Sumter County family faces $50K fine after code enforcement notices sent to wrong address

A Central Florida family is fighting to hold onto a piece of property that carries decades of history — after Sumter County code enforcement fines were mailed to an outdated address following their grandmother’s death.Starley Ard says the ordeal started when her grandmother died in 2018. Code enforcement fines accumulated, but notices went to an old address. The family didn’t find out they owed money until 2021 — three years later — when Starley’s father received a pre-foreclosure notice.“We were stunned. We were really shocked,” Ard said.A piece of family history on the lineThe property is more than land to Ard.“This is more than a piece of land or piece of property,” she said. “What once stood here was the house that my father grew up in and my grandmother lived.”The home is no longer standing. Ard says the family didn’t have enough money to repair it, so they demolished it to address the county’s code violations.A years-long legal struggleThe path to get here was long. After receivi