Sandy Martinez, a homeowner in Lantana, Florida, has been battling over $165,000 in fines for three minor code violations for years. She's now asking the Florida Supreme Court to consider her case and put a stop to what she says are unconstitutionally excessive fines.
Martinez's accumulated six-figure fine amounts to nearly four times her annual income, financially crippling the single mother over infractions that have since been corrected and never threatened health or safety.
What atrocities warranted such devastating debt? Cracks in her driveway, a storm-blown fence, and cars parked on her own grass. First, Martinez faced daily $75 fines while saving up to replace her cracked driveway in 2013, ultimately owing $16,125 in total, "far greater than the cost of an entirely new driveway," as noted in the initial lawsuit. Then, the city began fining her $125 per day in 2015 for a fence knocked down after a storm. While Martinez waited for her insurance claim to pay for the repair, she accrued another $47,375 in fees—again, "several times the cost of the repair and substantially more than the cost of a completely new fence," according to her complaint.
