Miami records held in fee dispute.

• Position: LEGAL - Brief article

A contractor hired to store tens of thousands of boxes of records for Miami refuses to give the city its records because it says the city hasn't paid its bill.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

According to the city, the boxes containing sensitive and not-so-sensitive city records, including everything from personnel files to notes scribbled during garbage truck oil changes, are being held hostage at a storage facility in Broward County, The Miami Herald reported.

Iron Mountain, the owner of the facility, says the city owes $340,000 and will not get its records until it pays up.

Recently, City Attorney Julie Bru asked Miami commissioners for the right to take any legal action necessary to retrieve documents from Boston's Iron Mountain Information Management.

In a statement, Iron Mountain said: "We are in the middle [of] good, productive discussions with the city of Miami on this issue and hope to resolve this soon in a way that is mutually beneficial."

But there is a big stumbling block: Miami maintains it owes Iron Mountain only $22,000.

Miami city attorneys said Iron Mountain claims the city owes a retrieval tee, a permanent withdraw fee, past due invoices, and that the city can pick up a maximum of 1,500 cubic feet--150 boxes--per week. But the city claims it has only been able to obtain a handful of boxes through court order.

The war began in 2009...