We have s house in cheap neighborhood. The house is small and about 100 years old. We made lots of improvement and it is in better condition than average house on the street. New paint and floor and fixed everything we can.

We had inspection today and the contractor was there and get so upset by the inspection.

The city inspector just think it is so bad that no one can live there.. He asked my contractor if he will live in the house. That is strange question, if tenant can only afford $600 house, but my contractor can afford $1000 house.

He said previous tenant is 56 year old and it was dangerous to live in the house. He did not know previous tenant also had two daughters and each daughter has to or three kids lived there too.

He also asked my contractor if I speak any English and complain this and that ( water heater, furnace etc. ) made in China.

He disallowed spinner light bulbs because mercury inside can poison kids.

He also wanted the covered porch room with heat and cooling. Another room with closet out side of the room.

He said the drive way should have room to park two cars.

The house had inspection every 2 to 3 years. The inspector said he would go back to see why the house passed inspection.

What can we do about it? Do other landlord have experience with difficult city inspector.

My contractor is very frustrated. What if this inspector still thinks no one should live in the house after we spend all the money?

No, do not fix everything the guy asked for. Find out how and where you can push back. Heat in a covered and most likely uninsulated enclosed porch? Nope. Extra parking? Nope. Fix a closet? Nope. There are things that are grandfathered. Don just fold with these people every time the hiccup in front of you.

Ask for clarification and reference of the rules.

The lightbulbs sound just like complete nonsense.

Cheap Chinese stuff is none of his business. Whether or not you speak English is none of his business.

Was the contractor there without you? If he was, Big mistake!!!

People need to learn for to divide and conquer.

Your contractor wants work & will aid in finding fault with the inspection. KEEP THEM AWAY FROM YOUR INSPECTIONS!

When you have an inspection, smile, nod and take notes. Argue later.

I have a feeling if you play your cards right, you'll get out of most of this stuff.

Most inspectors are failed contractors or glorified bird house builders.

CJ,

Haha! EVERYTHING is made in China, including the inspector's clipboard and pen!

Seems pretty simple...

Change the light bilbs.

Add heat and ac to covered porch room. Perhaps like in a hotel? Or run ductwork if basement.

Another room with closet out side of the room.

So dont call it a bedroom. It's an office.

Should have? Does it neeed that to pass or he just wants that?

Widen the drive way. Add room to park two cars.

Change the lightbulbs. Ok, easy.

Add heat to a room? Ok, most likely certified electrician of hvac guy involved. Will panel amperage or current heating system support the new demand from the porch? What insulation is required? To do to code, must you insulate. You may also need to upgrade electric or furnace.

I'm assuming this stuff is in the city.

Widen driveway? Does excavation meet the state DEP approval if any is required? Some places require any work over a certain area to be approved. Some requires all work be approved. What about underground utilities? Will they allow for this?

Do they need to study run-off? Does the highway department require minimum visual distances for new driveways? Does changing the driveway affect those minimum distances?

What about property line setbacks? Are you allowed to expand driveway closer to neighbors?

Sometimes complying with one department gives birth to a larger hungrier monster in another department.

You need to chose your battle very carefully here.

Fight one now or possibly multiple ones later.

Yes, I've had more trouble than you can imagine with "city inspectors" in Los Angeles. They write up issues, not for the safety of the tenants, but instead to bring revenue into their department so employee's and managers of the "City" will get pay raises and a bonus.

With over 100 rental apartments in the Low-Income areas, average year of construction was 1923, inspectors had a field day. Since I'm also Licensed California Contractor with over six different classes of licenses and many accreditation -- I put up a fight against unfair, unjust orders, fines and fee's.

It did little good even though I was able to "Prove" that my City's findings were wrong and against the State and Federal guidelines, codes and common sense. Instead of improving on my City's methods, they were punitive and then over reached and put all of my properties under their eagle eyes and had me overhaul all properties within a 72 day period. Anything after that I had to pay through my noise.

