{"id":378598,"date":"2026-08-22T20:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T20:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/378598\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T20:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T20:14:12","slug":"party-rocks-at-miami-condo-despite-city-order-to-cease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/378598\/","title":{"rendered":"Party rocks at Miami condo, despite city order to \u2018cease\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tourists<\/p>\n

Tourists congregate in the lobby at The Club of Brickell Bay on Monday morning, Aug. 17, 2026, where about 80 percent of the building\u2019s units are rented on Airbnb and other vacation booking sites, in violation of the city\u2019s laws.<\/p>\n

Provided by resident<\/p>\n

The party hasn\u2019t stopped at Brickell\u2019s \u201cAnimal House\u201d condo 12 days after the city of Miami ordered illegal vacation rentals to \u201ccease immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

A search on various booking websites turned up more than 200 short-term rentals available at The Club at Brickell Bay, indicating business as usual at one of Miami\u2019s largest condos. Glossy listings entice tourists with sun-drenched photos of balconies overlooking Biscayne Bay and descriptions of Brickell\u2019s lively nightlife, at room rates of $250 and up.<\/p>\n

About 80 percent of The Club\u2019s 643 units are Airbnbs owned by absentee investors and run by their property managers at the 43-story tower, which has been converted into a de facto hotel over the past six years and created chaos for the full-time residents who still live there.<\/p>\n

Miami Assistant City Manager Barbie Hernandez told The Club\u2019s five HOA board directors to stop all illegal Airbnb activity<\/a> in the building \u201cimmediately\u201d in an Aug. 11 letter. She also requested a response from the board within 10 days.<\/p>\n

Asked Thursday whether the board had complied with either demand, Hernandez sent a statement to the Herald on Friday: \u201cThe Association has provided a response, and a meeting is currently being scheduled. The City will continue to address the matter in accordance with applicable state and local laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how the city plans to enforce the cease-and-desist order, Hernandez did not elaborate.<\/p>\n

The five board members, who don\u2019t live in the building and list their units on Airbnb and other sites, have responded to the city by hiring a law firm, demanding voluminous public records from the city and requesting a 90-day grace period during which the city won\u2019t enforce its order.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, residents haven\u2019t noticed any changes. Check-ins and check-outs of guests with suitcases continue unabated in the busy lobby. Overtaxed elevators frequently break down. Late-night parties are as loud as ever. Barefoot, shirtless and thong-wearing visitors ignore the dress code. There\u2019s drunken, X-rated behavior on balconies and in the swimming pools. Hosts cram up to 14 people into units subdivided with unpermitted walls to create extra bedrooms; in fact, there are listings for 4-bedroom units even though no 4-bedroom units existed when the building was constructed in 2004.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Condo residents furious after Miami inspectors nix visit; city says hands tied<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tourists Tourists at The Club at Brickell Bay leave one of the elevators on Aug. 15, 2026, where about 80 percent of the units are rented through Airbnb and other vacation booking sites, in violation of the city\u2019s ban on short-term rentals in multifamily buildings. <\/p>\n

Miami police are called almost daily; on Aug. 4 they responded to a 2 a.m. call about a 20-year-old college student from Turkey who fell to his death from the balcony of a 34th-floor Airbnb. His friend told police the man had been drinking and smoking marijuana.<\/p>\n

Hernandez\u2019s order followed a Miami Herald article<\/a> that revealed how short-term rentals of less than 30 days thrive at The Club despite hosts\u2019 lack of required permits and licenses. A hotel reservation system is installed in the office. Hernandez concurred in her order that The Club is in violation of city laws.<\/p>\n

The Herald found that The Club, a multi-family residential building, has a Certificate of Use from 2007 that does not allow it to operate as a hotel and that contains the forged signature of former owner Alex Fornet, who has offered to help Miami\u2019s city attorney investigate alleged fraud at The Club. In an email he wrote to the city, he says he is a retired Miami-Dade police officer.<\/p>\n

Another CU, from 2011, allows a company to rent out 30 hotel units — although the board at that time never approved it.<\/p>\n

The Club\u2019s by-laws do not specify rental restrictions, but they do require owners to comply with local and state laws, including Miami 21 code restrictions, and prohibit transient lodging.<\/p>\n

Each of The Club\u2019s five board officers works in the short-term rental industry and none live in the building. Some manage a dozen up to three dozen Airbnb units at The Club. They were elected June 22 after a contentious campaign and detection of forged ballots<\/a> led to the defeat of longtime board president Karl de Borbon, who lives at and runs six Airbnbs at The Club.<\/p>\n

\"Partygoers Partygoers stumble back at 4 a.m. March 30, 2026, to The Club at Brickell Bay, 1200 Brickell Bay Dr., Miami. Linda Robertson lrobertson@miamiherald.com Board\u2019s response: Need 90 days<\/p>\n

