Veterans caught in middle of messy dispute over liens with City of Deltona: A decade of fines
DELTONA, Fla. - Several veterans in Deltona are battling the city over a decade-old code enforcement lien that threatens two separate properties with foreclosure, despite the current owners having no connection to the original violations.
The properties
What we know:
Lianne Habets and her husband Karel Klarenbeek bought a home on Eden Drive in Deltona as an investment property.
The woman who sold them their house on Eden also sold another property she owned down the road, on Tulip Street.
Carl Monserrate bought that house for his mother and ailing father to live in. He lived next door and wanted them close by so he could help out when needed.
That Tulip Street property came with $125,000 in liens that still haven’t been paid. The liens on Carlos’ house on Tulip Street got tied to the owner’s other house on Eden Drive, which Lianne and Karel had purchased shortly before Carlos got his home.
The liens
Dig deeper:
In Florida, liens aren’t just tied to a property where a violation occurred. Instead, they’re tied to the owner, meaning any other property that person owns can also get roped in. That’s what happened here.
The original code enforcement violations happened while Lianne was living in the Netherlands, Karel was serving in Afghanistan, Carlos was deployed to the Army in Iraq, and his mom was living in Puerto Rico, retired from the U.S. Women’s Army Corp.
The violations were minor in nature, but were charged at a daily rate that spent over a decade accumulating.
And now, even though the violations are cleared up, and even though they have nothing to do with the current owners, both properties are under threat of foreclosure.
Lianne and Karel were told specifically the liens would be resolved before closing and would not affect them. Carlos knew he would be responsible for at least some portion of the liens.
Why weren't the liens paid?
Carlos bought the fixer-upper on Tulip over-priced, but with a contract saying he would get $125,000 back to pay off the liens. His realtor said he would get to keep some of that money if the city reduced the lien amount.
Carlos went to a special magistrate, who did recommend the liens get wiped out on the Tulip Drive house, so he used the money to repay his loans instead. However, when the city learned he was given money specifically for lien repayment, they reversed course and decided they actually did want their payment in full.
By then, the money had come and gone, so the city set its eyes on Karel and Lianne’s property on Eden.
The stress
What they're saying:
Karel and Lianne don’t think they should have to pay the liens, because they were not disclosed to them when they bought the house, and because the violations did not occur on that property.
Lianne and Karel say the stress of this situation has been incredibly taxing, leading to worsened PTSD symptoms for Karel.
"Why hold us hostage in this?" Lianne asked. "There should be absolutely no reason why they cannot release us, but they don't."
They don’t think the original seller should have to pay for the liens either, since she had already given Carlos the money, under a contract that specified he was expected to pay for them.
Carlos explained he only bought the dilapidated property in the first place because his realtor told him the lien amount would get reduced.
"It was a big misunderstanding, and we're caught up in the middle," Carlos told FOX 35.
Issues at closing
Lianne and Karel used attorney Marc Brown to help with their closing and title. He came highly recommended, and Lianne was acquainted with him through work.
But they ran into problems at closing. Their attorney, Marc Brown, is in jail for money laundering and grand theft. He’s accused of stealing from several clients, including over $260,000 that Lianne and Karel put down for their title.
The couple says Brown moved their money to his own title company without asking them, then stole it. They were able to get the money back through. They were able to get repaid in part from that criminal case, and from title insurance, but their money is now held up in the court registry.
That means it can’t accrue interest, and can’t be used for investment anywhere else. It’s simply stuck in limbo as the lien issue gets figured out on Eden Drive.
Collateral damage
Since there was never an official closing on the Eden property, because of Marc Brown’s lawsuit that left the Tulip property money in the court registry, the company that found the buyers never got paid.
Lisa Mazella says she and her husband are out $20,000 on that deal.
"Let the families move forward, that's what I want to see," Mazella told FOX 35. "I just wanna see a favorable outcome for everybody."
Where does the city stand?
What we don't know:
It remains unclear when or if the City of Deltona will reach a formal resolution with the affected families. The City declined to comment on the matter, citing the ongoing nature of the legal case.
The Source: This story was written based on information shared by Lianne Habets and her husband Karel Klarenbeek, Carl Monserrate, and the City of Deltona.