This caused me to have serious health problems but they didn't care. I had to file several law suits and fight back. In the end the City admitted guilt but did not have to pay one cent to me -- they stated it was their employee's, not them and the appointed judge agreed-ed. The City had over 200 lawyers on staff to fight against landlords, their was no way to fully prevail.

It got to one point the City kept on sending inspectors to my tenants asking every week for dirt on me so that they could prove I was a slumlord. They got one tenant on the stand to testify against me. He said, " For two years living in my property he didn't have constant hot water when showering. Then after I purchased the property he told me about the hot water problems and then three day later I had replaced all of he old galvanized pipes with copper pipes and the problem was solved". They dismissed him and removed him from their witness list. My tenant made me look like a saint. I had owned this property for 30 days and the City tried to make me look like a slumlord. This property passed two inspections when I was in escrow going for financing -- the purchase loan and upgrade line of credit. You can see how stupid the City looked when they found out inspectors made up stories about this property......

SO I know your troubles. You have to take pictures, record any inspection on video and have many witnesses.

Were you present at the inspection or was it your contractor? Some contractors LOOOVEEE to create job security by creating or pointing out things to the inspector.

A very nice phone call to the inspector may be in order to double check what your contractor is saying.

If the inspector really did those things, I would push back. I would find out where it says you are required to do ANY of those things. Unless you are in a recently declared historical district, what has changed so much in the past few years to elicit such a poor inspection from the city? I would ask for another inspector, too. Worse case scenario talk to a lawyer and threaten to sue. Cities hate lawsuits.

You mentioned the whole English speaking thing, and although I realize English may not be your first language, but I would be wondering HOW he said this. Either you got a very crabby inspector, but it's possible you could be dealing with a racist. Ugly, but possible.

Change the easy stuff- question the rest. His attitude toward your property lacks professionalism for a city inspector. Even if he is supposed to be criticizing your property, NOT in that manner.

What cities inspector is this? This sounds "arbitrary and capricious". Those are the words to use; those are the words the lawyer uses.

I was not there at the inspection because I thought it will be easier for the contractor to understand and fix the problem if he is there.

We haul the old refrigerator away. We do not want to buy a new one there in case someone will steal it. or New tenant will have their refrigerator. The inspector said he can not pass inspection without refrigerator.

Not Section 8. just City inspection.

Do I need a prospect from section to get section 8 inspection? I want to find out what section 8 inspector will say.

CJ, don't get confused with Section 8. That's only for those under the Section 8 program and are not available to just any landlord to use. It has to be an inspection for a section 8 tenant.

Pattyk, I think you're giving this person poor advice. If this house has passed inspection in the past and nothing has changed with the house or with the rules regarding what is necessary to pass an inspection, since the last inspection, then the issue is the inspector.

Finally,..a LL can use the racist card. Let the mayor know that you may contact the civil liberties Union , Chinese Associations, the Chinese community. lawyer, newspaper etc to what this guy said. Not all Chinese products are cheaply made. Is there any law,or even recommendation that these bulbs cannot be used? i think the bulb companies like GE,Phillips might argue that they are safe

This guy sounds like a power hungry,curmudgeon who likes to inject inappropriate comments.

city officials HATE any claim of being racist esp these days.

Blue... St. Louis city.

Cj... Just fix what you know to fix. The past is not the present. The inspector may have an attitude but you are running your business and you have a house to rent. Do what you have to ans keep the house moving towards passing this occupancy inspection.

CJ, understand that nationwide, landlord's are being hit with total nonsense inspections. Also understand that nationwide, landlord's are standing up to these nonsense inspections. It's your responsibility and DUTY to your own business to see if your wasting your hard earned money fixing nonsense issue. Come on, EXPAND a driveway?!?! Heat an enclosed porch?

CJ, play stupid too. I'm not saying to fight with the inspector. Wave the white flag and ask for them to list the specific UPDATED rules/laws showing what you need to change for each violation. I really hope you post an update to the outcome of all this.

