ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando’s code enforcement board on Wednesday bumped up the timeline for rental company Florida Beach Coast to address multiple outstanding code violations, including several health and safety issues, on one of its properties located just off Mercy Drive in Orlando.

An agent representing the company asked for 90 days to address all outstanding issues. But after hearing testimony from a past and current tenant, the board instead moved to give owners just seven days to address the most dire health and safety concerns, and 30 days total to bring the whole property up to code. 

After those deadlines, the company will be charged $100 each day that violations continue to go unaddressed.

Spectrum News 13 previously reported that two different families have lived in the three-bedroom home during the last two months, despite a slew of code violations on the home ranging from mildewed windows and an out-of-date HVAC system, to a bathtub that backs up with apparent sewage and rust when the toilet is flushed.  

The city first became aware of issues on the property in February, per code enforcement officer Al Livingston. That is when former tenant Kathaleen Jones moved in, after seeing allegedly misleading photos of the home that Florida Beach Coast posted online. 

Despite ownership’s claims to the contrary, the code violations noted in February continue to go unaddressed, Livingston claimed.

“They did not fix all the stuff that they needed to fix in the home,” said the home’s current tenant Wilnise Saint-Clermont during Wednesday’s hearing.

Saint-Clermont, who moved to Orlando from Michigan with her three young children to be closer to her mother, also relied on photos to gauge her interest in the house. But when Saint-Clermont arrived, she says she discovered mildewed windows, a fridge full of roaches and some dire plumbing issues.

“Any time you use the kitchen sink, you affect the toilet,” Saint-Clermont told Spectrum News 13 during an interview late last month.

She and Jones both said despite their best efforts, they could not clean the bathroom, where the tub backs up. City code enforcement officials expressed the most concern Wednesday about the home’s sewage and plumbing issues, as well as its lack of a functional smoke detector and some exposed electrical wires that could pose a fire hazard.

Sean Spivey, who introduced himself as “an agent for the owner,” disputed code enforcement officers’ timeline, saying he had been working since late March to bring the property up to code.

“We did do significant work in the middle of April,” Spivey said. “In fact, the next tenant's move-in was delayed in an attempt to close the code violation case.”

Indeed, Spectrum News 13 reported that Saint-Clermont had to wait several weeks after her initial move-in date of April 1, to receive her keys. The company told her it was working to bring the property up to code and she’d only have to wait a few days — but days turned into weeks, while Saint-Clermont paid to stay in a hotel.

Finally, on April 22, they moved in  to a home that still was not up to code, she said. Saint-Clermont says she has not been pro-rated any of her April rent.

Spivey said he would be working on the home since late March, and that it would be in compliance, “hopefully sooner rather than later.”

“If plumbing is backing up, we hired a bad plumber. And we'll try to get another one out there,” Spivey said.

But Inspector Supervisor George Wharton was clear: ownership has not been doing enough to address the home’s multiple code violations.

“They’ve just now started to do work on this unit because of this hearing,” Wharton said. “Nothing prior to this day, or the last couple days have been done on this unit.”

Livingston, the attending officer, also pointed out the quick succession of tenants leaving and entering the home.

“They're moving people in and out and collecting the money,” Livingston said. “But for any reason that it becomes vacant, we're asking that it remains vacant until all violations are cleared.”

The board granted that request.

Molly Duerig is a Report for America corps member who is covering affordable housing for Spectrum News 13. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.