{"id":114141,"date":"2026-01-11T15:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/114141\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T15:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:10:09","slug":"orlando-wants-to-foreclose-on-historic-lake-eola-area-house-following-long-neighbor-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/114141\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando wants to foreclose on historic Lake Eola area house following long neighbor fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a\u00a0 brick-lined street not far from the iconic Lake Eola<\/a>, a fight is escalating over a historic house that\u2019s wracked up about half a million dollars in code enforcement fines and is in danger of being foreclosed on in downtown Orlando.<\/p>\n

A handful of Lake Eola Heights<\/a> neighbors have complained\u00a0 about 611 E. Concord St. regularly for years about the house parties and accused the homeowners of renting out large events instead of living there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music is blaring with bass shaking my house next door. I am a professional who wakes up very early in the morning,\u201d neighbor lawyer Brent Riddle wrote in November to the city, according to city records released<\/a> following a Florida Politics records request. \u201cThere is a long history of this owner\u2019s callous disregard for the applicable laws and zoning regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVenue party at residential home. Loud music. Using residential home as event center. Again,\u201d neighbor Mary Maher wrote the city in 2024.<\/p>\n

Some reported the house had even been listed for rent by the hour on a website with ties to the adult entertainment business, the records showed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Homeowner Holly Joffrion countered her neighbors\u2019 and the city\u2019s complaints aren\u2019t true and called the code enforcement violations unfair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess you would call it like the\u00a0 Karens of the HOA but it\u2019s not a HOA. It\u2019s the neighbors and the city of Orlando,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ve nit-picked every little thing that there is and there are just as many as many houses in the neighborhood that have literally the exact same make and model of these things hung on their house with no violations, with no interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city of Orlando took action and filed a complaint Nov. 20<\/a> to foreclose on the house\u2019s code enforcement liens. The fines are accruing\u00a0$75 to $500 per day so the total amount was $483,575, the city confirmed as of Dec. 18 to Florida Politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Property has become a nuisance and\/or a hazardous condition, which presents a serious and continuous danger to the public and\/or occupants of the Property,\u201d the city\u2019s complaint said in Orange County Circuit Court.<\/p>\n

The city also argued the homeowners improperly filed a homestead exemption on the house and said they are not actually living in the Concord Street home. The city is asking the courts to rule on the issue so Orlando can move forward to foreclose and sell off the house to pay the lien.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But in an interview, Joffrion disputes the narrative raised in court records and city records about her century-old home that her family bought in 2022 for $900,000.<\/p>\n

She argued she does in fact live in the house as she described how the couple\u2019s nightmare began.<\/p>\n

Holly and her husband Mikhail quickly realized their house was in bad condition from mold to water leaks to a crumbling deck after purchasing it.<\/p>\n

Joffrion said her relationship with her neighbors has been fraught early on as the couple undertook emergency repairs and realized they were over their head with the house\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur neighbor is actually the former president of the historic preservation committee, so he has eyes like a hawk. He\u2019s watching everything,\u201d Joffrion said. \u201cHe says we\u2019re doing unpermitted builds. \u2026 Obviously, you don\u2019t need a permit when you\u2019re doing emergency repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple initially wanted to have the house be an Airbnb<\/a> but changed their mind as they began dealing with \u201cthe headache of code violations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The couple expanded on the use of their house in a 2023 message to the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my profession to travel globally to design & market luxury properties for AirBNB, VRBO, Marriott Vacation Club, and Hilton Grand Vacations. I own hundreds of listings across the (country) and partner with hosts in other countries to assist in growing their properties SEO. Our listings in Orlando serve as market research that help our investors understand the market potential of the area, as well as the kinds of photography & interior designs that equate to clickable listings,\u201d the message, signed by Mikhail and Holly said. \u201cWe have 421 days of 24-hour footage showing that the property has not been used as a short-term rental, as well as the reporting from the above mentioned partners showing no bookings have been accepted or money transacted. This house is our primary residence, and a portfolio piece for my company and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joffrion, who comes from a large family, said the Queen Anne-style house is often the site for the family\u2019s weddings and\u00a0 birthday parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m one of seven myself. So we have 52 grandchildren\u00a0 amongst me and my siblings,\u201d Joffrion said.<\/p>\n

When Joffrion threw her own wedding renewal, she said a neighbor who didn\u2019t recognize her, confronted her angrily in her wedding dress.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me. Do you know that the owners don\u2019t even live here and it\u2019s illegal what you\u2019re doing?\u201d the neighbor told her, she recounted.<\/p>\n

Joffrion argued as she has tried to be a good neighbor and disputes her parties are too loud. She said they keep a decibel reader to make sure they are in compliant with the city\u2019s noise ordinance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage any of the neighbors who read (this) article to please come the next time that they hear that we\u2019re having a party. We\u2019ve hosted open parties and invited the neighborhood. We\u2019ve asked them to come. They don\u2019t come,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re just honestly here living our life \u2026 and we will continue to keep celebrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joffrion homeschools their children and the family planted a dream garden in the backyard to grow mint, lemons and more.<\/p>\n

When asked if she was worried about losing her home in foreclosure, Joffrion said she believed the facts will prove her case in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have six daughters. I intend to marry each and every one of them here,\u201d she said. \u201cSo they can look forward to at least six more weddings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a\u00a0 brick-lined street not far from the iconic Lake Eola, a fight is escalating over a historic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2275,32611,139,141,140],"class_list":["post-114141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-downtown-orlando","tag-foreclosure","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}