City of Columbus Violation Notice

[Marek Mika]

I bought a few homes in Columbus using Turn Key Company. I just did received 2 letters from City of Columbus. One with zoning code violation which I understand (Tenant storing items in the backyard, electric meter damaged) but second letter effecting items inside home (  220 amp receptacle lacking the cover in basement, damage door in the basement evidence of water damage of the ceiling of the basement, loose stairs treads, multiple bedroom door damage blinds , toilet loose and a lot more. Just wonder if City Inspector allowed to come inside to reported or if Property Management is trying to get a Section 8 tenant without my knowledge. So far cant get hold with PM. Emailed both letters with long list of the code violation. Let know my Turn Key Company hope they can help me with this matter. Any feedback I would appreciate. I know now that always, always due diligent work before investing in homes without seeing them.  

Mark Mika

[Peter Lohmann]

Marek, unfortunately the previous respondents are not well informed. Let me clear up a few items for you:

1) City of Columbus has no standard inspections for rental properties (ie, no annual or occupancy required inspections). All city code violations are "complaint-driven" - that is, they need to be reported by someone in order to generate a visit by an inspector.

2) Section 8 is administered here in Columbus by the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA). They are the ones who conduct the inspections for section 8 (not the City of Columbus).

3) It's very unlikely that your property manager is attempting to "sneak" a section 8 tenant into the property. What would be the reason for doing that? It's a LOT more work for the property manager.

4) City inspectors cannot enter a tenant's home without their permission.

Most likely scenario is that the tenant is angry at the property management company, either because of the condition of the property or for some other reason (maybe they are just late with the rent and coming up with excuses). So they called the city inspector because they know it will cause problems for everyone. We see this from time to time. You or your PM will need to very quickly rectify all the items identified in the letter. Your PM should really be taking care of this for you start to finish.