a. The City shall possess a lien on property owned by the person found by a final, non-appealable order as set out hereinabove, or by a final judgment of the court to have committed a violation of a City ordinance for all civil fines assessed for the violation and for all charges, fees and abatement costs incurred by the City in connection with the enforcement of the ordinance. An affidavit of the Code Enforcement Officer shall constitute prima facie evidence of the amount of the lien and the regularity of the proceedings pursuant to KRS 65.8801 to 65.8840.
b. The lien shall be recorded in the office of the County Clerk and shall be notice to all persons from the time of its recording and shall bear interest at twelve (12%) percent per annum thereafter until paid. The lien shall continue for ten (10) years following the date of the non-appealable final order or final court judgment.
c. Subject to the provisions of hereinbelow, the lien shall take precedence over all other liens on the property, except state, county, school board and city taxes and may be enforced by judicial proceedings, including a foreclosure action.
d. In addition to the remedy prescribed above, the person found to have committed the violation shall be personally responsible for the amount of all civil fines assessed for the violation and for all charges, fees and abatement costs incurred by the City in connection with the enforcement of the applicable Code of Ordinances. The City Department of Law is authorized to bring a civil action for the collection of delinquent liens and other costs incurred by the City, and the City shall have the same remedies as provided for the recovery of a debt. The City Attorney, in cooperation with the Neighborhood and Community Services Department staff, is granted authority to use his best judgment and discretion to settle any fine and remedy assessments and to release liens as he deems to be in the best interests of the City. The City Attorney, in cooperation with the Neighborhood and Community Services Department staff, is further authorized to make a determination that a lien not be filed if the cost of the lien and collection is greater than the amount of the lien, when intervening in existing litigation is not cost effective or when the lien would not be enforceable as a matter of law. The City Attorney is also authorized to release any existing liens that meet the above criteria.
(Ord. BG2014-12, 8/5/2014; Ord. BG2016-40, 12/20/2016; Ord. BG2018-14, 3/28/2018; Ord. BG2018-46, 12/4/2018)