Fort Lauderdale, FL Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Fort Lauderdale's vacant building rules are built around a boarding certificate system rather than a flat ban on empty houses. Sec. 18-7 declares three conditions a public nuisance: a vacant, unoccupied building with openings that are broken, missing or unsecured and therefore accessible; a vacant building boarded without a current and valid boarding certificate as required by this article; and a boarded building that does not comply with the article's standards even if a certificate exists. Simply being vacant is not itself unlawful; an unsecured or improperly secured vacant structure is.

To board up legally, an owner must obtain a board-up permit and, per Sec. 18-8, a boarding certificate from the development services department, at a certificate fee of $65.00, with the permit fee set under Sec. 9-48. The application must be completed within 30 days of filing, and city inspectors confirm compliance before the certificate issues. Sec. 18-10 spells out material specifications: continuous five-eighths-inch pressure-treated plywood, minimum bolt counts and spacing, vent holes for windows, and a coat of exterior paint matching the building's color, with the development services department authorized to approve alternative methods where the standard specs cannot be met. A certificate runs up to one year and can be renewed once for six months if the owner submits a repair, sale or demolition plan with a timeline, per Sec. 18-8(e); the city can revoke a renewal for missed deadlines under Sec. 18-8(f), and a new certificate is barred for a year after expiration absent good cause under Sec. 18-8(g).

As a Chapter 18 nuisance, a violation carries the $250 (uncontested) or $325 (contested) civil penalty under Sec. 11-25's schedule with a mandatory special magistrate hearing, and repeat or uncorrected violations can accrue up to $1,000 per day, or $5,000 per day for repeat violators, under Sec. 11-12(c).