Recently, I was informed by one of our members, a rental property owner in Bellflower, that he received a citation and letter from the city of Bellflower fining him $2,000 for “Illicit Discharge of Illegal Fireworks because an unidentified individual set off fireworks on his property on July 4th.
Naturally, when the owner questioned all of his tenants, they knew nothing about it and it could not be determined who actually set these off.
Letter from the City Public Safety Department
The city-drafted letter sent to the owner stated that there is a zero tolerance for illegal fireworks in Bellflower and read: “On July 4th, 2023, a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff and/or Public Safety Officer observed illegal fireworks being discharged by an individual associated with your address. As a result, a citation has been issued to you as the property owner.”
The owner had 10 days to pay the $2,000 or file an appeal.
File an appeal? When seeking legal advice to appeal this fine, the owner was told that it would cost more in attorney’s fees than the citation itself.
What the letter from the City of Bellflower should have stated was, “Since we could not apprehend the actual persons setting off the fireworks, we need to blame/fine someone, so here you go.”
How is This Fair?
It makes sense that if an officer witnesses an illegal fireworks display, he should make all attempts to apprehend the perpetrators and cite/arrest the individuals violating the law instead of putting the responsibility on the owner. The officer obviously could not identify or determine if the person setting off the fireworks was even a resident of his property.
So what next? If law enforcement witnesses an illegal sale of drugs on his property and the officers/sheriff’s are unable to apprehend the perpetrators, will a rental property owner be cited for drug dealing as well?
City of Bellflower Municipal Code
The Bellflower Municipal Code Section 8.16.010 states that “ law enforcement and public safety personell have been authorized to issue administrative citations to property owners … who set off, discharge or use or cause or “permit” to be fired …” illegal fireworks.
This property owner did not do any of the above – he did not set off, he did not cause and he certainly did not permit these fireworks to be discharged from his property. I am not an attorney, but personally, I would have appealed this personal attack without one.
Beware the Coming Holidays
So, if you are a rental property owner in Bellflower, I suggest you contact the City Managaer, the Public Safety Office and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and ask how you can avoid one of these citations when the fireworks go off on New Year’s Eve. Perhaps they have some suggestions. Maybe they’ll invite you to set up your own sting operation and sit in the front yard of your building all night on December 31st to make a citizen’s arrest since their own are incapable of apprehending the actual responsible party.
Patricia A. Harris is the Senior Editor of the Apartment Owners Buyers Guide.