The blog has been silent for awhile because I was on a wonderful vacation in Japan (more on that later). But, while I was away, I had an […]
Code Enforcement / Fire Prevention / Foreclosure / Law Enforcement and Codes
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Crime and vacant buildings
It seems that whenever I travel to conduct trainings, I find interesting items in the local press for this blog. My trip to Troy, Michigan last week for […]
Foreclosure / property maintenance
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Trouble in the multi-family housing mortgage market
There is a very disturbing report, The Multifamily Housing Market and Value-at-Risk Implications for Multifamily Lending, just released by DePaul University’s Institute for Housing Studies regarding the impact […]
Foreclosure
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New Trends in Foreclosure
There are 2 interesting trends in the foreclosure crisis. One involves people walking away from properties even though they can pay the mortgage. Their homes are no longer […]
Code Enforcement / Foreclosure
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Overcrowding and the foreclosure crisis
I’ve been wondering for awhile when we’d begin seeing overcrowding issues crop up because of people losing their homes and moving in with relatives and friends. The Chicago […]
Foreclosure
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Walking away from a mortgage
Inspectors need to be concerned with more than foreclosed properties because more and more people are calculating the numbers and walking away from their homes and mortgages because […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement
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How Do You Know You Have Exigent Circumstances?
One of the best ideas I heard at the OBOA/MVBOC joint conference was during a discussion on what constitutes exigent circumstances. A building official said simply, “I know […]
Code Enforcement / Foreclosure
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Attending Sheriffs’ Sales on Foreclosed Property
I’m just back from the SBOC conference in Lisle, IL and the OBOA and MVBOC joint conference in Dayton, Ohio. One of the things I especially enjoy, in […]
Code Enforcement / Foreclosure / property maintenance
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Vacant Property Toolkit Available
The Vacant Property Toolkit from the Business and Professional People for the Public Interest is finally ready and posted on its website at http://www.bpichicago.org/VacantPropertyResources.php I’ve written about this […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement
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Most Creative Illegal Conversion
This is by far the most creative conversion of a structure into a residence I’ve ever seen. It’s a pool! Can anyone top this? It’s a pool, no […]