Florida homeowner forced to pay $165,000 fine for parking in her own driveway

A Florida homeowner says she has been hit with a whopping $165,000 in code enforcement fines for something most people do every day: parking in her own driveway.

Sandy Martinez, a working mom in Lantana, Florida, says the penalties exploded after the town repeatedly cited her for how her family’s cars sat in her driveway.

Now, after years of fighting legally, the Florida Supreme Court has declined to step in, leaving the six-figure fine standing.

With the debt nearly matching the value of her home, Martinez says it has effectively trapped her financially.

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Florida homeowner fined for parking in her own driveway

Sandy Martinez is in a very tough situation because she does something that anyone should be allowed to: park her own car in her own driveway.

The situation seems to come down to a simple numbers problem: four working adults under one roof and four vehicles that have to go somewhere.

In the video, she explains that her sister, son, and daughter all live with her, all work hourly jobs, and all rely on their own cars to get to work.

But when everyone is home, the driveway becomes packed, and parking on the street is not an option because the property sits on a corner lot and street parking is restricted.

Parking on the sidewalk triggers tickets, so the only remaining option is squeezing a car onto the driveway, even if it means a couple of tires rest slightly on the grass.

That small overlap is exactly what the town of Lantana in Florida cited her for, and once the citations started, the fines started to stack up way too fast.

This is not the first time someone has faced bizarre legal issues in their own driveway.

The whopping $165,000 penalty grew at $250 per day

After the first violation, Martinez says she contacted the city and tried to resolve the issue, but she claims an inspector never returned for the required follow-up visit, and the fines kept running anyway.

According to the case details, the town charged her $250 per day for more than a year, which pushed the parking violation alone into the territory of six figures.

The parking fine was not the only issue, as Martinez also faced penalties for cracks in her driveway and a fence that collapsed during a storm, adding even more to the total bill.

In the end, her combined fines reached roughly $165,000 and counting, leaving her unable to sell her home or pass it down without paying the town first, with the fines costing almost as much as her home.

The Institute for Justice is representing Martinez and argues the punishment is wildly excessive for minor code violations, but with Florida’s top court refusing review, her options are shrinking rapidly.

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