I am a business owner in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Recently the police was on my warehouse asking for all my licenses, after I present the documents he asked by a certificate of occupancy, I can not provide this because I am not the owner of the storage I am renting. I explain I am not the owner, anyway he ticket me for ordinance 33.8. I told the police the ordinance 33.8 is Certificate of Use (Building Departmanet) not Certificate of Occupancy (Zoning Department), he told me both are the same thing, I replied are not the same thing, he ticket me anyway. The point is that this kind of violation is a civil violation, not criminal, he issued a criminal ticket and filed it in the criminal court in my name, not my company name. Now, I have charges for use and ocupancy violations in my personnal name in a criminal court. In my opinion somebody tried to damage my clean records, Miami-Dade County has a clear procedure to enforce the code ordinances, and the police did a wrong ticket. It is suppose they use a violation notice not a criminal ticket. I need some orientation how to proceed. Why the police ticket me in my name and not my company name? Why issued a criminal ticket? Should I request a dismissal of the charges before the trial date? Should I file pleadings in reference to wrong enforcement procedure?
Thanks in advance,

I believe you should get an attorney as soon as possible, anything criminal should be addressed immediately.

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Originally Posted by Seriozha

I am a business owner in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Recently the police was on my warehouse asking for all my licenses, after I present the documents he asked by a certificate of occupancy, I can not provide this because I am not the owner of the storage I am renting. I explain I am not the owner, anyway he ticket me for ordinance 33.8. I told the police the ordinance 33.8 is Certificate of Use (Building Departmanet) not Certificate of Occupancy (Zoning Department), he told me both are the same thing, I replied are not the same thing, he ticket me anyway. The point is that this kind of violation is a civil violation, not criminal, he issued a criminal ticket and filed it in the criminal court in my name, not my company name. Now, I have charges for use and ocupancy violations in my personnal name in a criminal court. In my opinion somebody tried to damage my clean records, Miami-Dade County has a clear procedure to enforce the code ordinances, and the police did a wrong ticket. It is suppose they use a violation notice not a criminal ticket. I need some orientation how to proceed. Why the police ticket me in my name and not my company name? Why issued a criminal ticket? Should I request a dismissal of the charges before the trial date? Should I file pleadings in reference to wrong enforcement procedure?
Thanks in advance,

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I don't exactly understand what happened here or what the violation was but, anyway, these are defenses to the ticket. An Attorney can explain things to you according to the laws in your area.

Why were the Police doing code enforcement checks or doesn't Dade County have some zoning enforcement agency?

I agree that if you want this dismissed, it's time for an attorney. If your information is correct, and these are bogus charges, an attorney should definitely be able to help you out. On your own... you may or may not be able to get it dropped.