Homestead, FL Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Section 6-531 lists the criteria that make a structure unsafe, including danger from failing electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing systems, inadequate egress, fire or windstorm hazard, dilapidation or abandonment, and construction left incomplete for 120 days or more after the permit lapsed. A structure is also "presumed to be unsafe" under Section 6-531(j) for conditions like falling or loose building material, structural deterioration, partial destruction, out-of-plumb sagging from over-stressing, no potable water or electric service while occupied, or construction completed without required permits or final inspections.

Once flagged, Section 6-533 sets the demolition thresholds: if repair costs exceed fifty percent of the structure's value, the building official "shall order the demolition" and will not issue a repair permit; at or below fifty percent, the building official still orders demolition unless the owner applies for a repair permit within thirty days and completes the work. A structure vacated, boarded or secured for six months or more, with unaddressed criminal activity occurring twice in that period, is also ordered demolished under Section 6-533(d).

The building official issues a notice of unsafe structure under Section 6-537, describing the property and the specific conditions found, and the owner has twenty days to appeal to the city's code enforcement special master before an order of demolition and cost assessment can be entered. All administrative and repair costs the city incurs become a lien against the property under Section 6-540, with the same priority as a tax lien.