Reply
Sat 17 Sep, 2005 04:58 pm
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.
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.
I suggest you contact a lawyer, gondolf. Personally, I feel your complaints are absolutely on target. But the lawyer can determine whether you have any remedy against the city.
gondolf, I live in a city nextdoor to you. No this is not the same America our grandparents grew up in. This is what people do in your situation. I learned it from someone else and it worked. Fix everything the inspector wants be nice and compliant. Clean the house and yard. they'll mark you down as all fixed, clean & compliant. then when they leave put it all back the way you like it. Don't start trouble innless you have the time, energy and resources for a fight because they do. P.S. Remember this area 20 years ago. I take care of A 90 year old grandmother.
Good luck neighbor
Re: Is Garden Grove, California part of America???
I'm going to do this off the top of my head so I suggest you check. And I also suggest you hire a lawyer and pay for some well-researched advice. My responses are in
blue.
gondolf wrote:....
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? Probably, so long as it doesn't involve opening up drawers or trunks or the like. But I'm sure the officer is allowed to observe whatever can be readily seen.
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. The officer is being a jerk here. But no, I don't think they need to give you notice. 'Sides, since something similar has happened before, they might claim that that was their notice. And, not to put too fine a point on it, the law is, technically, your notice. The town doesn't need (and doesn't have the resources to) call everyone in advance of a safety inspection.
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? There is probably recourse re a false complaint. But you said things were found. Annoying as that may seem, it's overzealous police work perhaps, but it doesn't constitute a false complaint, the way I see it.
4)Do I have a right to a copy of the complaint, that is, paperwork that documents the complaint, not identifies the complainant. Probably, but you may need to pay something for copying and handling costs. Try going to the records room and asking.
5) What constitutes abuse of authority and harassment? Lots of things, I won't go into them here as this is a question for your lawyer. The officer may not have been very nice but it doesn't appear that any property was taken or destroyed, or that the inspection occurred during an odd hour (e. g. 2 AM, or anything like that.
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.
Like I said before, get thee to a lawyer. Take all of the paperwork with you for the first trip -- and, I recommend, get a copy of the report (if you can) before going. Lay it all out for the attorney; don't make him or her guess, and tell the lawyer everything you've told us, plus anything else that might be important regarding your history with your neighbor. Sometimes these things come from neighborhood feuds, as you imply, but since there were only two incidents in a decade what that's telling me is that it's entirely possible that this happened because your neighbor wants something very specific and somehow you are in the way, but it isn't a feud otherwise, e. g. it isn't an ongoing struggle with them. So think about that, write everything down, and go to a lawyer. Yesterday.
Thanks to all for the advice thus far.
I am going to a lawyer this week and I'll let you know what I'm told. Again, a warm thanks for the input!!!!
UPDATE:
OK, I went an Attorney and he was outraged by this conduct by the city. He thought this smacked of harassment. And since his background is campaign management, he advised going to a city council member (they court votes) and let them know what happened. If they are sympathetic, fine. If not, go to a local reporter that covers city news and relay the story, especially how the city council would not help. Also, every council meeting allows for a citizen to take the podium. His advice in short, be a thorn.
I went to city hall and talked with the City Council Liaison. She was sympathetic to our problem and scheduled an appointment with us and the Mayor, with the head of code enforcement present. I hope we'll have our day.
I'll let you know what happens.
Yes, Gondolf, please keep us posted. I'd be very interested to hear how your campaign is going. The problem is that so few people take the time to complain about officious city functionaries. That's why these beurocrats get away with that kind of high-handed activities -- nobody complains. The very best of luck to you.
The Meeting with the Mayor
And so it goes
My mother and I met with the mayor of Garden Grove to discuss our concerns. Also present, was the inspector who cited us. It turns out that the inspection was not from code enforcement. It was from the building department, which is, evidently, the opposite side of the same coin.
So the meeting consisted of my mother and I, the building inspector, the mayor and was eventually, ratcheted up, to include a building supervisor. What follows is an outline of questions (and sub-questions) I intended to have answered
. And needless to say, I did not receive full answers to any of these. But this is how it went:
Questions:
1) Are complaints that are determined by code enforcement to be without merit, brought to the attention of the complainant? Is there a remedy to a homeowner charged with a complaint determined to be false?-Is the complainant asked on what they base their suspicions on?
