News

By Dan Moffett
    
    Homeowners and house flippers who ignore code violations aren’t likely to get much sympathy from the Ocean Ridge Town Commission these days.
    Ask Prodigy Capital, a Palm Beach Gardens-based real estate investment group that pleaded for leniency over $24,255 in fines after taking over a foreclosed house at 17 Hudson Ave.
    Commissioner James Bonfiglio, former head of the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, told Prodigy’s representatives they didn’t deserve a break because they went ahead with interior renovations to the 3,400-square-foot house, instead of heeding code inspectors’ warnings about structural problems that posed safety issues and needed immediate attention.
    “You folks are experienced foreclosure investors,” Bonfiglio said. “You know those things should be done first. And you didn’t address them.”
    He said house flippers and foreclosure investors who come into communities to rehabilitate properties and make money have to follow the rules just like residents.
    “This is not a situation where you have somebody coming in who wants to move in to Ocean Ridge,” Bonfiglio said.  “You have an LLC who bought this at a foreclosure sale. They are profit-seeking enterprises.”
    Bernadine Jones, a Prodigy representative, told the commission that the company deserves leniency because it remedied an eyesore that otherwise might have languished indefinitely.
    “This property would sit for years — sit and sit and sit for years,” Jones said, “if it wasn’t for profit-seeking people like us.”
    Prodigy bought the house in foreclosure in June 2013, paying $425,900, according to county property records. The company inherited about $8,708 in liens for existing violations from the previous owners, then ran up another $15,546 during the last year after failing to complete the structural repairs until March. Prodigy says it put more than $160,000 in construction costs into the house and made only about $3,000 after covering other expenses and selling it recently for $739,000.
    “Different houses have different problems,” said Mayor Geoffrey Pugh. “You can’t get them all to fit in a nice little box. We have done lien considerations. … There’s room to move here.”
    He reminded Prodigy, however, that it requested an extension last year to deal with the structural violations, and the town granted more time, but the company still didn’t fix the problems.
    “We do want to encourage people to come into our town and improve our properties,” Commissioner Lynn Allison said. “I think we have to be flexible.”
    Bonfiglio relented and agreed to support reducing the inherited lien by half. The other commissioners concurred, voting 4-0 (with Commissioner Richard Lucibella absent for the June 2 meeting) to allow the company a $4,359.40 break and collect the other $19,895.60.
    Prodigy’s Jones was not pleased. “No more houses in this town,” she said as she exited the commission chamber.
    In other business:
    • Commissioners unanimously voted to renew the sanitation contract with Republic Services for another five years.
    Town Manager Ken Schenck said Republic had a renewal option in its existing contract, so staff did not seek bids. Pugh said the company “does its job exceedingly well” at a good price, and there was no reason to look at other vendors.
    All told, Ocean Ridge residents pay about $240,000 annually for Republic’s waste removal services, or about $12.75 per month for each user.
    • Commissioners agreed with Town Attorney Ken Spillias’ recommendation that they should discuss and clarify the town’s rental registration ordinance at their July 7 meeting, after a number of residents complained about confusion over the new requirements. The law, which was enacted in June 2013, requires landlords and owners who lease out their homes to register their properties with the town and pay a $50 fee.