Hialeah, FL Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Sec. 78-31 puts an affirmative duty on every owner of a lot, parcel or tract within the city, including vacant land, to keep it in a safe, clean and presentable condition and to remove garbage, surplus grass, saplings, weeds and other growths, plus fill in any excavations or depressions. Sec. 78-32 goes further for unimproved land specifically: it is unlawful for an owner or anyone in possession of a lot, improved or unimproved, to permit an accumulation of waste, trash, garbage, debris, shrubbery, grass cuttings, vines, weeds or bushes that constitutes a nuisance or overgrowth, and grass or weeds over six inches tall is prima facie evidence of that nuisance.

When a code inspector documents a violation, Sec. 78-34 requires the city to notify the owner, occupant or tenant, by mail to the address on the Miami-Dade County tax rolls, or by posting the property if the owner cannot be found, and give at least 24 hours, or another reasonable period, to cure. If the owner does not comply by the notice deadline, Sec. 78-35 lets the city clean or clear the lot itself and bill the owner for labor and materials; unpaid costs after 30 days become a special assessment lien on the property, ranking equal to a tax lien and superior to mortgages, and the lien accrues interest at eight percent annually until paid.

Violations of Article II are punished under the chapter-wide penalty scale in Sec. 78-7: escalating fines of $100, $250 and $500 for repeat offenses where no specific amount is set, with each day of a continuing violation counted as a separate offense.