The board replied to Hernandez on Friday by asking for an exhaustive list of public records and 90 days to analyze them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe newly elected board intends to work cooperatively with the city to resolve any misunderstandings while protecting the interests of our property owners and full-time residents,\u201d board president Maria Sindia Borras said in a statement to the Herald. \u201cWe have made a detailed records requests of the city and hired a law firm with expertise in land use and zoning law. We also asked the city for a 90-day grace period while we obtain and review those records.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board\u2019s goal is to ensure that our community is safe and well run, while preserving property values and maintaining financial stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board retained Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin & Tapanes, a politically connected Miami law firm known for representing real estate developers seeking project approvals, rezonings and variances from local government.<\/p>\n

\u2018delay game\u2019<\/p>\n

Longtime homeowner Colette Florez said she was disappointed by the board\u2019s response to Hernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that the board is fighting the city and playing the delay game is ridiculous,\u201d Florez said. \u201cI thought the new board would care about us and do something about the disaster waiting to happen here if there\u2019s a fire or hurricane.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they only care about their investment income. They have been profiting off our cash cow of a building for so long they do not want to compromise and switch to monthly rentals.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, via email to HOA members, the board made its first announcement addressing both the city\u2019s cease-and-desist letter and the Herald\u2019s July 18 article, which it said was not \u201creflective of day-to-day life at The Club at Brickell Bay\u201d and focused on \u201cjust a handful of vocal residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those residents, who have been complaining to the city for years about disturbances, dangerous clientele and safety hazards at The Club, said they had expected more transparency from new board members. They expressed anger over the board using HOA funds – owners\u2019 monthly maintenance fees – to pay lawyers to challenge the city\u2019s order and preserve investors\u2019 Airbnb businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t have to play a game of hide and seek with our condo board. I didn\u2019t buy into an autocracy. No kings!\u201d said Christina Lardon, who has lived at The Club since 2008. \u201cThe board is stealing our money to fight us so they can continue their charade. They are self-dealing and have broken their campaign promises to owners and residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Christina Christina Lardon Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Lardon, among other owners, said she\u2019s been unable to communicate with board members. The Club property manager, an employee of First Service Residential, told Lardon she cannot share board members\u2019 emails or phone numbers.<\/p>\n

Lardon, among others, has also received cease-and-desist letters from the HOA attorney whenever she complained about short-term rentals. She says she is being targeted as a whistleblower.<\/p>\n

The board reiterated its vision for harmony between investors who own Airbnbs in the building and owners who live there.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite these challenging circumstances, the board is confident that it can work constructively with the city in a way that protects the lawful property rights of unit owners and the property values of the community,\u201d the board wrote in the email to HOA members.<\/p>\n

In the board\u2019s reply to Hernandez, Miami attorney Javier Zayas-Bazan said the HOA denies \u201coperating a hotel or lodging establishment.\u201d The board also denies \u201chaving directed its personnel to turn away any city inspectors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez criticized the board for denying access to the building to code compliance inspectors who responded to complaints. Emails between residents and the code compliance department show that inspectors had been told to leave by front desk employees. On another occasion last year, de Borbon confronted two city inspectors who were issuing unlawful lodging citations and shooed them out of the building, saying they were trespassing.<\/p>\n

Like de Borbon, the current board members also have a stake in contesting the city\u2019s attempt to shut down Airbnbs. Sindia Borras, who served under de Borbon and is now board president, owns two short-term rental units in the building.<\/p>\n

Vice president Jessiana Escontrela is partner at Park Place Properties in Miami and owner of five units at The Club. \u201cWe maximize your revenue,\u201d the website of the management company says, \u201c… ensuring properties succeed in the competitive Miami market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Treasurer Suad Yidios, who served on the previous board, is CEO of My House Hospitality. She has a \u201cStunning 2BR@Brickell free parking ocean view\u201d available Sept. 10 for two nights for the low season rate of $807 on VRBO. Or \u201cPenthouse Oceanview 4bedroom free parking @Brickell\u201d available Sept. 21 for three nights for $1053.<\/p>\n

\"A A recent VRBO listing by The Club board treasurer Suad Yidios. The listing appears after the city of Miami, in an Aug. 11 letter, ordered all illegal short-term rentals at The Club to \u2018cease immediately.\u2019 The city says the short-term rentals violate local and state laws. VRBO <\/p>\n

Secretary Victor Lozier, who led the campaign to unseat de Borbon and wants strict management of Airbnbs, is CEO of VoilaRentals.<\/p>\n

Director Luis de Antonio, a native Spain, is head of de Antonio Elite Stays, \u201csupporting operations\u201d and \u201ccoordinating guest experiences\u201d at short-term rental and hospitality properties in Miami.<\/p>\n

Former Club property manager Yissely Herrouet runs a \u201cModern and Luxurious Brickell Studio\u201d that is available for one night Aug. 29 for $255. Herrouet was arrested in November and charged with grand theft and running a scheme to defraud by employing relatives and manipulating payroll expenses, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney\u2019s Office. She has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

\"The The Club at Brickell Bay, 1200 Brickell Bay Drive, is one of Miami\u2019s largest condo towers with 643 units in the 43-story building. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

This story was originally published August 22, 2026 at 3:00 PM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tourists congregate in the lobby at The Club of Brickell Bay on Monday morning, Aug. 17, 2026, where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-378598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378598","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=378598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}