JF Property Holdings Accused of Forging Buena Vista Tree Consent

A Miami builder is accused of forging a homeowner’s signature on a consent form used to obtain a permit to remove a roughly 100-year-old oak tree in Buena Vista, and the dispute has escalated into a criminal complaint now under investigation by the Miami Police Department. Homeowner Stefan Pizzi alleges JF Property Holdings and its principals submitted a notarized letter bearing forged signatures, including his own, to justify cutting down the tree next to a spec home the builder was constructing at an adjacent lot. Charges have not been filed, and the allegations are unproven.

Why it matters

The case tests how much scrutiny the city of Miami applies to the paperwork behind tree removal permits, a process builders on infill lots use routinely to clear parcels ahead of construction. Pizzi says workers cut down the oak and roughly four dozen smaller trees along his property line in April 2025 based on a permit he never consented to, then filed a three-page complaint with the Miami Police Department’s financial crimes division after the city’s code enforcement staff took no visible action on his complaint. A JF Property attorney has called the claims “bogus.” For builders working in tree-canopy neighborhoods like Buena Vista, the episode is a reminder that a disputed consent form can outlast the removal itself, in code enforcement files and now in a police investigation. See more Miami market coverage.

The numbers

Pizzi and his co-owner are seeking $1.5 million in damages in the civil suit filed in October. They bought the duplex for $655,000 in 2023. On July 27, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge dismissed only the fraud and forgery count in that suit, on the ground that the city of Miami, not the homeowners, was the alleged victim of the fraud; trespassing and conversion counts against JF Property and its principals remain active.

What’s next

The Miami Police Department’s investigation into the alleged forgery is ongoing, and a city spokesperson has declined to comment. The civil case proceeds on the surviving trespassing and conversion counts while Pizzi waits on investigators to act on the criminal complaint, which also flags a separate consent letter tied to another Rios-linked project that a second property owner’s son says his father never signed.