Answer:
No, there is no follow-up to a false complaint. So knock yourself out everyone. There is no down side to making up charges against your neighbors and reporting it to the city. One does not even need to explain why they believe a violation has been committed. Ain't freedom grand! Oh, and the city is honor-bond (chuckle) to keep the complaint anonymous. However, if you suspect a neighbor of making deliberate false complaints, you are free to hire an attorney, who can subpoena the city for the information. Ya gotta love lawyers. They have managed to engineer their jobs into every aspect of life. Consult a lawyer before you fart.
2) What happens when a Code Enforcement Officer is not allowed access to investigate a complaint at a private residence? -Does Code Enforcement go before a Judge?-Is a Warrant Issued?-Are code enforcement officers allowed to make statements or imply that failure to allow access will result in a greater degree of scrutiny?
Answer:
I didn't receive a clear answer to this one. Do you have to allow access? Well, that depends on what you what to believe. The city says the consequence to not allowing access is a lawsuit and then aggressively prosecuting everything to the full extent of the law. My belief, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that you have a right not to allow government, under the color of authority, entrance to your home without a warrant. Anybody remember the Bill of Rights???
3) Is it policy for code enforcement to inspect beyond the complaint? Does the officer have any discretionary authority?-Are they required to show identification?
Answer:
Yes. Once one invites code enforcement into your home, they can act on anything in plain sight. As far as discretionary authority, they do (but will not admit it). They are required to show ID if you ask. A word to the wise. ASK!
4) Why are the specific codes or statutes violated, not mentioned on the inspection report?
Answer:
This one made me laugh. The answer is because it looks "scary on paper". Specific codes are only referred to in follow-up correspondence for non-compliance.
5) Why is there apparently, selective enforcement of what I call, "the clutter in the garage" code that nobody who has a cluttered garage seems to know about?
Answer:
"Cause since you can't get'em all, you get who you can." Oh Yeah!! And garages are for parking cars. Don't you know that citizen gondolf?
6) How can this 20'wide rule exist for garages that were plumbed for a washer and dryer by design, and as a result, restrict a portion of the garage width to 17'wide?
Answer:
To his credit, the mayor brought in a building inspector supervisor to handle this one.
Apparently, at issue is the severity of the encroachment.
7) What options do I have to make the step down safe for my mother?
Answer:
The supervisor offered an alternate design for the platform, not requiring a permit, which was agreed upon.
8) What can we expect when code enforcement returns to check for compliance?
Answer:
Ahhh we'll see. The existing platform will be removed and inspected for compliance. When we return from are trip, we are to call to arrange a follow-up inspection to comply with the clean garage law.
The Truth? You can't handle the Truth!!!
The mayor struck me as being sympathetic to the building department. He is a former police officer, and pointed out that code enforcement is not an easy job. I pointed out that being on the receiving end of a false charge is no day at the beach either. But I digress
For me this is a wake-up call. Government has enormous push in our lives. Government will compromise our freedoms if they can make a case, no matter how tenuous, that what they do is in the best interest of the public. My expectation level is that cooperation should not be rewarded with a kick in the ?'nads. In an effort to resolve this complaint, I offered access. Instead of "sorry, about this citizen taxpayer sir, we received a false complaint" and "thank you for cooperating"; we are slapped with technical violations instead. I imagine the call to headquarters is something like, "Looks like they built a step down platform to prevent a fall; and get this, a cluttered garage." "Well not on my watch"
'Book ?'em Danno -messy garage one"!
Throughout all this I refrained from using the "H" word. That's right, harassment. I'm saving that for future actions the city may take the next time a neighbor has a bee in his bonnet. I documented every detail of this experience. I'm putting together a notice to keep at the ready. (So this is why people become hermits.) The next time code enforcement comes a-knocking, they will receive this notice, and it will explain why I am not granting access to my property. Should they wish to pursue it, get a warrant. It may be a hard road to travel, but in my opinion, we must not cave. We do have three separate branches of government for a reason.
What continues to trouble me is exactly what steps are necessary for the city to forcibly enter private property for a non-criminal related charge. And can they be restricted or limited to what the complaint alleges? Does anyone here know?
Thanks to all on this forum for allowing me a chance to blow off some steam.
Read the Supreme Court case with respect to city inspections and the Fourth Amendment: CAMARA v. MUNICIPAL COURT, 387 U.S. 523 (1967).
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/387/523.html
Thanks Debra, I'll check it out.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace