Before you answer, consider the following scenario:
You live in the hilly portion of Fairview where the parcels are oftenlarge but contain steep slopes making them partially unusable. Yournew neighbor decides that he wants to convert that slope into a flatspace so he can park his extra vehicles and RV’s there. You watchwith growing dismay as a parade of dump trucks unload on the slopeabove your home. You talk to the neighbor who states, “what’sthe big problem, it’s just some dirt. It’s my land, I’ll dowhat I want.” During a garden party you have at your home, anacquaintance, who happens to be a Civil Engineer, informs you thatthe amateur retaining walls being built to hold that new dirt have agood chance of failing. If so, all that dirt, especially if it iswet, will slide down the hill directly into your home.
That year, just your luck, the rains are heavy and just like yourCivil Engineer friend predicted, the wall collapses and your propertyis buried. On the upside, there is no damage to your actual home butnow your yard is covered with anywhere from 2~5’ of dirt.
What is your remedy? Without strong enforcement, you must personallystep in and act in place of the code enforcement agencies. “You”,yes “you”, must personally sue that neighbor as the regulatorybodies failed to enforce the construction codes which may haveprevented this entire catastrophe.
Now you are in for an expensive education about how the Americanlegal system works. First, your homeowners’ insurance normallyexcludes damage to land – only your physical home is covered. Therefore, they will deny your claim and more importantly deny anyresponsibility to provide attorneys to help you recover the damagesfrom the “rogue” neighbor. Then, you will spend six figures onattorney fees. You heard me right, you will spend in the six figuresjust on attorney fees. But you’re not done yet. You will alsoneed to retain expert witnesses including soils engineers, civilengineers, structural engineers, appraisers, and surveyors. That’sanother $50~$75k on top of the hourly attorney rate of $500. Notonly do you pay for their upfront analyses, but you must also paythem for all of their pre-trial work, their attendance at the varioushearings, and then at the trial itself. Now for the kicker. Let’ssay you win. Guess what…all those attorney fees and costs – notpart of the judgment. Thus if you obtain a $350,000 settlement torepair your property, but you spend $150,000 in attorney fees plus$50k in consulting costs to get that judgment, you’re still out the$200,000 in costs plus you still have to pay for the repair work tobe performed which will probably, if it’s like most constructionprojects, blow past the original estimates of $350,000.
Add all of the stress your family will also experience along with thefinancial hardship – remember, the attorneys get paid upfront atabout $500/hour – if you get a judgment, you may get paid on theback end – 2 or 3 years later assuming the neighbor has the assetsto even pay you. So you can take all of your savings, maybe sellsome investments, grit your teeth, and fork over all the money andpray you not only win in court (assuming no appeals) but can actuallyget paid by that neighbor. His insurance will most likely not coverthe damages since he was in violation of the law when he caused thedamage. Without insurance money, there is a good chance yourneighbor simply can’t pay you what he owes. If so, you will have asecond job trying to collect the debt or sell the judgment forpennies on the dollar to the bottom feeders that just wait for acash-stretched person to sell at a large discount.
Building codes evolve over time – usually in response to somecatastrophe, like an earthquake, that reveals the flaws in thecurrent regulations. While they may at times seem overlybureaucratic, the codes provide a minimal level of protection for thehome that you buy but also to protect you from “rogue” neighborsthat take the not uncommon position – “this is my property and Ican do whatever I want.”
However, the best codes mean nothing if they are not enforced. Currently, the CDA seems to have taken a “hands-off” stance whenit comes to enforcing the “Soil Importation” ordinance. The ruleis simple – if you live in a residential area and you bring in fill(the technical name for what most people simply call “dirt”), youmust obtain it from a reliable supplier or have it tested forcontaminants. This law was to stop people with a large lots chargingfor dumping contaminated fill (which is actually very profitablegiven regulated dump sites charge huge fees per cubic yard). ThePublic Works Agency deals with grading related building codes buttheir fines currently start at about $250 for the initial violation. Many “rogue” neighbors do the math – I can pay $50k to do this“by the book” or $20,000 to just “do it myself” and pay thefines. With a lack of enforcement or token fines, the burden ofenforcement, especially when you personally suffer damages, falls onthe victim.
Therefore, if you want to protect your home and property, you have astake in the meaningful enforcement of building codes. You want tohave a say before your neighbor changes the hillside slope anddrainage potentially affecting your home. You want the fines to belarge enough that they are no longer considered a token “cost ofdoing business”. And you want the enforcement agencies to fullyprosecute people that have been found guilty of the violations andforce them to clean up their own messes – just like you teach yourkids.
Lastly, if you are on the other side of this argument and hold theview that “government shouldn’t tell me what to do with myproperty” remember that building permits protect you as well. Ittells potential buyers of your property that you have met or exceededthe minimal building standards. Unless you are an experiencedlicensed builder yourself, you gain by having independent inspectionof your contractors’ work to make sure it meets these standards. Is the system perfect – no one makes that claim, but we’ve got towork with what we have.
In closing, the above scenario is very similar to what happened to meso I speak from experience. I am neither an attorney nor a licensedengineer so my comments should not be construed as providing legaladvice. I can tell you, having spent almost $200,000 in legal andconsulting fees and we’re not even at the trial yet, that if youhave to step in for a failure of code enforcement, you will be in fora harsh and expensive education on the costs of protecting yourproperty. I can also tell you from my experience, try telling thefamily that instead of paying for that Stanford (or equivalent)education, you’re going to spend their college fund on attorneys. Instead of paying off your debts, you will spend your savings onattorneys. Instead of putting that money into your retirementaccount, you will spend it on attorneys. And, I guarantee, thestress level in your house will go through the roof if for somereason you spend that all that money and lose in court for any numberof technical legal reasons why that could happen. That couch willhave your name on it for the rest of your marriage (just kidding).
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Given all of the above, I ask that you take a couple of hours andattend the May-09-2022 hearing conducted by Supervisors Miley andHaubert where the CDA (code enforcement) can explain why they havechosen not to enforce building codes they disagree with.
We will follow-up with more information about the meeting, butwelcome your comments – especially if you cannot attend themeeting. Let us know what you think so we can pass on your comments.
Thanks,
A Concerned Fairview Resident
Zoom logon info: zoom.us/j/85889338665 Meeting location and time: MAY 9, 2022 Noon to 1:30 PM