When Angelica Martinez bought her home in Miami's Little Havana neighbourhood in 2019, she did what most buyers do: she hired an attorney, carried out a title search and checked the property's history for any outstanding debts or liens.
asserted
she → buy → debts
Everything seemed perfect.
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Everything → seem → ?
Five years after the purchase, Martinez faces the threat of foreclosure over a $55,650 code enforcement lien that the City of Miami says accumulated against her property.
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City → face → property
The lien has prevented her from renovating or selling the home, and her attorney argues that it should never have existed in the first place.
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it → prevent → place
"The City of Miami is stopping my client from fixing her own home over a lien that doesn't exist," Ari Pregen, an attorney with The Code Clinic who represents homeowner Angelica Martinez, told CBS News.
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who → stop → News
A Little Havana homeowner says she feels trapped in the home she purchased.
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she → say → home
City of Miami code inspectors said they observed contractors replacing roof framing, installing a wood fence and constructing a concrete driveway without permits during a proactive inspection in September 2024.
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contractors → say → September
Martinez acknowledges hiring the crew to repair her roof.
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Martinez → acknowledge → roof
But she and her attorney dispute her responsibility for the fence and driveway work, which became the subject of the city's code enforcement case.
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which → dispute → case
"It's just a mistake; a very expensive mistake they're making me pay for," Martinez told the outlet.
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Martinez → make → outlet
Her attorney argued that city records show the previous owner completed renovations in 2018.
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owner → argue → 2018
Though the permits from that project do not mention the fence or driveway, Google Earth images from February 2019 appear to show both improvements already in place.
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images → mention → place
This was months before Angelica Martinez bought the property.
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Martinez → buy → property
She talks about the whole process of purchasing the property.
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She → talk → property
"I got an attorney, did a title search, everything went through review making sure there was no debt or lien on the house to make sure the house was clean for me to purchase.
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me → get → house
Zero violations existed.
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violations → exist → ?
My attorneys reviewed the whole history of the house.
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attorneys → review → house
There was no issue whatsoever," she told the broadcaster.
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she → be → broadcaster
Following the 2024 inspection, she agreed to lower the fence and bring the driveway into compliance.
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she → follow → compliance
Her attorney also acknowledged that homeowners can be held responsible for correcting such violations, even when they were not the people who originally carried out the work.
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who → acknowledge → work
According to him, the city inspectors signed an affidavit certifying that Martinez had completed the corrections.
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Martinez → accord → corrections
"Everything was reviewed and they told me I was done and I could go ahead living in my house without any issues," Martinez recalled.
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Martinez → review → issues
However, the City of Miami's account differs.
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account → differ → Miami
According to Miami's Code Enforcement Department, Martinez was found in violation by the Code Enforcement Board at a hearing on 22 January 2025.
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Martinez → accord → January
The board gave her 120 days to comply and ordered a $150 per day fine if the violations remained after the deadline.
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violations → give → deadline
The city says the permits for the driveway and fence were submitted on 31 July 2025 and finalised on 9 February 2026.
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permits → say → February
The department said no request for additional time was filed before the deadline expired.
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deadline → say → time
What happened next was a lien: $150 multiplied by hundreds of days, bringing it to a $55,650 lien.
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happened → happen → lien
Pregen argues that such a lien should not exist.
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lien → argue → ?
His team reportedly went through the city's public records and found no record of any lien against the property.
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team → go → property
"We looked for the lien in three different ways in the city's own public records and there is no lien recorded.
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We → look → records
It isn't there, and yet they're still trying to use it to freeze her life," he said.
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he → try → life
Martinez says the dispute has prevented her from renovating the house or putting it up for sale.
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dispute → say → sale
She remains in a home trapped between conflicting accounts of compliance and penalty calculations.
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She → remain → compliance
A mitigation hearing is scheduled before the City of Miami Code Enforcement Board on 22 September.
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hearing → schedule → September
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