Problems with Fire Marshall

[John H.]

I have a ten unit apartment building that I've owned for about 7 years... it is a low income property but I've tried my best to maintain it to the best of my ability. I bought the property from an out of town landlord so I got a good deal on it.

To make a long story short, a disgruntled tenant who I let move in with no money down.... only with a section 8 certificate, complained to the chief of the fire department (which is across the street along with the police station) about a bad switch in the apartment.. She basically did this because she found another place to live and had to have a reason to "get out of my building" and get her voucher back. This created a whole host of problems for me over the past year.... It triggered a full state inspection from the fire marshall on my building....

I was there when he did the inspection.... it was a big deal.. it was almost as if they were on a witch hunt. I have never witnessed such pompous attitudes in my lifetime.... He came back with a report that I must bring the building up to the current code.... install sprinklers, hard wired smoke detectors, etc. I knew that I was exempt from this because the building was grandfathered in.. I promptly had my attorney send him a letter detailing why I should not have to do such repairs. He sent a revised list of demands, which I thought were fair.

Fast forward a few months and my property manager meets him to go over the progress. He was not satisfied with how quickly things are moving and is requiring AGAIN that we have hard wired smoke detectors, etc. This guy is just unreal.... Do they have the authority to just make me do anything (though I am exempt) without due process? Do I have zero rights as a landlord? No other building in the small city is required to have these features... I am just beside myself that bureaucrats can impose such crazy rules on us when we are clearly exempt. Has anyone else run into this, any ideas on how I should handle this? I mean this guy is just on a power trip and getting out of hand, it is insane.

The building is directly across the street from city hall, polic and fire stations.. It is almost as it they are getting together to give me a hard time so I end up losing it someway or they get it underhandedly... I have heard that they want to make it a parking lot... The building is over 100 years old and was made into apartments in the 70's.. I really would appreciate any advice anyone can give me, I feel like they are "out to get my building"..

[Jon Holdman]

Your lawyer is the best one to advise you on what you may or may not be required to do.

Are you sure you're grandfathered? Some cities require code upgrades when buildings change hands. Especially on apartment buildings.

When put into the situation, it usually best to take a very humble attitude and just agree to do what they want you to do. They may have a pompous attitude, but if you show any "attitude" in the least the situation will go downhill. It may anyway but if you smile nicely and agree to do whatever they want, you at least have a chance of avoiding a disaster.

Do they have authority? Absolutely. You may be exempt from bringing the building up to current codes, but you won't be exempt from their authority. That's true in every city. If you've made improvements to the building, you may have wiped out the grandfathering. Its very common that when remodelling you're required to bring certain things, like wiring and some detectors, up to current code. Can they make you do what they're asking? That's a question for your lawyer. If you truly feel they are demanding something that's not required by statue, you should have some recourse. Perhaps appealing to the planning and zoning commission, building department, city council or filing lawsuit. You better have your ducks 100% in a row, though. They're going to look for the least little violation, and drag you over the coals for anything they find.

Why is the work taking so long. You say that you and the fire marshall agreed on a list of repairs. But you say:

"A few months"? Are you trying to tweak them off? I realize you have to get contracts in place, but taking a few months and still not having the work done is going to look like you're dragging your feet to the fire marshal. And now he's forgetting about your agreement and wanting more work. I'd drag out the letter that outlined the work and remind him what he agreed to. And I'd light a fire under the PM and contractors to get the work done ASAP.

This can get really ugly. I had a lady call me a year or so ago who was further down this road than you. In her case, the city had evicted all of her tenants until she completed the modifications. She had finished the work, but needed money to hang on until she could refill the property.