A Miami Beach landlord has threatened to evict everyone living in its 102-unit building and said they have failed to maintain it.
More than 140 residents at the three-story waterfront property at 6484 Indian Creek Drive were served an eviction lawsuit which ordered them to respond within five days or possibly be removed from their homes.
The landlord, a company controlled by Millennium Management, which is led by healthcare tycoon Abraham Shaulson, claimed they failed to properly maintain and insure the 69-year-old building, according to the Miami Herald.
It is due for recertification next and year it is allegedly in need of at least $2million worth of repairs.
Some residents replied to the threat and pleaded for mercy with a 92-year-old widow, who has lived there for more than three decades begging: ‘Who will help me if I move to a strange place?’
A Miami beach landlord has threatened to evict everyone living in its 102-unit building and said they have failed to maintain it
The landlord, a company controlled by Millennium Management, which is led by healthcare tycoon Abraham Shaulson, claimed they failed to properly maintain and insure the building
One way to prevent the evictions could require the residents to pay a larger property assessment but many residents would likely be unable to afford a hike in costs.
The building was formerly a motel called the Garden of Allah until 1984 and is in between the newly-renovated Brittany Bay Park and the Shane Watersports Center and is on the same road as luxury condos.
The land is owned by a company, which leases it to the Gardens on the Bay owners association and their long-term deal expires in 2056.
Unit owners have a stake in the lease but in the lawsuit, the landlord has argued they are ‘tenants’ under the lease agreement.
It states the residents are responsible for making sure the building is maintained and that they should all be evicted for breaching the lease.
But the owners association, which is being represented by law firm Becker & Poliakoff, does not agree and claims it receives maintenance fees from unit owners and pays the landlord $65,000 a year.
It insisted it is the tenant under the lease and not the residents.
In a lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in February after Shaulson’s company sent an initial ‘notice of termination’ to the unit owners, the owners association said: ‘Relying on this incomprehensible position, Owner has now threatened eviction proceedings against the unit owners within the Association.’
Some unit owners at Gardens on the Bay, who are seniors with limited income, said they were ‘depressed’ following the eviction notices.
Pedro Vilorio, 78, a resident since 1997, told the Miami Herald: ‘It’s like they’re bullying us. We don’t have any place to go.’
Margarita Babilonia, 66, and her fiance Brian Colonna, paid $130,000 for a unit last year and moved from New York after they both retired.
‘We’re so depressed,’ she said. ‘We thought we were buying into a place where we were safe.’
The owners association is being represented by lawyers including former Miami Beach city commissioner Michael Gongora, who is a current candidate for mayor.
But association president Irene Lopez said they have told them they probably can’t represent each individual unit owner named in the lawsuit due to potential conflicts of interest.
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So they have been forced to get legal representation as the threat of eviction looms. The residents were told by one lawyer they required $3,500 from each of the 102 owners as a retainer.
Lopez said: ‘We need that money for the building.’
The owners association filed a motion to intervene in the eviction lawsuit and asked for a stay of the proceedings this week.
This was granted by Miami-Dade County Court Judge Stephanie Silver until a hearing which has been set for June 27.
In 2018, the building passed its 60-year recertification from the city of Miami Beach.
It had just one open violation, which was for the unpermitted remodeling of a unit.
However, an engineering report, which was ordered by Shaulson’s company last summer, found cracks in the concrete and other issues which will allegedly cost at least $2million to fix.
It is due for recertification next and year it is allegedly in need of at least $2million worth of repairs
It was formerly a motel called the Garden of Allah until 1984 and is between newly-renovated Brittany Bay Park and the Shane Watersports Center and on the same road as luxury condos
The landlord claimed the building does not have adequate insurance in the lawsuit and said it has raised the issue in a series of letters to the owners association sent over several years.
A property insurance company for the building said it would not renew its policy due to the age and condition of the roof.
‘The failure by the Tenants and the Association has left Landlord with no choice but to start an eviction action,’ J. Joseph Givner, the landlord’s attorney, told the association in a letter on Friday.
It proposed a ‘compromise’ which came with a 10-day deadline to respond.
The landlord will reinstate the lease if the unit owners agree to a list of terms which include getting the required insurance by June 26 and repairing ‘all problems with the physical condition’ of the building within three months.
But the owner association president Lopez said it would be incredibly difficult to complete any repairs within that time due to the financial situation of the unit owners and the actual process length.
She said Shaulson’s approach has been hostile since the company bought the property from Barry University in 2019 for $3.2 million.
‘Now he’s attacking each and every owner,’ she claimed. ‘I’m not going to let anybody steal our property.’
Gretchen Merkle, who has owned a unit in the building for over 35 years, agrees that the building needs work.
But she looks at the eviction as a ‘land grab’ where the goal is to knock down the building and redevelop it.
This claim was denied by the landlord and a spokesman said: ‘Landlord does not have a history of developing property and has never advised the tenants or anyone else that it is looking to knock down the building and redevelop.’
