Comments please

[Tech 9 Home Inspections]

New high efficiency furnace and duct work. This was hidden behind
a sheet of cut out ducting to look like an old return joist bay. Didn't look right so I removed it and found this. How would you comment on this. The return duct was cut on the top.

Thanks Tech 9 Home Inspections.


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[Markus Keller]

Can't quite tell if the orange thing is some sort of romex. If it is I would write it as dangerous & hazardous. Recommend immediate removal. Even if it isn't live now, you don't know for sure that someone won't hook it back up at the exposed end by some box thinking, 'maybe this will fix that outlet'. If it droops down and energizes the ductwork ... well you know.
As far as the framing, it obviously needs to be fixed. At least one joist is no longer supported. Additionally I would recommend removing the whole duct assembly in that area to fully assess what else someone screwed up. It will have to be removed anyway to do a proper repair.
Will it collapse? Unlikely. The bigger issue is settling, floor, wall cracks, etc. Owners will wonder why does X always crack or move, we've fixed it 4 times. It will be because of the hidden joist issues.
The fix is probably fairly easy but the related issues will probably be more complicated and costly. This might include rerouting ducts so that the joist doesn't have to be cut.
Hope that helps.