Thread: Minumum Housing Inspector threatens to call police

House Inspector in North Miami,FL has threaten to call the police on me and have me removed from the property for cleaning up debris inside the house I just purchased. I tore down the old drywall and put it in bags for curbside pickup. Is he authorized to do this?

He did a reoccupancy inspection before we closed and Denied the certification. The realtor resumed with the sale and neglected to tell me this. We should have never closed according to the inspector.

If I keep fixing up the place can he have me arrested from my own property or is he just full of it.?

I'm a first time investor (22 years old) and don't have much funds for the permits. suggestions? Recommendations? Thanks

Similar Threads:

• YOUR PLACE TO CALL HOME: Is a home inspection worth the money? - Suburban Journals
• Waterbed Heater Close Call
• Fire Fighter Close Call Video
• The Dreaded Complaint Call
• Call Kurtis: Home Inspection Nightmare - CBS 13

Yes, the municipal inspector does have the authority to make you stop work.
Go to the city building permit office and find out what you need to do in order to get back to work. Trying to skirt the law will result in much trouble for you.

Originally Posted by Pedro Mendoza

House Inspector in North Miami,FL has threaten to call the police on me and have me removed from the property for cleaning up debris inside the house I just purchased. I tore down the old drywall and put it in bags for curbside pickup. Is he authorized to do this?

He did a reoccupancy inspection before we closed and Denied the certification. The realtor resumed with the sale and neglected to tell me this. We should have never closed according to the inspector.

If I keep fixing up the place can he have me arrested from my own property or is he just full of it.?

Did you get permits for the work?

If not, yeppers, he can and will put a stop work order on THE JOB (not on you, per se).

If you keep working and ignore the stop work order, and if the municipal codes are such that they allow for it, yes, the police can remove you as he can declare the property unsafe, which means you need to leave the property.

Did you get permits?

You also said "I'm a first time investor" and that indicates to me that you will be selling or leasing/renting the house out, in which case YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THE WORK even with a permit, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO USE LICENSED CONTRACTORS ... or ... or you can simply do the work yourself (with proper permits and inspections) and then sit on the property for a minimum of ONE YEAR FROM COMPLETION OF THE WORK, at which time you can then sell it or lease/rent it.

Oh, by the way, "offering for sale or lease" is the same as selling or leasing - not allowed for one year from completion of the work if you do the work yourself.

Sounds like you have already learned one lesson with this ... NEVER TRUST A REAL ESTATE AGENT for anything other than to help make the deal go through, close on the sale, and get their commission.

Go here: Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes :->2011->Chapter 489 : Online Sunshine

Click on 'Part I'.

Click on '489.103'.

Scroll down to 7: "(7) Owners of property when acting as their own contractor and providing direct, onsite supervision themselves of all work not performed by licensed contractors:"

Carefully read 7(A) and 7(B).

Originally Posted by Pedro Mendoza

House Inspector in North Miami,FL has threaten to call the police on me and have me removed from the property for cleaning up debris inside the house I just purchased. I tore down the old drywall and put it in bags for curbside pickup. Is he authorized to do this?

He did a reoccupancy inspection before we closed and Denied the certification. The realtor resumed with the sale and neglected to tell me this. We should have never closed according to the inspector.

If I keep fixing up the place can he have me arrested from my own property or is he just full of it.?

I'm a first time investor (22 years old) and don't have much funds for the permits. suggestions? Recommendations? Thanks

Welcome to the big world.... As Jerry and Jim have said you have to follow the rules and if you don't they can make life hard for you. They can even keep the power and water from being turned on at the house! You do not want to make enemies of the code dudes.

Sounds like you have been screwed by your real estate agent, maybe they would like to buy the house back!

I really appreciate everyone's insight so far. Looks like i have my work cut out for me. If the reoccupancy certification was denied and the closing went along anyway is the title company liable for this or would it be me?

Originally Posted by Pedro Mendoza

House Inspector in North Miami,FL has threaten to call the police on me and have me removed from the property for cleaning up debris inside the house I just purchased. I tore down the old drywall and put it in bags for curbside pickup. Is he authorized to do this?

As others have said YES
Adding to what was said, most cities do not allow construction debris to be put on the curb for pickup.

Originally Posted by Pedro Mendoza

He did a reoccupancy inspection before we closed and Denied the certification. The realtor resumed with the sale and neglected to tell me this. We should have never closed according to the inspector.

Depends on what is written in your contract and the listing.
Most cities only require that you be made aware that the house does not have a valid certificate of occupancy.
No restriction on selling the property.

Originally Posted by Pedro Mendoza

If I keep fixing up the place can he have me arrested from my own property or is he just full of it.?

