Can Building Inspector/ordinance Officer Tear Down A House?

Michaeljp86

I know a guy who has a piece of property with a few rental houses on it. There were 2 empty, one was in good shape but all the old plaster in it came off the walls. The other had a crappy addition and the addition fell in from a heavy snow. The owner was on vacation and the building inspector/ordinance officer, same guy does both, was snooping around and seen it. He calls the owner who isnt home and when he gets no answer he hires a contractor to tear both houses down for $6000 and then they put the 6k on his tax bill. The good part of the one that fell in had extra windows, doors, ranges, etc. So they hauled all that off when they tore it down.

Doesnt seem right to me.

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Chris Johnson

Ahh there's more to this story then you probably know. This doesn't happen over night, if it did half the crap for sale in Detroit and area available on E-bay for starting bids of $ 500.00 would be gone. This guy has probably been given opportunity for the past bit of time to comply, a court order would have been issued and then the demolition...at least 6 months if not longer.

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Michaeljp86

Nope, that didnt happen, the inspector said that he had it tore down because it was a hazard for children who lived near by. This inspector isnt a inspector anymore because he was abusing his power I guess. The owner wanted to take them to court over it but was afraid they would really be on him for any little thing they can find.

I seen the house when it fell in and 3 days later it was gone. I was supposed to clean it up in the spring and put a wall up on the good half.

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Patrick

A couple years ago, in a MA town, the meter reader noticed some bricks popping out of a wall on a vacant store front, Inspector came out, condemned it, and within 24 hours a disposal company under emergency contract to the town was hauling away the last truck full of debris

lawdawg

I would bet this "officer" made multiple attempts to contact him. An inspector has to get permission from a higher power (court) to do something of this nature. Usually he would get an order to comply within so many days, blah blah blah. Guess the person who told you this doesn't want to admit he's an idiot for failing to comply with the ordinances. If he had money to take a vacation, he should have had money to fix his rat holes.

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Michaeljp86

Both the guy who owns it and his wife seem to be very honest and alwasy payed me what they owe me. Im pretty sure what the say is the truth.

You are right on about the vacation, he has alot of money and is sick so wants to see the world while he can. He doesnt want to spend his money on the rentals. He wants to use the rent money for them, that doesnt work out to well so he has it up forsale. A dueplex on the property got condemed by the health inspector not to long after and gave him 30 days to fix it or it gets torn down. Its been longer then 30 days but he had to show he was fixing it.

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Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

neolitic

Michael, your folks must be good people.

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K2

The BTK killer in Kansas was a code officer. Besides killing people he also abused his authority on a daily basis.

airborneSGT

Wow a killer inspector...I had better never piss off any inspectors from now on. The last ones I dealt with in OKC were really laid back. Then again it was Midwest City.

I have dealt with some really interesting ones in Miami and Hollywood.

Michaeljp86

One guy who goes to the church was a building inspector for a while. I heard he has a attitude problem. I guess thats why that one contractor knocked his lights out.

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I am just a vessel from which genius flows -Homer Simpson

Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

K2

Yeah, BTK was known to tell women to "get rid" of their boyfriends. He wore a uniform and a gun. Beyond scarey..

AintNoFun

i would find the relationship between the inspector and the demo company....

K2

If OKC is Oklahoma City BTK was only about a hundred miles from there.

daArch

It is not at all odd to find a building inspector that abuses his power. I know one that has publicly stated that he's out to get a local builder for disagreements they have had on the zoning board. The BI is now trying to shut the builder down for "violating" zoning by-laws. The Builder should be grandfathered for the use of his barn for business. Funny thing, a number of years ago, the HVAC company operating out of the barn next to me was in CLEAR violation of the same by-laws, but the BI REFUSED to enforce. Why? Because the BI went to school with the owner AND I was instrumental in having an unfair and subjective noise ordinance defeated in Town Meeting that the BI had introduced. (POI, I had tried to work WITH the BI prior to the meeting to have the noise ordinance more objective)

No, it's no surprise that a BI would overstep his authority for a personal vendetta.

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fargo

We have one who was run out of the next town by rental property owners due to his attitude and abuse of authority, this town welcomed him with open arms. A couple of years ago the city lost two state supreme court cases over its inspections programs--in one case they did an easy pass for a home addition built by the contractor-owner, who sold the house to a lawyer, who shortly discovered the addition beginning to collapse. The city tried, but failed, to deny liability. In the other case the court found that the city's inspections appeals process did not provide due process and that the city had, in effect, attempted to institute what was in effect an additional court (resulting in fines, demo orders, etc) that was not subject to state laws governing municipal courts. City practices with regard to this had been around for decades. (Now the city is facing federal litigation recently certified for class action because of a traffic fine structure that had been illegal under state law for at least 7 years. . . anyone get a sense of unrestrained authority here?) The nasty inspector here is assigned to rental property inspections and enforcement of nuisance ordinances, most of which are highly subjective in how they are written, and even more subjectively enforced.

Bodger

I knew of someone here in LA that had an addition torn off her house. She had it built with no permits and by illegal unlicensed type guys. They built it right on the property line. The neighbors called the city, the condemned the addition and gave the woman 30 days to remove it. She didn't comply, so they tore it down and sent her a bill.
I've never heard of anything like this being done without some period of time for the property owner to comply. But if that's waht happened, it's obviously possible in places.

WarnerConstInc.

Where abouts in MI?

TimelessQuality

Hey K2...(nice skis!)

BTK was a code enforcement officer, not a BI. He told people to move abandoned vehicles, cut their grass, but was mainly a dog catcher..

Anyway, our local BI is just a moron. If you start talking about old cars, he forgets why he's there

He's so proud of his 55 chevy, with 'the first 289' in it

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wellbuilthome

In my area the inspector can remove a condemned house if its a danger to the community. I think they have 90 days to fix it . If no one complaints they don't bother tacking it down . John

Michaeljp86

This happened in watervliet mi, in the sw corner of the state.

Thats what the building inspector/ordinance officer said, same guy did both jobs. He said the house was dangerous because there was kids around. He had it torn down the same day he seen it. There was another house on the same property that was in bad shap and had been condemed some years before and he had them both tore down.

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I am just a vessel from which genius flows -Homer Simpson

Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.