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Code Attorney

Linda Pieczynski's Legal Blog

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Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Fire Prevention / Politics / Politics and building codes / property maintenance / rental inspections / training

8 Children Die in Fire in Building with Code Violations

Posted on: August 28, 2018

Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching Advanced Legal Aspects of Code Enforcement for Property Maintenance Inspectors for the Missouri Association of Code Enforcement at Lake of the […]

Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Ordinances / Politics and building codes / property maintenance / rental inspections

Same old excuses

Posted on: August 5, 2018

Having prosecuted many owner/landlords, I have heard lots of excuses for the violations on their properties but they are all very similar.  I started pondering this after reading […]

Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Law Enforcement and Codes / Ordinances / property maintenance

Contempt of court – a powerful enforcement tool

Posted on: April 14, 2018

What can be done when a defendant refuses to obey a court order, whether it’s fixing up properties or turning over documents?  The solution is the contempt power […]

Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Politics / Politics and building codes / property maintenance

Inspectors reach settlement in retaliation case

Posted on: February 11, 2015February 11, 2015

Moreno Valley, CA spent $1.2 million dollars in a settlement after employees alleged that they were retaliated against for following the law and pursuing code cases. A former building official and code […]

Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Fire Prevention / Law Enforcement and Codes / Liability / property maintenance

German architect sentenced to jail after firefighter dies

Posted on: January 18, 2014

Criminal prosecutions are rare in the field of building code enforcement but when there is a high profile death that results from shoddy construction, indictments do happen.  Recently […]

Court cases

Serving corporations with missing registered agents

Posted on: October 8, 2013

Serving a corporation that owns property is supposed to be easy.  Every corporation doing business within a state must appoint a registered agent.  The name and address of […]

Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Liability

City tears down building without owner’s knowledge

Posted on: July 24, 2012

An owner of a building in Chicago received a big shock when his building was torn down without his knowledge.  He alleges in a civil lawsuit against the […]

Building Codes / Court cases

Washington’s Building Code not preempted by federal conservation act

Posted on: July 9, 2012July 9, 2012

When someone uses the defense of preemption, it means that a law is not valid because federal law does not allow states or local governments to regulate an […]

Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Law Enforcement and Codes / property maintenance / rental inspections

Minnesota appeals court upholds rental inspection ordinance

Posted on: June 21, 2012

A very important decision has just come down from the Court of Appeals of Minnesota involving the constitutionality of rental inspections.  The case is McCaughtry v. City of […]

Building Codes / Code Enforcement / Court cases / Fire Prevention / property maintenance

Tip for the day: service of notices or citations

Posted on: February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

One of the constant problems I run into with defendants is trying to make sure proper service of notices or citations occurs.  Too frequently defendants refuse to accept […]

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