 30 days that works I am you are yes what I'm trying to illustrate well okay she
talk to I don't think the city cares if the check comes out of a closing proceeds or whatever as long as it's paid within the 30 days what I would hope that everybody would want to avoid is I don't know about anybody else in
this room but I have seen closings not occur on time and and and so you're pretty confident that the closing is going to occur within 30 days days yes I have cash okay then the order works then okay
the order works because it'll give you 30 days and it closing if the proceeds come out of closing you know it's still still funds okay that make sense to you Mr Crawford yes sir okay then that's the order all enter
to make it clear reduce the F reduce the F to 70,000 then also reduce it again to 30 to establish the total fine at 70,000 to reduce it to 37,500 if paid within 30 days but if it doesn't is not paid within 30 days it
reverts back to the 70 okay that clear sir yep and that'll be the order that'll be issued and y'all can talk after the you might want to talk make sure because
there and might there might you might if everything's done by wire these days you might want to give the closing agent the wire instructions for the city and all that okay are there any other cases to come before me today there are not okay that being said then these proceedings
are jour