When dealing with unsafe buildings, code inspectors shouldn’t forget to consider whether criminal charges might be appropriate. A builder in Pennsylvania was recently charged with theft, deceptive practices […]
Building Codes
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Are You Ready for Green Technology?
There was an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune about the difficulties homeowners and businesses encounter with local jurisdictions when they want to use green technology, such as […]
Code Enforcement / property maintenance
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Property Maintenance and the Mentally Ill
One of the greatest sources of satisfaction in my work is helping inspectors achieve observable results, e.g. the roof that gets fixed, the yard that gets cleaned up, […]
Code Enforcement / property maintenance
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Woman Dies in Home, Hole Cut in Roof to Remove Her
I recognize that hoarding cases can be extremely time consuming to deal with and difficult for a property maintenance inspector because the person the inspector is dealing with […]
Building Codes
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Alternate materials and means of construction
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 […]
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 […]
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 / 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 […]
property maintenance
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Up on a Roof
Calling all inspectors. Help me help a prosecutor decide what violations this picture contains . The person is storing tires on a roof and says they’re planters. Illegal […]