Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching Advanced Legal Aspects of Code Enforcement for Property Maintenance Inspectors for the Missouri Association of Code Enforcement at Lake of the […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Ordinances / Politics and building codes / property maintenance / rental inspections
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Same old excuses
Having prosecuted many owner/landlords, I have heard lots of excuses for the violations on their properties but they are all very similar. I started pondering this after reading […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Law Enforcement and Codes / Ordinances / property maintenance
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Contempt of court – a powerful enforcement tool
What can be done when a defendant refuses to obey a court order, whether it’s fixing up properties or turning over documents? The solution is the contempt power […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Politics / Politics and building codes / property maintenance
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Inspectors reach settlement in retaliation case
Moreno Valley, CA spent $1.2 million dollars in a settlement after employees alleged that they were retaliated against for following the law and pursuing code cases. A former building official and code […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Fire Prevention / Law Enforcement and Codes / Liability / property maintenance
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German architect sentenced to jail after firefighter dies
Criminal prosecutions are rare in the field of building code enforcement but when there is a high profile death that results from shoddy construction, indictments do happen. Recently […]
Court cases
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Serving corporations with missing registered agents
Serving a corporation that owns property is supposed to be easy. Every corporation doing business within a state must appoint a registered agent. The name and address of […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Liability
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City tears down building without owner’s knowledge
An owner of a building in Chicago received a big shock when his building was torn down without his knowledge. He alleges in a civil lawsuit against the […]
Building Codes / Court cases
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Washington’s Building Code not preempted by federal conservation act
When someone uses the defense of preemption, it means that a law is not valid because federal law does not allow states or local governments to regulate an […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Law Enforcement and Codes / property maintenance / rental inspections
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Minnesota appeals court upholds rental inspection ordinance
A very important decision has just come down from the Court of Appeals of Minnesota involving the constitutionality of rental inspections. The case is McCaughtry v. City of […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Fire Prevention / property maintenance
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Tip for the day: service of notices or citations
One of the constant problems I run into with defendants is trying to make sure proper service of notices or citations occurs. Too frequently defendants refuse to accept […]