Served Summons & Complaint by the Health Department

Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 1 vote

Has anyone been sued by the Health Department? I was just served with a Summons & Complaint and ordered to attend a Hearing. The prior tenant had contacted the HD without even notifying the property management company until we began getting notices. The PM team, immediately started making the list of required repairs, but each time the HD would return to the property, they would discover new "violations" such as a lightbulb being out (I'm not kidding). We have an entire file of repair receipts, records, photographs of all the repairs that have been completed at the property. From reading the Complaint they want to fine me 2500 and issue an injunction.

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Steve Lehman

Real Estate Consultant · Indianapolis · Member since 2019 · 75 posts · 80 votes

@Teresa Humphreys @Jay Hinrichs

Health and Hospital is the old Code Enforcement and board of Health. Marion County changed it over to Health and Hospital a year or 2 ago.

Teresa - You are not being sued you are being taken to court for complaints to your property. You were named because you are the owner of the property. Health and Hospital probably got it through the Landlord registry or the tax records. Even though the lease is between the Tenant and the PM they will go after the owner. The $2500 is a fine that can be impose should the judge find you guilty of being out of compliance wth city and county codes. This will appear on you next property taxes if not paid the day of court. If you do not pay it the will start to add additional late fees to that $2500 fine.

From your remarks it appears you had an eviction or something go bad with the previous tenant. Ether way the old tenant called the Health department, the HD sent an enforcement officer over and found that the property is not in compliance. and now this is what you, an attorney, or your PM will have to go to court. Sorry to say but tenants do these things, I know from personal experience.

My suggestion to you is to get together with your PM and come up with a game plan on who will appear in court and if an attorney should be contacted to represent. If your PM is a good one they will have everything documented. All that documentation should be brought to court. The more leverage you and your PM have the better.

One more thing, before you go to court make sure that all the repairs the HD wants done have been completed. This way you will have a better fighting chance of not getting that fine.

I am sorry you have to go through this. I have been there and it is not fun but makes for a good learning experience.

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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
7y
this sounds weird .. why would a health department be doing this.
health department works with sewage and water.
are you confusing health department with section 8 HUD.. ??
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Scott Mac
Austin, TX · Member since 2019 · 5k+ posts · 5k+ votes
7y
Hi Teresa,
You should talk to an attorney about this vs getting an online consensus.
If the lawsuit lists an LLC as the owner you probably won't be able to appear for it, it will probably have to be an attorney.
You should contact an attorney ASAP and not post details online about this.
Good Luck!
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Teresa Humphreys
OP
Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 1 vote
7y
@Jay Hinrichs no, not confused. It's from the Health Department. Just curious if another homeowner has dealt with an entity like this before. I know, very strange.
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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Teresa Humphreys:

