Thread: Casual Inspection

My father purchased a trailer with a renter a year ago. The man living there was a retired building inspector of 20+ years and he passed away not long ago. My father asked that I simply "take a look" for him aka give him a free unofficial inspection before the new renter moved in lol. Of the many horrifying things that I immediately found I took some pics for you guys. Here are a few... the recepticle had power still, the uncovered recepticle had a switch mounted on the outside of the wall with electrical tape (both live), and those pins were in the power cord of that plug in paddle fan.







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The building inspector that lived there for 20 years? was blind or did not care about the issues you presented,in any case that is sad,that he would not have reported these concerns

The retired inspector had lived there only a few years and was renting to own when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. His son moved in the last few months to help him out and after his death continued to live there for four months where upon we had to evict him for not paying for three of those months. There was also a 220V wire (aluminum) that went from the outside panel (double tapped 50 amp Square D breaker) that was laying above ground and the bare wires contacted each other at knee height. Possibly the worst was a 14-3 Romex wire (20 amp Squarethat had a bare spot that once had electrical tape applied (falling off) that was in contact with the interior electrical panel door (panel was unbonded btw). The breaker was only partially inserted due to it being the wrong type and not fitting properly.

As the owner, you guys should really have done an annual inspection of your trailer. With what you are describing of the outside, that tells me you haven't been there (not even outside to see the 220 wire) in quite sometime. People that rent simply dont care about the house/trailer/building. As the owner, it is up to you to protect your investment.

Good pics though!

I agree that something needs to be done. Those mirrored walls and that carpet are terrible.

I agree that an inspection was way overdue. However since the tenant was being evicted he called the police when we came over. the cops told us to not go on the property . Renters have more rights than the owners.
The bare 220v wires were recently done before he was made to leave.

John,
Do not know FL rental law, but usually what is required is reasonable notice to enter the property for any inspection or repairs. If the entry is an emergency then no prior notice needs to be given but notice of entry and an explanation of why. The bare wires would be a good reasonable emergency entry.

If your father purchased the trailer a year ago and the conditions were present he would be responsible for any liability for personal injury. Sad to say I think as long as your father was getting the rent he didn't care about the condition of the trailer. Rent to own is still a renter and the landlord is on the hook for everything. It is good that your father had you come for a look and evaluation. May have saved him from a big law suite.

After having rental properties for over 30 years I do not trust the tenant to inform me of needed repairs or that they may have made alterations to the property without Landlord consent.

I posted a 12 hour advance notice to inspect and that is when I found these discrepencies.The renter had drawn out the legal process and hindered everything we tried. Simply put my father should have known about the problems and taken steps to fix the issues immediately. He will jury rigg things if I don't catch him and call him on it so I try to keep an eye on him lol. Right now I'm on him about installing GFCI's at the sinks in the kitchen and bathrooms. These discrepencies have been fixed as of today with the exception of the GCI's.

renters gotta love them when they say nuthing is wrong.... then you know something is wrong and better be prepared to get down and get busy fixin things. been there and still doing that lol