Dealing with Code Enforcement

I got a letter in the mail last Saturday. It was from Code Enforcement, telling me that I have to get a Certificate of Compliance for property Charlie. I just bought the fucking thing and they already have me down for the “violation” of not filling out a C of C form. I don’t think I’ve ever gone in depth to explain the idea behind code enforcement, so let me do it here. Code Enforcement is… it’s a scam. I don’t know how it is in other places, but Smalltown’s code enforcement is a joke. They don’t care about the tenants or the landlords—their only job is to make as much money for the state as inhumanly possible. Examples? Okay.

Every type of business has its policing unit, and property management is no exception. The official reason why code enforcement exists is to protect tenants from slumlords. If a tenant has a problem that a landlord refuses to fix, they can call code enforcement who will put violations on the apartment until it is fixed. That was the original concept, which I am completely okay with.  There are slumlords out there and it’s unfair for tenants to not have someone to turn to when things get bad. But now, the concept of code enforcement is to bleed landlords for every cent they have. Whenever there’s a violation, they send a code enforcement officer to a property to check it out. While the officer is there, he’s also looking for other violations to add to the list. They want to come back as many times as possible because it shows the local government that their service is needed, and can justify what they get paid from state tax dollars. And it’s crazy stuff sometimes. Like that time when Laurie and Annie called code enforcement at property Chi a couple of years ago. I wrote about that in a post called 10k and Beyond. After that whole situation, I realized that code enforcement was a scam. More examples? Okay.

Rental Registry. When I first came here in 2006, there was no rental registry. But now, landlords are required to fill out a rental registry every two or three years, detailing who is in each apartment. Then the landlord has to set up an appointment so that a code enforcement officer can come to each apartment and inspect it. While they inspect, they once again look for anything to write down, even something like a dirty hallway. Once the repairs are done and they are satisfied, the landlord receives a stupid fucking letter that looks like a diploma, stating that code enforcement inspected the place and there are no problems. I remember watching Sha go through hell trying to please code enforcement, spending thousands of dollars on minor things. After all was said and done he showed me the letter, explaining that it’s good defense in court if a tenant says they didn’t pay rent because their apartment was in bad condition.  I’ve been to court several times and, as long as a landlord can show that he/she practices good business, a judge doesn’t give a shit what the tenant says. So that code enforcement letter means nothing.

And now we have the Certificate of Compliance. This certificate is supposed to be for properties that have more than 4 units. I guess the Smalltown government needed to find ways to bleed landlords more, so now a C of C is required for properties that have more than 2 units. Now usually, when I get a letter from code enforcement, I rip it up and throw it away. In my mind, it’s much easier to pay the fine than to deal with having them come over and finding more and more things to fix. But this is different. Per violation, it says that I can be fine $45 per apartment. While I have no problem paying that, how many times a year can they fine me? Am I able to pay the fines directly without them putting in on the property taxes for the property? How can I find out when they put the fine on the property? Are there separate fines for not having a C of C?

I’ll try to answer these questions by researching them online. I’ll also try calling them with SpoofApp pretending to be Sha, and then ask these questions. I don’t want to be on their radar any more than I already am. I may even have to resort to asking these questions at the next Real Estate Investors Group meeting. I haven’t been to an REIG meeting since November of 2011, but who better to ask these questions to than a bunch of landlords? Their next meeting is in a couple of weeks, so I’ll try to have the questions answered before then. Look, when I’m retired, I’ll have no problems making my apartments look very nice and code enforcement proof. But right now I need to buy properties, and not waste it fixing meaningless stuff just to get a piece of paper. I tried that concept in college and paid dearly for it. Besides, haven’t I wasted enough money these last two months? I think so.