1.24.150 Collection of unpaid fines.
A. City Remedies. The city, at its discretion, may pursue any and all legal, equitable, and administrative remedies for the collection of unpaid civil administrative fines. A civil administrative fine shall be deemed unpaid the day after the due date set by the administrative citation, or if appealed, the day after the due date set by the hearing officer or applicable board in its decision. If the decision of the hearing officer or applicable board is appealed to, or petition for writ filed with, the superior court, the civil administrative fine shall be deemed unpaid the day after the due date set by the superior court. If the superior court upholds the administrative citation, but fails to set a due date, the fine shall be deemed unpaid on the eleventh day after the superior court decision is mailed.
1. Remedies Cumulative. Pursuit of one remedy does not preclude the pursuit of any other remedies.
2. Refusal to Issue Permits. A city department may refuse to accept an application for a city permit or license or refuse to issue, extend, or renew to any person who has unpaid delinquent fines, liens, or assessments any city permit, license, or other city approval pertaining to the property that is the subject of unpaid delinquent fines, liens or assessments.
3. Suspension of Issued Permits. Notwithstanding any other provision of the code, any permit, license, or any type of land use approval issued by the city to a person who has unpaid administrative citations totaling five hundred dollars or more which remain delinquent for thirty days or longer may be suspended by the department which issued the permit or other entitlement. The suspension becomes effective ten days after the date the notice of the suspension is placed by the issuing department in the United States mail postage prepaid, addressed to the person, and continues until the administrative delinquency is paid in full. The person may request an appeal or review hearing pursuant to the specific permit, license, or other city approval procedures or ordinance if such a request is filed before the ten-day period ends.
4. Criminal Remedies. The city attorney, at his or her discretion, may also issue a criminal citation or complaint (infraction or misdemeanor) to any person for a code violation.
B. Violations Constitute a Public Nuisance. The director may pursue the remedies described in this section whether or not the city is pursuing any other action to terminate an ongoing code violation that was the basis for an administrative citation or to otherwise abate the violation or sanction the property owner. To compel code compliance, the city may also seek to collect assessed fines by means of a nuisance abatement lien or special assessment against the property where a property related violation occurred in accordance with the procedures in Government Code Sections 38773.1 and 38773.5.
C. Lien Conditions. To recover any delinquent administrative fines as a lien or special assessment on real property, the following conditions must be met:
1. The director must submit to and receive approval from the city council for a resolution certifying the amounts of the liens and special assessments sought to be collected from each property owner; and
2. The total amount of the delinquent fine against the property owner must be delinquent for sixty days or more.
D. Lien Collections. The director is authorized to take any steps necessary to enforce collection of the lien or special assessment, including but not limited to the following:
1. Request the county recorder to record a notice of any lien or special assessment certified by resolution of the city council.
2. Request the county tax collector on behalf of the city to collect any special assessments certified by resolution of the city council.
E. Notice of Lien Collection Procedures. All administrative citations shall contain a notice that unpaid fines are subject to the assessment and lien collection procedures of this chapter. This notice shall satisfy the notice requirements of Government Code Sections 38773.1 and 38773.5 when an administrative citation is served on the person. In addition, the director shall by first class mail send notice to each property owner at least ten days before the city council considers the resolution to certify the amounts of the liens and special assessments stating the date, time, and location of the meeting. The lien or special assessment shall be imposed on the date the administrative citation for the code violation is issued to the responsible person and shall become effective upon the recording of a notice of lien or special assessment by the county recorder.
F. Contesting Certification of a Lien. A person may contest the amount or the validity of any lien or special assessment for a civil fine at the public hearing when the city council considers the resolution to certify the liens or assessments. Such contests shall be limited to the issue of the amount or validity of the lien or assessment and may not consider whether the underlying code violation occurred. Pursuit of such a contest by a person is necessary to exhaust the administrative remedies concerning a legal challenge to the validity of any such lien or special assessment. (Ord. 1625 § 1 (part), 2015)