My name is Maria Salsberg. Six months ago, when this photo was taken, Life was Sweet. My Husband, Tony, and I have been living with his Mom, my Mom-in-Law, for five years now. She was then 84 years old and alone, and we arrived prior to the pandemic to take care of her. Everything was good.
Tony passed away suddenly on March 14, 2023. On April 2nd, his estranged brother came to the house on the pretext of visiting his mother. I thought it went well, but he showed up the next day, with Police and Code Enforcement in tow. He forcibly removed his mother from her own home, and then he pointed out to Code Enforcement all the un-permitted work his mother had done in the house over the course of 40 years.
These Violations must be remedied on a timely basis and you need to file Permits to do the work. Therein lies the problem. Several years ago, Carmencita deeded the house to the three of us “with rights of survivorship”. No one could foresee that Tony would die first, and now I own 50% of the house and Carmencita owns the other 50%.
The City of Coral Gables will not allow me to apply for the permits by myself. My brother-in-law has had Mom declared incompetent due to her advanced age. Both he and I have filed competing Petitions to be named her legal guardian, but a decision won’t be entered for at least two months, if not longer.
My problem is that the City, because no valid permit applications have been filed, is calling the house unsafe (which it is not), and they are requiring that I move out by July 8th, 2023. They further want to condemn this house, worth almost two million dollars, and charge us back for the demolition.
I NEED A STAY OF EXECUTION! I need a lawyer who can fight City Hall for me, AND I need money to MOVE. I get about $2,000 a month from Social Security, half of which goes to my car payment and insurance. I have no savings, since I spent what little I had trying to cure the Violations.
IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO WOULD LIKE TO HELP A 68 YEAR OLD WIDOW FIGHT FOR HER HOME, PLEASE?