YES

Originally Posted by Pedro Mendoza

I'm a first time investor (22 years old) and don't have much funds for the permits. suggestions? Recommendations? Thanks

Recommendations, well yes, get out if you can.
Not trying to be hard on you, but you just do not have the qualifications to do what you are wanting to do.
This will likely be a major FUBAR.

The best chance you have is to seek help from a licensed contractor.
Good luck

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

Sounds like you have been screwed by your real estate agent, maybe they would like to buy the house back!

Sounds like your presuming he was not notified on the condition of the property.
Could have been listed as such.

When I spoke to the burly inspector fellow about this matter he said contact the title company (get my attorney involved (don't have one)) because the house should not have been sold unless I've gotten something called Conditional Certficate of Reoccupancy. Can anyone elaborate on this please? I apologize for my trivial questions I am just being blown away from all this red tape. Thank you

Originally Posted by Pedro Mendoza

When I spoke to the burly inspector fellow about this matter he said contact the title company (get my attorney involved (don't have one)) because the house should not have been sold unless I've gotten something called Conditional Certficate of Reoccupancy.

Contact the City of North Miami Building Department and ask the building official what is required - if you satisfy them, that burly fellow will go away as the building official has the greater power (they are the ones who issue the certificates of occupancy).

Reality TV and the Flipping courses that they sell make it look so simple.
It will only get worse in the developing Nanny State.

Pedro,
[ "He did a reoccupancy inspection before we closed and Denied the certification. The realtor resumed with the sale and neglected to tell me this. We should have never closed according to the inspector." ]

Is there a mortgage on the property? If so, did the lender know that the property could not be occupied? Did the Seller's Realtor act as your (Buyer's) Realtor in the contracts and sale? You may have some recourse withe the Realtor(s) and their Fiduciary Duties as part of the sale.


Conditional Certficate of Reoccupancy. get you in and able to work on property with proper permits. Else you are kinda locked out of the property.

Like Jerry said you have to work with the system. AND GET AN ATTORNEY. No money for permits and no money for attorney then no money to rehab either unless you are planning to use recycled materials. How did you pay for the property in the first place?

You may want to start networking to find people with experience that can give you advise.

The realtor was acting on the sellers behalf ( I did not pay her anything at closing ) Should I pursue any legal action against realtor/title company/seller?

In the warranty deed it states "Affiant knows of the requirements to be met regarding the Reoccupancy Certificate rendering the house unlivable"

When I called her up on it she said she was aware and didn't read that part carefully

Should I just get the permits he said I need or do I also get that conditional certificate along with the permits. Can I hold anyone accountable for this CC cost?

No I bought this house with a small down payment as it is a owner financed house. All the terms were flexible.

No offense intended but I recommend just chalking it up as "stupid tax" and move on. Trying to get someone else to be responsible for your lack of knowledge will be more expensive than it is likely worth.
You have learned a valuable lesson that you won't soon forget. Move on, pay the "tax" and be done with it.

Lol no offense taken. Thanks so much!

Pedro,
The Realtor may have some liability towards you, it depends on FL law. Each state has it own level of fiduciary responsibility. Again, I suggest having an attorney look over the sale to make you aware of what you may not know at this time. Money well spent before you run into something else.

You are responsible to read everything and understand everything before you sign anything.
You erred in using the Sellers Realtor (agent) in the sale. A lesson learned. Finding an agent that has ethics, knowledge and a willingness to go against a Broker that only cares about making a sale is one of the hardest things to find.

The problem is that Realtor - Agent are more in the catagory of Danna White, just there to flip the members and try to make things look good. Many Buyers can not handle a truthful agent that do not varnish things.

Originally Posted by Pedro Mendoza

The realtor was acting on the sellers behalf ( I did not pay her anything at closing ) Should I pursue any legal action against realtor/title company/seller?

No, you can't afford it.

In the warranty deed it states "Affiant knows of the requirements to be met regarding the Reoccupancy Certificate rendering the house unlivable"

When I called her up on it she said she was aware and didn't read that part carefully

Or maybe she was careful not to read it. It doesn't matter, because without serious cash for lawyers and court time, you are hooped.

Should I just get the permits he said I need or do I also get that conditional certificate along with the permits. Can I hold anyone accountable for this CC cost?

Ask the authorities what you need. Their verbal advice is likely to be free, or it may even be posted online.

In my area, a notary public can do all the paperwork involved in a home purchase for about $400.

BTW, if the house is older than around 1990, the drywall and plaster may contain asbestos. It doesn't matter if it does or not, it will is considered to be toxic waste. This has come about fairly recently, and is one of the things you won't learn from the flipper reality shows, that it costs big bucks to have that dumpster bin parked in the front yard.