PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — People who live in Shore Acres said they are receiving unnecessary code enforcement cases for their homes.
People reached out to ABC Action News saying the City of St. Pete opened cases for homes that never flooded from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
"For them to slap it on a home indiscriminately is just unfair," Liane Jamason
People who live in Shore Acres said their homes now have active code enforcement cases with the City of St. Pete, even though some are not violating the code.
"I was furious because they haven't even set foot in my house to know what's going on," said Jamason.
Jamason owns a home in Shore Acres that flooded during Hurricane Helene. She is also a real estate agent and is trying to sell her home.
She did mold remediation and is now selling it as is.
"They don't realize the damage it's going to have on sales," said Jamason.
She also has several other homes listed for sale in Shore Acres and said all of them have active code cases.
Kevin Batdorf said the home he is selling had an inch of flood water. The home got new baseboards and was brought up to code, yet he has an open case as well.
"This is just one more thing. It's a slap in the face. It's something that's not expected," said Batdorf.
The City of St. Pete sent a statement saying the homes that received code cases were identified through damage assessments after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The code cases were issued to monitor compliance with City and FEMA requirements, like making sure permits are obtained for repairs, verifying repairs are completed and permits are closed, and to protect buyers from purchasing a property that has been repaired without proper permits.
The City also stated, "Please note, an active codes case does not impact the ability for a property to be sold or transferred to a new owner…and a violation notice would only be issued if work is completed at a property without first obtaining required permits."
But Jamason said the open code cases do impact home sales.
"It's already hard enough to find buyers for flooded homes, so then to have to put that extra piece of paper in front of them and say here you have to sign off on this because there's something that says codes on it could kill a sale," said Jamason.
"A blanket code violation on every house also captures houses that didn't flood," said Batdorf.
Joey Romanik is a real estate agent and also owns a home in Shore Acres. He said it never flooded but still received an active code case.
"None of the houses on my street had water in them, so I was really surprised to see an open code violation," said Romanik.
Romanik was able to call the City and get his active code case removed.
City leaders said if you have any questions or concerns about an active code case, you can contact The City’s Codes Compliance Assistance Department.
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