The creator of Phonehenge, a collection of oddball structures I’ve previously written about, has been sent to jail for disobeying a court order to demolish the buildings which were built in violation of numerous codes. Contempt of court is a useful procedure that is used when a person disobeys a court order. The court usually imposes a fine or jail until the person complies with the order of court. This is probably the most powerful tool that exists to force defendants to comply with the code. While I have filed many petitions for rule to show cause why a defendant should not be held in contempt of court, very few people have failed to comply and a tiny amount have actually been jailed. Just the threat of going to jail is usually sufficient to inspire a defendant to comply. Mr. Fahey, the defendant in the California case, has been defiant, according to the court. Defendants can be jailed for violating court orders even though jail time is not a possibility for the offense itself. Contempt requires a separate procedure from the code violation.
I’m sure that many building inspectors don’t give themselves enough credit for the important job that they do, making sure that structures meet the standards of the building code. Because of this important task, homeowners don’t think much about the safety of their homes. A couple in Southborough, MA weren’t so fortunate. The Metrowest Daily Newspaper reports that after buying their dream house they discovered that:
The garage was too small to fit their car. Weeks later, water began flooding the basement. Over time, doors couldn’t be shut, and floors started creaking. The Culleys didn’t know it, but their house was shifting.
Now the couple and their lawyer, Michael McLaughlin of Boston, say the house was built illegally on top of poor-quality fill material, and because the soil is shifting unpredictably, the structure is sinking into itself. To make matters worse, a retaining wall they say used to run in a straight line along the rear of the property is failing, slithering across the edges in serpentine fashion.
The builder didn’t even own the land when he took the couples’ deposit. The couple contended there were never any real building plans. The state Department of Public Safety’s Board of Building Regulations and Standards, found 22 building code violations. A temporary certificate of occupancy was obtained fraudulently. The engineer who signed a statement which said that the house had been built properly reportedly received $100 to do so but had nothing else to do with the project. There was no permit for the retaining wall. In a deposition, the building inspector admitted that he didn’t issue a cease and desist order when he discovered work had been done without a permit and he admitted he was never given any building detail design data. While a jury awarded the couple $1 million in damages, the judgment was set aside by the judge. It appears that the couple will be appealing.
This story is too delightful not to post. Bank of America filed a foreclosure lawsuit against a homeowner despite the fact that the homeowner bought his house in cash and had no mortgage. The lawsuit was dismissed but Bank of America was ordered to pay his legal fees. After waiting awhile for the check, the homeowner decided to use one of the remedies available to creditors, having the Sheriff seize the debtor’s property. The Sheriff went to a local office of Bank of America in Naples, Florida to seize furniture, etc. but the bank manager managed to come up with the money owed the homeowner. You can find the story at news-press.com.
I actually escaped the snow in Chicago this week by heading up to the Region III ICC conference in Minnesota where the weather was sunny. I always have a great time at that extraordinary conference. It was great to see that attendance was very healthy and maybe we’re beginning to see a thaw in some of the gloom we’ve all been dealing with since the economy tanked. I taught Advanced Legal Aspects for Fire Code Inspectors and the inspectors asked a lot of good questions. We had a healthy discussion about post-deprivation hearings after an emergency evacuation. There’s quite a few cases now that make it clear that people (tenants and owners) who are deprived of their property rights in a building because of an emergency evacuation order, have a right to be heard after the fact at such a hearing. Most of the time no one actually appears at a hearing or files a notice appealing the order of the fire official. But, in order to meet the requirements of the fourteenth amendment, they must be given the opportunity. By keeping an appropriate record of the hearing or appeal, the local jurisdiction can easily avoid a civil rights lawsuit for depriving an individual of his or her property without due process.
There’s a very sad story about the death of a worker in New York City at a development owned by someone who keeps getting sued by the city and yet no one seems able to prevent him building shoddy structures. One quote that caught my eye was:
Spokesman Tony Sclafani said the department has no authority to deny or revoke permits based on previous safety violations or unpaid fines.
It got me wondering about whether there are jurisdictions that do have laws that deny building permits to builders who have unpaid fines or previous safety violations. I’d love to hear from someone who has such an ordinance so I can share it with the readers of this blog. I realize that builders will just incorporate under different entities to avoid such a penalty but even that could be addressed in an ordinance (e.g. based on someone’s percentage of ownership).
