City Duns Landlords for Unpaid Loans

ORLANDO-In a bizarre bookkeeping scenario, Mayor Buddy Dyer and his council are discovering the city hasn’t been repaid on over a half million dollars in 10-year renovation loans made to 73 owners of affordable housing in the low-income Parramore district of Downtown.

City attorney Wayne Rich, a developer himself, confirms the city already has lost $267,597 on 23 uncollected loans because it is barred from collecting debts over five years old due to the statute of limitations. But on the $318,617 in loans that still fall under the five-year statute curtain, the city council has voted 6 to 1 to sue the 17 owners if necessary to collect the money.

“It’s a strange situation where the city has put itself in the role of a lender and then forgotten to collect the debts,” an area real estate lawyer not associated with the controversy tells GlobeSt.com. “It’s an embarrassing situation for the city’s administrative staff.”