State Specific Question About: CALIFORNIA (CA)

Dear all:

I need your advices and sharing how to deal with the San Jose city code violation regarding two sheds built in the back and side yard.

The property was acquired in Dec 2012. I received a letter from City Code Enforcement department in Oct 2013, regarding the findings from the inspection in Dec 2011 - that sheds built by previous owner prior to 2006 was violating the city building code- within 6 feet from the main house. The city did not send a written Violation Report to the previous owner after inspection, and previous owner did not disclose the inspection and violation to me during the transaction. At this point, to address the code violation issue, can I hold the city accountable for its delayed notice and negotiate with them on the corrective action plan? Currently the city requested me to either take down the sheds or rebuilt to permit.

2ndly, can I file against the seller for their not disclosure?

Thank you very much for your advice in advance.

What do YOU want the outcome to be? It really doesn't matter whether or not the City waited to issue notice. They are in violation so you must comply. Unless they were inspected and the City signed off you likely don't have a case with them. Don't really see that you can go after the previous owner, although they did have an inspection until they got the notice they would not have been "hiding" the violations.

Thank you for your response to my question, and also the sharing about the building codes etc.

Really can't answer your question without knowing lots of details.

For example you just now mentioned the patio. In your first post you said two buildings. It's a bit confusing.

City official "to see if (sic) it is worthwhile keeping it." ???? This makes no sense. City officials decisions to keep or not are not based on usefulness. They should be ruling on compliance with code or not. Don't assume it means something. Call and ask why are you coming back? What are you expecting to see when you come back? What can I do to keep everything as is? Can I get a variance for zoning code issues? Can I get a structural engineer or architect to confirm construction is adequate? Can I use their letter of adequacy to get a building permit signed off on?

It could be they are coming back to confirm that it has been removed like was ordered.

Jenny. To get a quick help, you should take a picture of your shed, and stop by San Jose's building and code department. They were quite helpful when I talked to them in 2008.

You can check the history of your case from www3. sanjoseca.gov/codeEnforcement/cets/form_index.asp

About holding "city accountable", I don't think you have a change there. It's your responsibility to investigate when you bought it. If your realtor should helped you to check for all open code violations and permits.

Those government inspections are done without the consent of the owner. You will find inspectors on your property from time to time. The previous owner didn't necessarily know anything about this and had nothing to disclose.

I am also in California, but my wonderful City is Los Angeles where they make up the rules as they go along! As a licensed building contractor I have a lot of stuff. The City doesn't want me to store my junk in the open or on the ground, but instead in a garage or custom shed. Therefore over the years I have built many sheds for myself and my rentals -- tenants too accumulate a lot of junk!

There are a lot of rules that govern the location of the shed, materials it must be made of and it's size.

If you purchase a shed from a Building Supply Store like Home Depot and it is:

1) a temporary structure - not nailed down, free standing.

2) not built on a special poured concrete pad

3) is five feet or more from the property line

4) is 150 or less in square feet in size

Then you don't need a building permit (so long as the structure is done to code). Violate one of the 5 above rules

Jenny,

Brad's Rules for surviving inspectors:

-Never argue with a govt inspector. He'll only dig in his heels and make your life worse as he defends HIS job and decision. Picture puling a cat backwards!

-tenants come and go but inspectors live forever. He will remember you.

-make that memory good. Go to them with good pictures and a good attitude. Ask politely for their help. They LOVE it when you respect their power. Go hat in hand, asking for help. "Thanks for the letter. I did not know the sheds were out of compliance. Can you please help me figure out what to do?"

-the codes are pretty clear so you WILL have to do something. Even if they are jerking you around, you cannot fight city hall.

-they get yelled at all day. Be the ONE person who listened and complied without making a stink.

-comply swiftly and completely.

-send a written thank you note praising their helpfulness and cooperation as you worked thru this issue. Yours will be the ONLY one they EVER get! They might even FRAME it!

Thank you all for your suggestions and advices. You are greatly appreciated.

The previous inspection was done by different inspector and now the case has been passed to new code enforcement officer. That is why the new code enforcement officer suggested to come and take a look of the sheds and patio again, to see what variance could be done to keep the sheds and patios, or just remove them all. He also suggested to have a building inspector to come at the same time, to see how the structure of sheds were built, meeting the building code or not. For sure, the location of sheds were violating the zoning code. Do you think this is a good move?

So far I have cooperated with city inspector, and with your advices I will continue to do so, listen and discuss respectfuly. It was my inexperience that I did not ask a question when I bought the house. I will need to deal with it now. No city, no previous owner; unfortunately my realtor agent said he was not accountable for checking either.

Thank you. I will continue update as it goes. When I need to lay out the detailed plan on fixing the problems, I may need your advice again. Please continue support me.

While you want to be friendly with these people, I would suggest the building official wait and see if zoning can be worked out. No point in the building official poking around if zoning makes you tear them down. Approach is systematically. Get zoning cleared then building. If the zoning guy hears the building guy saying "the whole thing is going to fall down" then he will be less likely to work with you.

While I whole heartedly agree with Brad20K's approach, I also don't invite them to come and look around. They always cost me money.

No one can not come in your house ore backyard with without a warrant. A city code inspector may enter your property only with your permission or a search warrant. Without either, an inspector may only view your property from the street or sidewalk..

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I have been in similar situations without permits a few times. They say jump just jump. They have always worked with me. I just follow whichever process they suggest and pay the fee and it gets resolved.