When an owner calls Code on their tenants

[JimmyTreeX]

Just looking for opinions on how you handle a landlord or property manager calling code enforcement on their own tenants? So technically, calling on theirselves.

I know there are certain circumstances where it is acceptable, like when the tenants are living without power or in squalor, but we are constantly getting called as if they are trying to use us as an eviction service. It is one of my biggest pet peeves in Code. I tell them that my job is to notify them of the issue and to make them fix it, so the fact that they already know that there’s an issue means there is no point for me to go. All I am going to tell them is what they already know.

Now if they refuse to make the repairs and the dwelling unit becomes uninhabitable, the best I can do it that point is issue them a ticket, which I always do, but in the end they got what they wanted and there is a family out on the street.

wondering what your take on this was?

 

[ICE]

I have had just one owner turn in a code violation on a tenant. The anonymous caller stated that there was an illegal garage conversion and I was sent to investigate. Sure enough the garage was converted to a studio apartment. It was a first class conversion with wood paneled walls and tile floor. The occupant was a quite elderly lady. The property was not amenable to building another garage or carport, so the garage would have to be restored to it's original condition as a garage The man that met me asked how long he had to accomplish that.

There was nothing unsafe about it and considering the displacement of the quite elderly lady, I said three months. The man became upset and demanded that I give him only two weeks. The quite elderly lady was his mother-in-law and he wanted her gone. He was the person that reported the violation.

"Quite elderly" is pc speak for ancient. She resembled a pile of bones that were no longer in any kind of order...sitting in a rocker doing needlepoint. It takes a special kind of a-hole to do that to a quite elderly lady.

There's been many cases where the tenant, an ex-spouse, ex-boyfriend or disgruntled employee reported a violation.

What people do not take into account is that code enforcement cases can snowball. I had a a case where the original complaint was a garage conversion. I made an appointment to meet the couple that owned and lived in the house. It was a well maintained two story. I asked them to tell me what has been done without a permit and they just kept talking.....new: water heater, HVAC, electric service panel, windows, kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel and probably more.

We ended the visit in the front yard. They had been congenial the entire time. The Lady asked me if there was anything else that could be an issue...as in anything at all.. that's when I said, "Well Maam, I did notice that you have three televisions" ....and that's when the dance started.

So you might wonder how I handle such a dilemma as the second case. I look at all of it. I only have to address the original issue that got me there. What I see with the rest of it determines the outcome. Life safety is paramount, so if I find a dangerous anything it gets my attention. But for the rest of it...I wasn't there for that. I've written corrections for stuff without asking for a permit. I do that whenever I stumble on a danger. People generally get it and some complain bitterly. Since going virtual there hasn't been much of it.

Here is an example from today:

 

[my250r11]

We only take rental complaints from tenants. They have to come in and fill out a form before we will do anything. This keeps the BS to a minimum. We tell owners that is what courts are for and they should follow the law and get them evicted. If they are in the process we will not follow up until the court issue is settled. We condemn very few structures from rental complaints. Do issue corrections for code violations only. A lot of what they are complaining about is cosmetic and not code violations. We get more unfit structures from PD & Fire. They call us any time they have structure damage from vehicles or fire. PD calls on us when they find something they feel is unsafe when they serve warrants or welfare checks.