A proposed ordinance moving through the Miami-Dade County Commission seeks to increase residential building owners’ obligations to residents in the event of evacuations and relocation costs.
If passed, residential building owners must make all necessary arrangements and pay all reasonable expenses to relocate residents to safe, sanitary, and secure housing within 24-hours of a building official’s order to vacate the building due to unsafe conditions.
The new ordinance applies only to residential buildings with 25 or more units. If the building owner fails to comply, Miami-Dade County personnel are empowered to assist in the relocation and charge the building owner for all costs incurred. Should a building owner fail to pay the costs incurred by the County, a lien shall be filed against the property.
Commissioner Sally Heyman sponsored the ordinance. After the Surfside collapse, surviving residents were displaced overnight with nowhere to relocate, nor any guarantee of financial assistance to secure alternative housing. Numerous buildings since then have been deemed unsafe and residents have been forced to upend their lives and find alternate housing immediately. The proposed ordinance ordinance seeks to alleviate the burden on residents of unexpected expenses and disruption caused by an order to vacate on little or no notice.
The proposed ordinance and is currently scheduled for a public hearing in January 2022.
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