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We aim at providing you with as much relevant information as possible, as many realtors, even banks still are not completely aware of the process and implications that the ordinance imposes on them. While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, the Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. |
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| Q. When were the new Ordinances approved? |
A. On December 2, 2008 the Board of County Commissioners adopted Ordinance No. 08-133, which requires issuance of a Certificate of Use (CU) by the Department of Planning and Zoning (DP&Z) for residential properties (in unincorporated Miami-Dade County) which are acquired through a Certificate of Title (Foreclosures and Judgments), in accordance with Chapter 45, Florida Statutes. A. On October 14th, 2009 the City of Doral Council approved Ordinance No. 2009-15, which requires issuance of a Certificate of Use (CU) by the Department of Planning and Zoning (DP&Z) for residential properties (in the City of Doral) which are acquired through a Certificate of Title (Foreclosures and Judgments) on or thereafter February 1st 2010 |
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| Q. What is the purpose of the Certificate of Use (CU) requirement for the sale of foreclosed properties? | A. While
the new CU requirement is a consumer-protection legislation,
it also serves as a source of information of possible violations,
as well as safety hazards for the enforcement by the city or
county. The process of the new CU is to document and disclose to the public/buyer, the extent to which residential properties (i.e. single family, condominium, townhouse, or duplex) acquired in this way comply with all applicable building codes and zoning codes. In this way, potential buyers will understand the cost of bringing the properties up to code, and that the non compliant issues could be enforced, sanctioned or both by city officials at any time. |
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| Q. Who is responsible for obtaining the Certificate of Use (CU) for the sale of foreclosed properties? | A. The holder of a property acquired through a Certificate of Title in accordance with Chapter 45, Florida Statutes (Foreclosures and Judgments) -- i.e. lending institutions and mortgagees. The reality of this, is that the burden of contracting, obtaining the CU certificate has been imposed on the realtor who has the listing in most cases. | ||||
| Q. What properties are affected? | A. Only residential properties acquired through a Certificate of Title in accordance with Chapter 45, Florida Statutes (Foreclosures and Judgments) that are located in UNINCORPORATED Miami-Dade County, and within the City of Doral boundaries– properties with folio numbers beginning with 30 and 35 respectively-. |
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| Q. Are short sales or Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure affected? | A. No, only properties acquired through a Certificate of Title in accordance with Chapter 45, Florida Statutes (Foreclosures and Judgments). | ||||
| Q. What does the new Certificate of Use (CU) process for the sale of foreclosed properties require? |
A. The new CU process includes preparation of a disclosure of findings report, which identifies building or zoning code violations for each property and contains a good faith estimate of the cost to remedy any deficiencies. This report must be completed by an architect or professional engineer licensed and registered in the State of Florida and submitted to the Zoning Permits Section of DP&Z at the Miami-Dade Permitting and Inspection Center located at 11805 S.W. 26th Street (Coral Way), Miami, FL 33175. or to the City of Doral Planning and Zoning Department located at 8300 NW 53rd Street Suite 2006, Doral, FL 33166. |
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| Q. What is the cost of the Certificate of Use (CU) for the sale of foreclosed properties and what makes up that fee amount? |
A. The cost of the CU, will vary according to the company you hire to perform the inspection, and the time frame to complete the process. The county fees will be the same, a $300 fee plus 8% surcharge, per property is required for the DP&Z’s review of the disclosure and findings report and the issuance of a final CU, with $250 of which to be paid “up front” at the time of report submittal and the remaining $50 due at the time of CU issuance. An additional $50 fee plus 8% surcharge is also included for cases where a disclosure of findings report is rejected by Department staff and must be re-submitted. The cot of recording will vary, as the clerk charges basically a fee per page, and you will have anywhere from 9 to 14 pages. The total cost, including the inspection, report, filing etc, will vary from $1.200.00 to $1.650.00 |
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| Q. What about violations? | A. After the disclosure and findings report has been reviewed by staff, violations noted by the design professional will be referred to the appropriate department, Building or Office of Neighborhood Compliance (ONC). DP&Z staff will notate on the disclosure report that a referral(s) has been made prior to the document being recorded. DP&Z staff will enter the referral(s) in the Oracle system. This will allow the DP& Z to keep track of the referrals made to Building and ONC. The secretary of the Zoning Permit/Inspection Section will then email the referrals to the designated contact person for Building and ONC. Please note that the report’s acceptance is independent from the outcome of these violations. | ||||
| Q. What will happen with the code violations after the report is completed and the County becomes aware of the violations? Will the County’s code enforcement officials start issuing fines to the owner of the property? |
A. The Ordinance requires that violations be referred to the applicable County agencies. If code enforcement action is initiated and the property continues to be in violation of the code, fines may be levied only after the warning/citation and hearing/appeals processes have been completed. Depending on the speed of the County agencies, most likely the bank or realtor will not have the property by the time the agencies start the enforcing action, but if the case arises, we can help you with this also. We will work with you, giving you the information prior to submitting the disclosure of findings, so that you may remedy some or all violations prior to having them recorded. This allows the bank and or realtor to seize the opportunity of correcting non compliant situations "before" they appear as a part of the disclosure, which generally affects the BPO, or the offer from the prospect buyer. In most cases, the perceived value of the non compliant issues is a lot greater than the real value of correctiong them, in which case makes sense to have them corrected prior to offering the property for sale. |
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| Q. Who is responsible for fixing the code violations? | A. From a legal perspective the owner of the property during any time that the violation exists is responsible to the County to remedy the code violations. As such, the buyer and seller will ultimately be legally responsible for repairs unless the repairs are made before the closing. However the seller and the buyer can decide between themselves as part of the sales contract who will be responsible for the repairs. | ||||
| Q. How long will the process – from filing the application to obtaining a CU take? |
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A. The CU issuance process is expected to take between 1 to 4 days after the filing of a complete Disclosure of Findings report. Please take into account that a survey has to be ordered, or floor pland of the "as built" need to be produced, but generally it takes from one week to 10 days from the moment the order is placed. |
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| Q. Where can I find the recorded CU for a property?? | If you want to know if the property has complied with the CU requirements, and look online for a copy of the Disclosure of findings report, you will need to know the address or folio number (we recommend the latter), go to http://www.miamidade.gov/planzone/foreclosure/foreclosure.asp. be sure to have pen and paper ready, as you will need to write down some numbers in order to access the clerk of the county records for this property. | ||||
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CONSTRUCTION, INC. |
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