What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? California
So a code enforcement officer comes to my door…
This sounds like a joke and I wish it was. A city code enforcement officer knocks on my door and says they have a complaint, alleging we (my mother and I) have people living in our garage, and a room add-on without a permit. I invite the code officer to inspect the garage, and the house, and she agrees the complaint is baseless. Instead of thanking us for our cooperation, she looks around for other code violations. She notes we have things stored in the garage (furniture etc.) and notes it must be removed. She also notes that a 3' platform (that I built so my 83 year old mother does not fall off the step, behind the door, leading to the garage) must also be removed. When I questioned why she is citing me beyond the complaint, she said it was for "public safety." She used veiled threats like "we look for more and always find something”.
When I reminded her that we freely allowed her in, she suggested it would have been a bad idea to do otherwise. She took photographs of the garage without asking if it was OK. She goes into the backyard and sees our patio cover, then claims we do not have a permit for it. I insist it is original to the house. Then I asked her what paperwork she’s looking at to determine this. She thumbs through more paperwork and what do you know? There’s the permit... Arrgg!!!
Is this America? I’m amazed that I'm actually worried about even talking about this to the city for fear of being targeted a “troublemaker”. The code enforcement officer told me of a case where someone refused inspection and is now being sued by the city. I explained we were leaving town for several months, so it would be difficult, if not impossible to clean the garage out in 30 days. She said that was “OK.” That she would do a thorough inspection when we return. She kept telling us what she does is all about public safety, but when I pointed out the raised city sidewalk in front of our house, she said “that’s not my department”. How does furniture stored in my garage or an access platform for my mom affect public safety?
Moreover, what’s creepy is that this scenario played out before about 10 years ago, so I think I know the neighbor that is making this stuff up. He is an old, odd duck. It was the same thing. The city shows up, claims someone is living in our garage, and then cites us on a bunch of minor issues; And with major attitude. (Just a note, our garage faces a secondary highway, not the neighborhood.)
In my view, two parties are being malicious. The “unknown” person making the complaint; and the city for using a complaint confirmed to be untrue as a pretext to site unrelated infractions willy-nilly.
So my questions are…
1) When the city claims to have a complaint, and in acting in good faith, one allows them to inspect the nature of the complaint, and the city determines the complaint to be baseless. Do they still have the right to start looking for any and all code violations?
2)Can the city demand access to your house with no prior notice? If so, is it allowed for them to suggest that if you make them come back, that they will “find” more.
3)Do they have the right to allow the complaint to be anonymous? How about when the complaint is false? Is there recourse to an alleged complaint that is shown to be false?
4) Do I have a right to a copy of the complaint, that is, paperwork that documents the complaint, not identifies the complainant.
5) What constitutes abuse of authority and harassment?
I know this is small potatoes in a world of problems. Am I wrong to be angry about this? Is there anything, anyone would suggest I do? My instincts tell me to do nothing. Comply and shut-up.
Any thoughts? Thank You for any input.
So a code enforcement officer comes to my door…
This sounds like a joke and I wish it was. A city code enforcement officer knocks on my door and says they have a complaint, alleging we (my mother and I) have people living in our garage, and a room add-on without a permit. I invite the code officer to inspect the garage, and the house, and she agrees the complaint is baseless. Instead of thanking us for our cooperation, she looks around for other code violations. She notes we have things stored in the garage (furniture etc.) and notes it must be removed. She also notes that a 3' platform (that I built so my 83 year old mother does not fall off the step, behind the door, leading to the garage) must also be removed. When I questioned why she is citing me beyond the complaint, she said it was for "public safety." She used veiled threats like "we look for more and always find something”.
When I reminded her that we freely allowed her in, she suggested it would have been a bad idea to do otherwise. She took photographs of the garage without asking if it was OK. She goes into the backyard and sees our patio cover, then claims we do not have a permit for it. I insist it is original to the house. Then I asked her what paperwork she’s looking at to determine this. She thumbs through more paperwork and what do you know? There’s the permit... Arrgg!!!
Is this America? I’m amazed that I'm actually worried about even talking about this to the city for fear of being targeted a “troublemaker”. The code enforcement officer told me of a case where someone refused inspection and is now being sued by the city. I explained we were leaving town for several months, so it would be difficult, if not impossible to clean the garage out in 30 days. She said that was “OK.” That she would do a thorough inspection when we return. She kept telling us what she does is all about public safety, but when I pointed out the raised city sidewalk in front of our house, she said “that’s not my department”. How does furniture stored in my garage or an access platform for my mom affect public safety?
Moreover, what’s creepy is that this scenario played out before about 10 years ago, so I think I know the neighbor that is making this stuff up. He is an old, odd duck. It was the same thing. The city shows up, claims someone is living in our garage, and then cites us on a bunch of minor issues; And with major attitude. (Just a note, our garage faces a secondary highway, not the neighborhood.)
In my view, two parties are being malicious. The “unknown” person making the complaint; and the city for using a complaint confirmed to be untrue as a pretext to site unrelated infractions willy-nilly.
So my questions are…
1) When the city claims to have a complaint, and in acting in good faith, one allows them to inspect the nature of the complaint, and the city determines the complaint to be baseless. Do they still have the right to start looking for any and all code violations?
2)Can the city demand access to your house with no prior notice? If so, is it allowed for them to suggest that if you make them come back, that they will “find” more.
3)Do they have the right to allow the complaint to be anonymous? How about when the complaint is false? Is there recourse to an alleged complaint that is shown to be false?
4) Do I have a right to a copy of the complaint, that is, paperwork that documents the complaint, not identifies the complainant.
5) What constitutes abuse of authority and harassment?
I know this is small potatoes in a world of problems. Am I wrong to be angry about this? Is there anything, anyone would suggest I do? My instincts tell me to do nothing. Comply and shut-up.
Any thoughts? Thank You for any input.