@Jay Hinrichs no, not confused. It's from the Health Department. Just curious if another homeowner has dealt with an entity like this before. I know, very strange.
YUP I have never heard of a health department calling out a lightbulb.. HUD yes section 8 yes housing authorities run by cities yes.
but who knows whats the jurisdiction what city and state.. maybe if you post those details someone can acutally answer you..
right now with your post there are 50 states to choose from and a million cities need to narrow it down if you want any constructive feedback :)
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Teresa Humphreys
OP
Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 1 vote
7y
this property is located in Indianapolis. No section 8 housing. Its a SFH. The Plaintiff is the Health & Hospital Corp, Division of Public Health. It only lists myself as the named defendant ("owner") - not the PM company, who the tenant had the lease with.
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Steve Lehman
Real Estate Consultant · Indianapolis · Member since 2019 · 75 posts · 80 votes
7y
@Teresa Humphreys @Jay Hinrichs
Health and Hospital is the old Code Enforcement and board of Health. Marion County changed it over to Health and Hospital a year or 2 ago.
Teresa - You are not being sued you are being taken to court for complaints to your property. You were named because you are the owner of the property. Health and Hospital probably got it through the Landlord registry or the tax records. Even though the lease is between the Tenant and the PM they will go after the owner. The $2500 is a fine that can be impose should the judge find you guilty of being out of compliance wth city and county codes. This will appear on you next property taxes if not paid the day of court. If you do not pay it the will start to add additional late fees to that $2500 fine.
From your remarks it appears you had an eviction or something go bad with the previous tenant. Ether way the old tenant called the Health department, the HD sent an enforcement officer over and found that the property is not in compliance. and now this is what you, an attorney, or your PM will have to go to court. Sorry to say but tenants do these things, I know from personal experience.
My suggestion to you is to get together with your PM and come up with a game plan on who will appear in court and if an attorney should be contacted to represent. If your PM is a good one they will have everything documented. All that documentation should be brought to court. The more leverage you and your PM have the better.
One more thing, before you go to court make sure that all the repairs the HD wants done have been completed. This way you will have a better fighting chance of not getting that fine.
I am sorry you have to go through this. I have been there and it is not fun but makes for a good learning experience.
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Dennis M.
Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
7y
@Steve Lehman
Geez that seems strict . Funny how all west coast investors flock to Indianapolis to buy up cheap properties and think it’s going to be sunshine and rainbows . I’m surprised it’s that strict on codes there
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Steve Lehman
Real Estate Consultant · Indianapolis · Member since 2019 · 75 posts · 80 votes
7y
@Dennis M.
HAHA, sunshine and rainbows. You forgot the unicorns. :)
Marion county and Indianapolis started to crack down on deadbeat landlords and those PM's that would not repair the properties. Sometimes good landlords get caught up in it. Especially, when you get a tenant who knows how to work the system.
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Teresa Humphreys
OP
Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 1 vote
7y
@Steve Lehman Thanks! Yes, we have good documentation on the repairs made at the property. I’m not too worried about it and thought there was probably another owner who faced the department. In this particular property, we had the typical “nightmare” tenant, but sometimes that’s the price you pay for doing business. Thanks for your response.
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Marcia Maynard
Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y
Good thing you have ample documentation of the unit condition from start to finish while this tenant lived there. Seems it may help your case if you have documentation (or even affidavits) of the unit condition from the tenancies of the tenant prior and the tenant after this particular tenant. I do believe the court will take into consideration the policies and procedures that were in place at the time, the notifications of problems received from the tenant, and the adequacy of your response. Demonstrate that you (or your designee - the PM) provide habitable housing and respond appropriately to problems as they arise. They will be looking for timeliness and effectiveness of your response. Was a good faith effort made to keep the property habitable? What specifically is it that the Health Department is finding at fault? Your attorney and your insurance company will be able to help you with this matter.
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Lee Bell
Real Estate Appraiser · Isabella lake, CA · Member since 2018 · 628 posts · 491 votes
7y
I have no knowledge of the procedures they have in Indy, but I would not count on mercy from any city dept.
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Arlan Potter
Investor/Accountant/Builder · Meno, OK · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 918 votes
7y
@Teresa HumphreysThe couple of times I had a tenant turn me in to the local code enforcement agency, it was by tenants that were very late on the rent, and trashing my house. A delay tactic to being evicted.
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Tom Campone
Member since 2018 · 36 posts · 20 votes
7y
I had a similar situation a few months back and it was less of an issue than the paperwork made it out to be. Get with your PM and if you can provide documentation that the issue has been resolved they "should" throw it out without a fine. That was my experience at least. We didn't even have to go to court they just cancelled the hearing a few days before.
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Caleb Heimsoth
Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
7y
@Dennis M. I’ve never owned in Indianapolis but I got a fine for my Cleveland rental for not mowing the grass. I’m not kidding lol. Then I never got the notices so it started accruing late fees...
The inspector called my parents who then called me lol. They literally said a warrant for my arrest would be issued.. over grass.
Anyways, I paid it and my tenants paid me back. The whole thing was just absurd.
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Dennis M.
Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
7y
A warrant for an arrest over tall grass . That’s insane
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Jim K.
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
7y
Maybe we should start calling them Bolshevikopolis and Comradeland.
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Harvey LevinPro Member
Property Manager · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2012 · 205 posts · 157 votes
7y
in Marion County as well as most counties in the United States that I have been aware of there are habitability standards that are the requirement of the owner. in Indianapolis those standards are almost exactly the same as the Section 8 standards the difference is that the only time the county or city gets involved is if they happen to drive past or if they have a complaint. If there is a lease with the tenant it is up to the owner or through its agent the property manager to back charge the tenant or sue the tenant for lease specific damages . As a landlord and property manager for 38 years I have found the city and county are very willing to work with us so long as we have good communication and they know that we are working on solving the problems. To me it sounds like there's a piece missing from this scenario. Bigger issue is if there are violations from prior to the purchase many times those violations do not appear on a title search and there's a buyer everyone should always ask the title company to perform the additional search of all Marion County city in County violations. Typically that search is around $100 and well worth it.
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Joe SplitrockPro Member
Moderator
Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes
7y
Many cities and counties have standards for a variety of things, including anything they view as a safety or healthy hazard. Usually they make reasonable attempts to contact the landlord to remedy. Sometimes the landlord doesn't have the property properly registered or they don't have valid contact information on file to send notices. Even in your case @Caleb Heimsoth I bet notices were sent or left at the property. Not cool of your tenant to ignore. Arrest warrant is pretty insane for property maintenance issues. Usually they just assess the cost to your taxes and get the money that way.
Ultimately as a responsible property owner, I have no problem with any of these city or county standards. There is way too many neglectful property owners and it wrecks the quality of the neighborhood for responsible owners. If you respond quickly and provide proof or work being competed, they usually don't penalize good landlords. I have talked to city workers who told me they get annoyed with people who complain. They are just doing their job responding to the complaints, so treat them with respect.
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Caleb Heimsoth
Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Joe Splitrock:

Many cities and counties have standards for a variety of things, including anything they view as a safety or healthy hazard. Usually they make reasonable attempts to contact the landlord to remedy. Sometimes the landlord doesn't have the property properly registered or they don't have valid contact information on file to send notices. Even in your case @Caleb Heimsoth I bet notices were sent or left at the property. Not cool of your tenant to ignore. Arrest warrant is pretty insane for property maintenance issues. Usually they just assess the cost to your taxes and get the money that way.
Ultimately as a responsible property owner, I have no problem with any of these city or county standards. There is way too many neglectful property owners and it wrecks the quality of the neighborhood for responsible owners. If you respond quickly and provide proof or work being competed, they usually don't penalize good landlords. I have talked to city workers who told me they get annoyed with people who complain. They are just doing their job responding to the complaints, so treat them with respect.
You hit the nail on the head. They sent notices to the property even though it clearly states on tax county website my actual mailing address.
It all worked out fine just a pain to deal with. I was lucky they didn’t assess me multiple violations over a couple month period because I was not aware of it.
They don’t teach you in the guru classes to make nice with the city inspector office so they don’t fine you repeatedly for something as simple as grass lol.
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