Foreclosure auction for Palmetto Bay councilman’s house is set. Can he still serve?
After a years-long fight to keep his home, Palmetto Bay Councilman Stephen Cody is hoping a judge will block his house from being auctioned off in a foreclosure sale Monday — a development that, were it to happen, could eventually threaten his ability to serve as an elected official for the coastal community.
According to a 2018 complaint from his lender, the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, Cody and his now-deceased wife, Rita, stopped making payments on the mortgage for the five-bedroom home in May 2013. Cody, who is representing himself through the process, says he doesn’t have plans to move.
On Nov. 1, Cody filed a motion to cancel the sale, citing active litigation. According to court documents early Friday evening, the auction was noticed in the Miami Daily Business review and set to begin at 9 a.m. Monday.
Cody, a children’s book author and redistricting consultant, is a trial lawyer who was suspended from the Florida Bar in 2013 for bouncing a check and failing to keep a client informed about a case. In 2016, he received a public reprimand for failing to pay costs related to his suspension.
The couple bought the house in 1993 for $195,000, according to county property records. A year later, they added a pool and a patio. In 1995, they built a screened-in enclosure. The house is now worth $281,668, according to the property appraiser.
Cody argues the current lender does not have the original promissory note, so he therefore does not have to pay the mortgage. The lender has changed several times since the couple bought the house.
“There really isn’t much to say,” Cody said Friday afternoon. “I am not going anywhere.”
There have been multiple foreclosure cases opened against him in the past, records show, but the house never went to auction. Cody said he was confident the judge would sign his motion to cancel the sale in the 11th hour. In the case that he doesn’t, “it’s instantly appeal-able,” Cody said.
Cody represents Seat 2 on Palmetto Bay’s five-member council, which stretches from Southwest 152nd Street to Southwest 168th Street. Three seats on the council — including Cody’s — represent specific residential areas, while the Vice Mayor and Mayor serve as at-large members.
According to the village code, a council member that represents a residential area can continue serving while living outside of the area if they are in the process of relocating. However, they can only do so for a 90-day period.
“He could live anywhere in the city for up to 90 days before he moves back into his own district,” Village Attorney John Dellagloria said.
The foreclosure doesn’t signify a lack of financial responsibility, Cody said, and residents should be confident in his abilities to make budgetary decisions, set taxes and approve contracts in his role as a council member.
He said one of the reasons he fell into financial trouble was the death of his wife in July 2019 and an infection in his leg that lead to an amputation in June 2020. The combined medical costs totaled about $1 million, he said.
“One doesn’t have anything to do with the other,” he said, noting that he will continue to fight the foreclosure “until it goes away.”
“I am, as some members on the council say, unflappable,” he said.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 5:37 PM.