Re: Burned House - Landlord Forum thread 357420

Re: Burned House by Garry (Iowa) on May 17, 2018 @09:53

DO NOT DO what the above anon suggests. Hauling away a burned-out house is much bigger than he would like you to believe. There are gas, water, sewer, and electric lines to have shut off and removed, probably under permit, and by LICENSED contractors. Then there is the possibility of lead and asbestos in the rubble, which may need other permits, and specials ways to remove them. If you do things wrong, the city can not only immediately stop you, and MAKE you do it the right way, but also FINE you for not "containing" those materials. (and those fines alone could be tens of thousands of $ for releasing toxic materials into the atmosphere. You need to do 2 things-----get a hold of city officials, and do EXACTLY what they say, AND get a lawyer ASAP.

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Re: Burned House by Garry (Iowa) on May 17, 2018 @10:30	[ Reply ]

Forgot to add--------if you hire anybody off Craig's List, or anyone "off the street", MAKE SURE they have insurance. Remember, you are their "employer", now. If one of them gets hurt while cleaning up the rubble, they can ALSO sue you.

Re: Burned House by Anonymous on May 17, 2018 @12:09	[ Reply ]

I can assure you the gas and electric has been shut off garry. That's one of the first things that the fire dept. would do while putting out the fire. Poster said the city said to demolish the building. and of course poster should get info on how to go about that. Much info is not in his post. Might be cheaper to sign over the property to a builder who might want the land for a new home or to move a house onto the property. Perhaps sell it to next door neighbor for cheap if they want more property. I would buy my next door property if it was offered for a cheap price even around my rental properties. Otherwise an empty lot in a low quality neighbor is just like an alligator. Always eating your money. On your other point. I would bet over half of the LL on here. Don't look into hiring lic professionals to do work on their properties.

Re: Burned House by Garry (Iowa) on May 17, 2018 @16:56	[ Reply ]

I went through an identical situation such as this, in the past few years, so I know from personal experience what I'm talking about. Yes, the gas, electric and water were all shut off at the time of the fire. But once a major fire happens to any structure in any city, the city inspectors and all the city codes kick in regarding disposal of the property. If the structure is still partly there, the owner or the city may need to board it up, and/or put a fence around it, to keep people out (think kids, or the homeless)In my city, all under ground lines, including sewer, have to either be taken out of the ground, or capped off from all major lines underground, that service the house. That sometimes means digging in the street or parking to cap them off. Then, ALL man-made materials have to come out of the lot, and dirt brought back in to fill the hole in the ground back to level again---then seeded with grass. My city will not allow anyone to just cave everything in, and fill the top with dirt. Even the cement or limestone basement has to come out. If the city does all this on their own,(and my city does) they charge the homeowner of record for all the costs. If not paid, the city can sue the owner in court, and win a massive judgement. That is taxpayer money, and a city will do everything it can legally do to collect the money back again. Then if they still cannot collect, the judgement will go against other property the owner may have, or they can garnish the person's wages. Can you "try" to sell the property, even for $10 ?----yes, but who is going to buy it with a lien on it for several thousand $ ? (which would HAVE to be paid before they could legally own it, or they could cot get a clear title to the property. ) Giving it away, even to a non-profit ? They don't want it either, with a lien on it. Your ideas are good, but only AFTER the demo costs are paid for by SOMEONE. And where in this country can you not have to hire licensed professionals to either remove, or at least oversee the removal of lead or asbestos contaminated materials ? There are FEDERAL laws regarding that. Simply put, once a structure burns (or is possibly flooded out) to the point it needs to be torn down, there are many laws and codes that come into play, about the removal of that structure. And a person needs to abide by them, or pay the consequences if they don't.