Tag: minimum housing
Tax Foreclosure and Redevelopment
Carolina County has been working with its largest municipality, Tar Heel Town, to redevelop one of Tar Heel Town’s more dilapidated neighborhoods. Many of the properties in this neighborhood are owned by absentee landlords who fail to maintain them properly. Not surprisingly, many of these proper … Read more
Tort Liability for Negligent Housing Inspection Resulting in Injury?
Like other local governments, the Town of Hapless has adopted a minimum housing code pursuant to G.S. 160A-443 (for more on minimum housing codes, see Tyler Mulligan’s book here). In March of this year the town’s inspection department received numerous complaints about the condition of four rental h … Read more
Who is an owner “of record” to be served with complaints and orders under NC minimum housing codes?
John Spartan serves as the senior housing code official for the town of San Angeles, NC, where he recently presided over his 100th minimum housing hearing. He has overseen the repair or removal of many unfit homes over the years, and he is careful to ensure that his town’s minimum housing code keeps … Read more
Targeting Troubled Neighborhoods for Housing Code Inspections
[UPDATE: The General Assembly enacted changes in 2017. Those changes are discussed in this law bulletin: Residential Rental Property Inspections, Permits, and Registration: Changes in 2017. See Questions 19 and 20 in the bulletin for a discussion of targeted inspections.] Along Broken Dreams Bouleva … Read more
Ensuring Local Policy Complies with New Residential Inspections Law
Tyler Mulligan is a School of Government faculty member. The city manager of Tooltime, North Carolina, picks up the phone and calls Tim Taylor, the city’s minimum housing public officer and lead housing inspector. “Tim, I understand why you suspended all periodic inspections in Tooltime that did not … Read more
Minimum Housing: A Way Around Residential Inspection Limits?
Tim Taylor is both a housing inspector and the appointed minimum housing public officer for the town of Tooltime, North Carolina. For years he has conducted periodic inspections of dwellings throughout the town in accordance with his town’s periodic inspection program. When those inspections reveale … Read more
Repairing unfit houses—and then recouping the costs
[2011 UPDATE: For more detail on this topic, see the following 2011 book: Housing Codes for Repair and Maintenance: Using the General Police Power and Minimum Housing Statutes to Prevent Dwelling Deterioration] An earlier post on minimum housing ordinances (MHOs) explained how MHOs can be employed b … Read more