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 / Fire Prevention / Ordinances / Politics / Politics and building codes / property maintenance / rental inspections
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Cycle of complacency and outrage continues
In my last couple of Tweets, I pointed inspectors to articles involving the explosion of the fertilizer plant in West Texas and a tragic fire in England. It’s […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Ordinances
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Home owners gone rogue
Recently I was interviewed by MSN Real Estate for an article on working without a permit. The article just appeared online entitled “When Homeowners Go Rogue”. It’s a […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Ordinances
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Expired building permits
One of my pet peeves are building permits that don’t have a set expiration date. Most of the building codes have their permits expire 180 days after no […]
Building Codes / Foreclosure / Ordinances / Politics / Politics and building codes / property maintenance
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Politics and the foreclosure crisis
One of the biggest problems facing local governments these days is finding the resources to maintain vacant properties. These homes are empty because of the foreclosure crisis and […]
Ordinances
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Debate over biocremation alkaline hydroloysis
One of the inspectors at my Region III class brought to my attention a process of disposing of human remains that is called biocremation alkaline hydrolysis that his […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Fire Prevention / Ordinances
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Fire tragedy in high rise without sprinklers
A young woman lost her life in Chicago recently during a fire. The fire began in a unit in a high rise apartment building, the residents fled the […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Ordinances / Zoning
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Enforcing failure to have an occupancy permit
I received a request that I post this question for all of my readers to answer. Do any of your jurisdictions have an ordinance allowing you to shut […]
Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Foreclosure / Ordinances / Politics and building codes / property maintenance
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FHFA sues Chicago over vacant building registration
A very worrisome lawsuit has been filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, against the City of Chicago which recently passed […]