Anyone can be a victim of a Disaster.  Then the victim of fines that can legally take your home.

ALL homeowners are vulnerable.  Code enforcement can start fines that will take your home!   Shock/trauma, insurance problems, labor shortage and lack of materials can cause delays in home repairs for disaster victims.  Please sign this petition to make sure the full 3 years is allowed for all homeowners to recover without fines started.

Sign now and post to everyone you can!

FL homeowners are protected by the 3% save our home tax cap.  [Florida State Statute] F.S.S. 196.031 (7).  The 'Calamity' addition to the homestead tax law says: " Failure by the property owner to commence the repair or rebuilding of the homestead property within 3 years after January 1 following the property’s damage or destruction constitutes abandonment of the property as a homestead." - 

BUT Code Enforcement can start daily fines under the law! Even though it clearly states you have 3 years to commence repairs or rebuilding.

IT IS A CLEAR CONTRADICTION.  You have 3 years to start repairs and keep your prior tax bill but you can have fines for not starting work costing up to $500 a day that will cost the loss of your home.  Homeowners are not protected until they have the same 3 years to rebuild without fines like the tax cap preempting the local government from giving fines.  

Please sign, and share this petition stopping local cities and counties from ignoring the existing State law. 

Copy of Little known Florida State Statue 196.031 Subsection (7)   http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0196/Sections/0196.031.html 

(7) When homestead property is damaged or destroyed by misfortune or calamity and the property is uninhabitable on January 1 after the damage or destruction occurs, the homestead exemption may be granted if the property is otherwise qualified and if the property owner notifies the property appraiser that he or she intends to repair or rebuild the property and live in the property as his or her primary residence after the property is repaired or rebuilt and does not claim a homestead exemption on any other property or otherwise violate this section. Failure by the property owner to commence the repair or rebuilding of the homestead property within 3 years after January 1 following the property’s damage or destruction constitutes abandonment of the property as a homestead. After the 3-year period, the expiration, lapse, nonrenewal, or revocation of a building permit issued to the property owner for such repairs or rebuilding also constitutes abandonment of the property as homestead.

• Current Florida State Statute needs to clarify the stipulations in the State Statute are preemptive; The FSS 196.031 (7) preempts the local city and county Code Enforcement from fining victims of calamity and misfortune.  "Local Code Enforcement cannot  ignore the statute and fine a homeowner under the 3 years.   (The home needs to be secure and not a public nuisance.)" 

Most FL homeowners don't know this law exists.  Please forward to everyone you know.  This is a serious issue please don't think lightning or other natural disaster couldn't happen to you at any time causing a calamity.

• No Disaster survivor should be victimized again or future generations stripped of family homes.

Can you think of one reason a politician would NOT want to protect all victims of a disaster when the law already was created with that intention?!?!  

Code Enforcement used by cities and counties strategically selecting and fining homes is an silent epidemic as news stories are starting to cover.  If they get thousands of dollars or wind up with the land neither should happen to protected properties under this law.