Suit charges Daytona Beach's rental inspection program violates civil rights

Published: Tuesday, September 2, 2014 at 6:54 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, September 2, 2014 at 6:54 p.m.

DAYTONA BEACH The city has been hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging its 2-year-old residential rental inspection program is unconstitutional.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court accuses the city of violating local renters and landlords Fourth Amendment and 14th Amendment rights. The suit argues city inspectors should have probable cause to believe theres been a violation of law and search warrants before they enter leased homes, and that poor people and minorities are being discriminated against because they most often are renters.

The potential for perverse abuse of this power the city claims to have is stunning, said Ponte Vedra Beach attorney Andrew M. Bonderud, the plaintiffs lawyer in the legal action.

Bonderud is representing landlord Jack Aberman, who owns dozens of properties on Daytonas beachside, and three of his tenants. Aberman, a shareholder in GEA Seaside Investment Inc., hasnt allowed inspectors inside his rental homes and hes been papered to death by the city with demands to inspect, Bonderud said.

City Attorney Marie Hartman said Tuesday she hadnt read the lawsuit yet and couldnt comment. Mike Garrett, the citys chief building official, couldnt be reached for comment.

The city has long inspected large rental properties with five or more units, but it wasnt until the summer of 2012 that city commissioners OKd a program that would regularly allow an inspector into rental homes with one to four units to look for everything from broken steps to electrical hazards. The program aims to send an inspector to every rental property with four units or less throughout the city, but its starting with the beachside, where theres a large concentration of older homes that have been subdivided into apartments.

Community leaders and government officials argue overhauling the citys beachside residential rental stock is vital to reviving the area. More than 1,100 rental units have been inspected so far, and nearly half have been cited for code violations.

Those who comply and make repairs quickly are out only the $50 per unit inspection charge and another $40 for an application fee. Those who have not made themselves available for the program or who have not fixed problems are being sent to a special magistrate for hearings.

Delinquent landlords face fines or liens attached to their rental homes. Bonderud argues in his lawsuit that the special magistrate and other city officials have powers that are too broad under the city rental inspection law.

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Suit charges Daytona Beach's rental inspection program violates civil rights