Code enforcement lien in Jacksonville, FL
A code enforcement lien means an order about your property was recorded in the public records. Under Chapter 162, Florida Statutes, a code case usually starts with a notice of violation that gives time to correct the problem. If it is not corrected, the case goes to a hearing before a code enforcement board or a special magistrate, and the order that follows sets a compliance date. A fine may be imposed for each day the violation continues past that date, and a certified copy of an order imposing a fine can be recorded, where it becomes a lien on the property. Read the order you have. Note the compliance date and any hearing date on it. Then contact the code office named on it with your questions about the case.
Call us or send your notice details · free estimate
Jacksonville is an incorporated municipality, so code enforcement is normally run by the municipality itself, though some places contract it out. The office that handles your case is the one named on your notice or order, and that is where questions about deadlines, hearing dates, fines and the lien belong. The exact steps and amounts vary by city and county, so confirm them with that office rather than relying on a general description. What you can start on now is the property itself: the condition that was cited still has to be corrected, and while a violation stays open a daily fine can keep running.
While your case is open, don't
- Do not let the dates on the order pass unnoticed. Compliance dates and hearing dates are stated on your paperwork and they apply as written, so read them and call the code office named on the order if anything is unclear.
- Do not start permit work before the permit is issued. Section 105.1 of the Florida Building Code requires a permit for most construction, alteration and repair, and work started without one can create a second problem on the same property.
- Do not tear out finished work first. An after-the-fact permit can require drawings and inspections, and the building department decides what has to be opened up so the work can be inspected.
- Do not assume an old permit closed itself. An open or expired permit stays on the property record until it is properly closed out, so check its status with the local building department.
What we do
- We read the order with youWe look at the recorded order and the property record to identify the violation behind it. That tells us what condition was cited and what work it calls for.
- We look at the propertyWe walk the property and tell you what the violation needs in terms of repair, clean-up or construction. The estimate is free and the price is agreed in writing before work starts.
- We pull the permit where one is neededWe pull it under our licence, after-the-fact permits included. Electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning work is done by our Florida-licensed subcontractors, who pull that trade's permit.
- We do the workThe cited condition gets corrected — repaired, replaced, cleared or rebuilt, depending on what the order describes.
- We schedule inspections and work to close the permit outInspections are scheduled as the job moves, and we work to get the permit closed out so it does not stay open on the record.
- We hand you the paperworkYou get the documents to take to the code office named on your order to show the property now complies. What happens with the lien and any fine is decided by that office, not by us.
Work by 360 Home Improvements, Florida Certified Building Contractor CBC1267336. Electrical, plumbing and AC work goes to our Florida-licensed subcontractors, who pull that trade's permit.
How it works in Jacksonville
Many owners here learn about a recorded order at a sale or a refinance, when the title search turns it up — sometimes years after the original notice. By then the condition behind it may have gotten worse. Jacksonville sits on the Atlantic coast and the tidal St. Johns River, and salt-laden air corrodes garage door tracks, rollers, gate operators and exterior hardware well inland. Long, hot summers, near-daily afternoon storms and high year-round humidity swell wood doors and slow drying. Northeast Florida also sees several freezes a year, which can crack outdoor plumbing and stress seldom-used fireplaces and chimneys.
Housing varies a lot across one city. Riverside, Avondale, Springfield and Ortega hold early-1900s wood-frame and brick homes; Arlington and the Northside have mid-century concrete-block ranches; Mandarin, Southside, Baymeadows and Bartram Park are largely 1990s-and-newer stucco and block. The repair a cited condition needs is not the same in each. Hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and storm damage left unrepaired — roofs still under tarps, downed fences, scattered debris — is a common source of code enforcement notices afterward in Florida. Florida's long wet growing season also lets lots overgrow quickly, and overgrown lots, junk and debris are governed by local ordinances rather than one statewide rule.
Questions people ask
- Can you get the lien off my property?
- No. We are a contractor, not a law firm: we fix the property condition that was cited. What is owed, and whether any process exists to ask about it once the property complies, is for the board, magistrate or local government named on your order, and legal questions go to a Florida attorney.
- The work was done years ago without a permit. What now?
- Work already done without a permit generally has to be permitted after the fact. That can involve drawings, inspections and opening up finished surfaces so the work can be inspected. We pull after-the-fact permits under our licence and schedule the inspections.
- Who runs code enforcement in Jacksonville?
- Jacksonville is an incorporated municipality, so code enforcement is normally run by the municipality itself, though some places contract it out. The office handling your case is the one named on your notice or order. All case questions — deadlines, hearing dates, fines, the lien — go there.
- My property is near the beaches, not in the city limits. Can you still help?
- Our Florida Certified Building Contractor licence CBC1267336 is a state certification, valid in every Florida county. So we work in Jacksonville and in places like Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, Orange Park and Fernandina Beach. The permit is pulled from the building department with jurisdiction over that property.
- The order mentions a damaged roof or an unsafe structure. What should I do first?
- Keep people away from the hazard, children above all, and do not attempt structural or roof repairs yourself. Call us for a look at the property, and contact the code office named on the order about the case itself.
- What does the work cost?
- It depends on what was cited, how much of the property is involved, whether a permit and after-the-fact inspections are needed, and whether a licensed trade subcontractor is required. We look at the property, tell you what the violation needs, and agree the price in writing before work starts.
This page is general information about Florida code enforcement, not legal advice. For questions about your own case (deadlines, hearing dates, fines or liens), contact the code enforcement office named on your notice, or a Florida attorney.
Send us the notice
The estimate is free: we read the order with you, look at the property, and agree the price in writing before any work starts — call (954) 906-7864 or send a request through the form on this website. Questions about the case itself, including the lien, any fine, hearing dates and deadlines, go to the code office named on your notice.
Request a free estimate
Tell us what the notice says and where the property is. We'll look at what the violation needs and agree the price with you before any work starts.
Other violations in Jacksonville
Code Violation Solver is run by 360 Home Improvements, a licensed Florida contractor. We fix the condition behind the violation; the code office named on your notice decides the case.