Baltimore Section 8 Inspector Results.

[Tariq B.]

I am frustrated. Once again I feel defeated by the awful inspection system of Baltimore City.

I just had one of my units inspected and it failed for the most subjective items.

Such as:

Paint walls in basement laundry room (it’s in a the basement)

Remove bars from basement window

Fix or replace dryer making noise (it heats ups and works)

Paint basement door

Clean cabinets and sink (they are emptied and clean)

Paint basement floor (it was paired during turnover)

Clean all windows (8 of them are new from this turn over)

Back yard clean up debris (he didn’t like the leaves in the back yard)

The inspection process for Baltimore City section 8 is so broken and subjective. It’s al Pat like the inspectors are expecting to be paid off and if you don’t they come up with unnecessary “repairs”.

The inspection is to make sure the house is safe and up to HUD standards. Having to paint walls that have never been painted or painting a back door, or removing bars from a window when there are multiple exits are not health and safety concerns.

Have any landlords in the area has any luck fighting these erroneous requests?

[John Underwood]

Put all the cleaning items and yard work on the tenant per your lease.

I have a different lease for section 8. 

I had the inspector hot me on dirty stove drip pans. I changed the lease to make that the tenants responsibility. They can't hit me on that now.

Consider giving the dryer to the tenants so it's not your responsibility. You could have a seperate document that they give it back to you at such time they move.

You should be able to scrape and touch up ant cracked or peeling paint without a complete repaint of areas.