Joe Carollo’s home will be up for auction soon. He’s trying to stop it in court
Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo’s Coconut Grove home is scheduled to be auctioned on March 19 — but the embattled politician is fighting to stop the sale in court.
On Feb. 2, U.S. Marshals began the process of seizing Carollo’s property to satisfy part of a $63.5 million judgment against him after a jury found he weaponized city resources to target two Little Havana men and their businesses to carry out a vendetta. On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Rodney Smith rejected a separate attempt from Carollo to stop the men from collecting on the judgment.
The two businessmen, William “Bill” Fuller and Martin Pinilla, own several Little Havana properties that have been fined and shut down by city officials citing code violations. Carollo was hit with the massive judgment after a trial in the spring of 2023, and even though Fuller and Pinilla have acknowledged they don’t expect to see the full sum, they are going after the commissioner’s assets and wages.
The auction for the two-story, 5,243-square-foot residence is scheduled for noon on March 19. On Wednesday, Carollo filed a new motion in federal court to block the auction, arguing that his Morris Lane property is protected from seizure under the Florida Constitution. Court records show he and his wife, Marjorie Carollo, each filed affidavits with Miami-Dade County claiming the Grove property, which he’s owned since 2001, is the couple’s legal homestead under a state constitution provision that protects such properties from being seized to pay a legal judgment.
The constitutional definition of a homestead is separate from the homestead property tax exemption typically associated with owner-occupied homes. As of Feb. 2, an application for the tax exemption was pending. The application was filed earlier this year.
Carollo’s legal team is also arguing that the public notice for the auction, which was published in this week’s edition of the Miami New Times, has errors in it that prevent the sale from proceeding. Carollo has maintained that he has unresolved motions in front of Smith, the federal judge who oversaw his trial, that prevent him from pursuing an appeal.
Carollo has not lived in the Morris Lane home for the better part of the last seven years. Before running for the District 3 seat in 2017, he moved into a West Brickell apartment. At that time, his home was in District 2. When the city redrew the voting map in 2022, Carollo’s home was included in District 3, allowing the Carollos to move back into the house. The redistricting process is the subject of a separate federal lawsuit that is awaiting a judge’s order following a two-day trial in early February.
In an interview Thursday, Carollo said Fuller and his attorneys have acknowledged in court that the commissioner moved back into the home in April 2023 and that he’s now defending his constitutional rights in the face of an unfair court proceeding.
“This is not just about me. This is about me and every homeowner in Florida,” Carollo said. “If they can get away with doing this to me because they feel they have a very prejudiced judge on their side ... then they could do it to every homeowner in Florida.”
READ MORE: Can you lose your home when you lose a court case? Why Miami’s Joe Carollo faces seizure
Fuller and Pinilla’s attorney, Jeffrey Gutchess, interpreted the facts differently.
“When the trial started he was living in Little Havana. What he’s done since then is he’s tried to protect the [Grove home] by creating some kind of homestead claim,” Gutchess said. He said Carollo had “abandoned” his homestead, a move he said the courts will weigh heavily.
Fuller and Pinilla’s lawyers have until Feb. 22 to respond, according to an order issued Friday by a magistrate judge that says the matter should be expedited. No hearing has been scheduled as of Friday.