To answer some of you. The house is in of Fur... They had lots of problem 2014. They have reputation hard on landlord inspection, we always have the same contractor and passed prior inspection no problem. They do not do any thing about neighboring house condition.

I have not met the inspector before. I do not know why he needs to know all background of prior tenant age and my language. I am about the same age as the tenant, I work a lots, not problem walk in and out of that house. My husband is much older, never have problem. Very cute house for the price. just bad neighborhood.

If I know they will pass after we spend how much, I feel better, but I am not sure now.

CJ, I have a feeling that these boroughs have to follow some sort of state requirements for building codes and anything beyond those requirements are just local officials feeing good about creating rules within their own bubbles.

You ABSOLUTELY have a right to the inspector's report, CJ. Something is wrong if you can't get that.

You might start here when you decide to try a landlords Association. I found this.

Google this: meetup.com/STLIPA

If they aren't in your area, they might be able to direct you to the right place. I truly hope you get a quick resolution to this issue.

They have aldermen. Call one of them and complain.

Here is the list per their website. It is pretty darned vague.

What City Inspectors Look For

The following is provided as a basic guideline of items that the inspectors will be look for in the course of an inspection:

Roof

Chimney and flues

Sewer vents

Driveway surface and walkways

Exterior walls / siding

Roof trim

Soffit

Gutters and downspouts

Attic vents

Windows / prime and storm

Screens

Porch and steps

Carport / garage

Exterior doors

Patio

Hose bib faucets

Air-condition disconnect

Exterior electrical wiring

Electric service

Outlet / fixtures

Garage (detached)

Accessory structures

Yard areas

Trees and shrubs

Insect infestation

Rodent harborage

Fencing

Public sidewalk

Trash and debris

Open storage

We did not get report yet because the inspector said he needs time to work on the report and mail to us.

Light bulbs changing problem is for all light bulbs, not just uncovered.

In this case, I think it is still better to have my contractor to fix and deal with the inspector, because it seems he does not like my race.

Even the contractor thinks the inspector is racist and abused his power. It is harder for me to complain and to make them understand because of my accent.

If have no plan to ask for clarification or appeals from the city; and plan to just roll over and make all these extensive ridiculous repairs, why are you asking for advice here??

Saying no CFL light bulbs because of the potential risk to children is stupid. If the state doesn't want them used, they should pull them from the market.

Telling you to provide additional parking, meaning you have to change the driveway, is probably not actually required, either. The existing driveway and amount of off-street parking should be grandfathered.

A porch doesn't need HVAC. It is not living space.

A home that old doesn't need built in closets. They are called "wardrobes". You can buy them at the store as a piece of furniture. IKEA has them for a decent price. Purchase, assemble, place in corner. Now there is a place to hang clothes. Code does not require that closets be added to a home built before they were common.

Wait for the written report. If it is not available within 3 business days, complain to the city administration. Nothing oral can be relied upon. Anything that seems stupid probably it, and should be argued in writing.

Get a native English speaker to proofread the letter. Better yet, your lawyer.

Yawn I deal with this all the time, it sounds mild frankly.

A lot of inspectors have pet peeves know your building officials!

1. AFAIK their is no residential code on light bulbs, their are codes on exposed or covered light bulbs depending on their location. Having said that if CFL's are this guys thing to hate don't use them, simple really.

2. You need a copy of his inspection report for starters. Look at where he failed you, what sections of the code did you violate? What does the code say? What can you do to bring yourself into compliance? For example you might be able to take out the door leading to the front porch and "combine" it with the other room so its not a bedroom.

3. As for the driveway that's typically not building its zoning. However if you performed significant work to the structure like adding bedrooms, converting to a multi, adding an inlaw, than yes the city may require extra parking.

4. Don't try to fight them. I see contractors and newbies waste their time and energy fighting city hall all the time. You have to beat them at their own game and be nice about it because they can and will make your life miserable if they so chose. Perfect example: great point about the CFL's in the keyless fixtures Mr. Building inspector, let me replace those with covered ones and Lowes has some LED's we can put right in.