Small gods: City Inspectors - Landlord Forum thread

Small gods: City Inspectors by Anonymous on July 11, 2012 @13:33

We have a 1930s bankrepo 4 unit apt in a low rent area of West Palm Beach, Fl. This is our first rodeo. As background, I'm an Eagle Scout and I want to do the right thing for our future tenants. Safety really is important.

The fire inspector found things that were safety related and worked with us - she was great. She always returned calls and worked with us to solve problems. She even thanked us for investing in the neighborhood! Wow!

That was months ago.

The city code inspectors have had us refinish wood floors, line up the doors in the particle board cabinets just so, etc etc etc. Months of cosmetic, not code, stuff in a low rent area. A common saying is "make it like your own house" - they don't seem to realize that I lost my job and bought these apts to create a job. My own house has scraps from these apartments like the nasty rusty window AC that has 2 redeeming features: it works and it is payed for. We took that out and replaced it with a new unit before any of the inspectors got there. . . So that is the standard at my house.

The inspectors rarely answer their phones or call back. The last inspection was set for Sat at 8:30 AM - yup Sat. He insisted he was working on Sat. And he didn't show up. . .

I've talked to a few other landlords and small business owners and they all know this guy and use words inappropriate for this forum.

Do we fight this? Honestly, if we get on his bad side will it just take longer? If we keep our cool and keep paying through the nose, mostly in time and effort, to fix small things will the cycle ever end?

Next inspection is set for tomorrow morning.

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Re: Small gods: City Inspectors by Micah on July 11, 2012 @14:40	[ Reply ]

Is this for Section 8 or something? I don't understand why they would care about the cabinet doors.... I would have just taken them off if they were going to be a pain about it. They are supposed to check on fire, flood, or blood items (smoke detectors, HVAC, Plumbing, and hazardous conditions.

Re: Small gods: City Inspectors

Re: Small gods: City Inspectors by The Dude (MN) on July 11, 2012 @14:59	[ Reply ]

I can't fathom what you're talking about for anything. You have cosmetic code? Who in the world sets that? Refinish floors? Line up cabinet doors? What? I have city inspectors come in on properties in certain cities, but they just check the furnace, AC, water heater, etc. Why do you need this checked by the city anyways? Do you need a license in West Palm Beach to rent?

Re: Small gods: City Inspectors

Re: Small gods: City Inspectors by Anonymous on July 12, 2012 @02:56	[ Reply ]

Contact your City Council and the City Attorney and possibly the head of the introspection dept with your complaint(s). Realizing that once you piss off the inspector you will lose their friendship so roll rocks downhill accordingly. Make sure your friends in government are bigger than his friends. LOL If this is truly ridiculous you might consider contacting someone at the newspaper and see if they would run a story on the unreasonable requirements. Bearing mind that most media thinks everyone should be provided a free mansion in Palm Beach using your tax money. Good luck.

Re: Small gods: City Inspectors by LL#4251 on July 12, 2012 @09:33	[ Reply ]

Had a similiar problem with building inspector. The previous owner of our building was a major slumlord, so the inspector made a major stink about every little thing, just to put the fear into us. After he saw that we were putting effort into fixing things, he calmed down. Didn't hurt that we told him that we wanted to do things right, but had limited funds. Also, I contacted a local politician who was running for re-election and asked for a campaign sign to put on the lawn (made the inspector think I was actively involved in local politics).