{"id":7045,"date":"2025-12-09T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=7045"},"modified":"2025-12-09T08:00:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T13:00:04","slug":"shakedown-in-miami-city-presses-deed-holder-to-give-up-front-yard-space-for-potential-street-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/shakedown-in-miami-city-presses-deed-holder-to-give-up-front-yard-space-for-potential-street-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakedown in Miami: City Presses Deed Holder to Give Up Front Yard Space for Potential Street Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Chad is a deed holder in Miami. He says the city is trying to take front yard space away from him. He only wanted to create a backyard dwelling unit<\/a>. When he requested permission, Miami insisted that Chad must transfer a part of his front <\/em>yard to the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, the strange process Miami is trying to apply to Chad could impact more than 1,000 other homes. A lawsuit is now underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chad just filed an amended complaint against Miami, in the opening week of December 2025. The initial filing in the lawsuit occurred in April. Chad was representing himself in court. Now, Chad has a legal team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How It Started<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Chad and Stephanie bought their Buena Vista, Miami home for more than $700K. They were ready to start a family. And they soon decided to build an in-law cottage on their land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, soon after buying the home, the couple submitted a permit application to the Miami zoning officials. They hoped to add the new unit to the back of the home. Stephanie\u2019s parents could then move onto the property. In return, her parents were willing to care for the couple\u2019s child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the zoning department turned down the request. Miami was unwilling to issue a permit for an addition unless and until Chad transferred a permanent deed for part of the front yard. Miami wants 500 square feet of the land that runs along the street \u2014 half of the couple\u2019s front yard!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Chad\u2019s legal filing, Miami refused to issue the permit for 20 months. Why would the city reply to a permit for building a cottage in the back of the home \u2014 with a demand to give up land in the front of the home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Miami wanted to create setbacks, there\u2019s a process for that. Actually taking property isn\u2019t that process.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And indeed, the Miami planners \u201cdidn\u2019t seem to have any concerns with his building plan,\u201d as the Institute for Justice has observed. \u201cIt simply saw an opportunity to force Chad to give up part of his property.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attorney Benjamin Marsh adds: \u201cThis is theft by extortion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How It\u2019s Going<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Since that time, the couple has secured a legal team from the Institute for Justice. According to the firm\u2019s website<\/a>, it \u201cdefends ordinary people who want to earn an honest living [and] own and enjoy their property,\u201d and it \u201clitigates to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans.\u201d The firm offers its services free of charge for the cases its lawyers decide to take on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The firm sees the case as an effort to protect this family\u2019s property rights \u2014 and those of all Miami deed holders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once attorneys got involved, the city approved the couple\u2019s zoning waiver request. So, that\u2019s going well. Sort of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple\u2019s lawyers say the accessory housing unit will cost more than $200K in extra funds to install. They\u2019d have saved a lot of money if they could have started work earlier. The permit application was submitted early in 2024, well over a year before Miami finally decided to allow the installation of the cottage. Builders\u2019 costs have only gone up since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s not the only trouble the city has caused with its delayed building permit for Chad\u2019s family. The delay came with emotional and logistical costs. Stephanie took the couple\u2019s child to South Carolina, where they are living until the cottage can be built. That\u2019s left Chad home without his family.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chad\u2019s zoning waiver is for the accessory unit only. What if the family wants another permit, for some other reason? Would the household be asked to give up half their front yard at that point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What This Case Stands For<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Miami, says the Institute for Justice, in the amended lawsuit, has been \u201csystematically extorting hundreds\u201d of Miami deed holders. The lawyers assert that 1,000+ additional deed holders are at risk of being approached for more takings. Miami\u2019s procedures unjustly subject deed holders \u201cto a shakedown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current lawsuit for the deed holders\u2019 property rights asserts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n