Commercial building foreclosures are going to be a big problem in 2010. Many communities already have these “zombie” buildings which were built during the good times but have […]
Building Codes
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Building in a Flood Plain
Too often purchasers of property do not do their due diligence to check for potential problems with the land or the building. This seems to happen quite frequently […]
Code Enforcement / Law Enforcement and Codes
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Vacant Properties: the True Cost to Communities
While preparing for a workshop I’ll be doing on 11/3/09 at the College of DuPage, Suburban Law Enforcement Academy, on the relationship between law enforcement and code enforcement, […]
Building Codes
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Homeowners with Chinese drywall losing their insurance
People who purchased houses with Chinese drywall (the kind that has been linked with a rotten egg smell and corrosion) are running into a problem when they file […]
Foreclosure
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High End Homes in Trouble
Inspectors in communities with high end homes should be vigilant in light of a recent Wall Street Journal article. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125530360128479161.html?mod=rss_US_News Foreclosures are rising in the top end of […]
Foreclosure
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Where is the Foreclosure Crisis the Worst?
There is an interesting map that show the distribution of foreclosure properties throughout the United States. You can find the map at http://data.newyorkfed.org/creditconditions/ It is courtesy of the […]
Building Codes
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Is the Contractor Really the Agent?
I had a wonderful trip to Colorado recently teaching Advanced Legal Aspects for Building Officials (and my husband and I took some time to go sightseeing). One of […]
Code Enforcement / property maintenance
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Trash House and Tragedy
There’s a sad tale from Jacksonville, Florida about a woman who was found dead under 8 feet of trash in her home. http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/national_world&id=7054060 The rescue workers had difficulty […]
Code Enforcement / Foreclosure / Law Enforcement and Codes
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Best Practices in Monitoring Vacant and Foreclosed Buildings
Tom Pahnke, an inspector for Manhattan, IL, commented on my recent post about people selling things out of their foreclosed homes. His town has a best practices procedure […]
Foreclosure / Law Enforcement and Codes
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Damage to Foreclosed Properties
The Chicago Sun-Times has an interesting article in the paper today about how many homes are being stripped of everything before the lender takes possession. Certain items are […]