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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Big Brother isn't so Big
by CM Albrecht, published on May 26, 2010 at 7:31 AM
Storyline: Just my Opinion
In an earlier tirade against the city council’s high-handed move against both landlords and tenants, I complained about its abuse of authority in trying to force landlords and tenants alike to allow code enforcement officers to snoop around inside residences with the excuse of making certain these dwellings are safe secure places for renters to live.
Evidently, after running down that rare lawyer who isn’t out chasing after mesothelioma patients, the city council learned the astonishing fact that it can’t simply walk into a person’s home without either a search warrant or permission from the resident. Now the city council has belatedly given residents the opportunity to place a signed notice outside on the door (not inside the window, mind you) telling the inspector whether or not they will open their door. Of course, there is the very real possibility that the notice will fall off or be removed by someone before the code enforcement inspector arrives on the scene, or that rain will ruin it, thus creating more opportunities for the city to fine the homeowner, but hey…
This later unforeseen development comes straight from a code enforcement officer. He admits this came up later and unexpectedly. I can’t reveal his name of course, and he is now in our witness protection program. I usually write fiction, but this is not fiction.
The inspector must take the note away with him (thus explaining why it can’t simply be posted in the window), or the owner will be fined. Let’s hope he doesn’t loose the darned thing before he gets back to the office.
Despite the fact that the city council can’t quite manhandle us in the way it would like, it still manages to slip in a lot more little gotchas than any normal citizen would ever want.
Next time around, I’m casting my votes for anybody who has never before been on the city council. Anybody.
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I, too, have been a landlord. I would never allow a rental property to be kept in a condition less than I would live in myself. However, not every landlord has a conscience. If I had rental properties now, I would certainly pony up the city's modest fee to comply with code. I see nothing "totalitarian" about it. And I find your comparison of the city's behavior to a totalitarian government quite overblown.
I had the inspection done and the men that came into my home did not do anything wrong. He just checked for code violations. I'm glad he did. Heck, the wiring was off. We could of had an electrical fire and died. My landlord had to replace the switch, change the outlets..... It was worth it. I had lived here all this time and had no idea. My landlord had no idea and the man likes me lol. He wouldn't want the death of me, my son, daughter or granddaughter on his hands or conscious. Heck, If the city hadn't imposed it my wiring would still be bad. I have to support it.
But thank you for your article and thank you for speaking up for what you believe is wrong. I wish you the best.
http://www.erosi.saccounty.net/
and enter a name...such as yours. Under that name, there are 36 different records of deed transfer during the 2000-2010 decade, 19 during the 1990s. Online, these transactions show the book and page number where this information is recorded in county records, as well as party type (grantor or grantee) and a cross-reference number. By visiting the county clerk-recorder's office, one could even look up the specific deed, but personally I don't have the time for that level of research.
It appears that some of your properties were transferred to your wife, some to other individuals, some to banks or financial institutions (including Lehman Brothers) or trusts (in your name.) It's obvious to anyone who checks public record that you have been quite involved in the conveyance and reconveyance of real estate. That, plus your ongoing series of articles comparing Sacramento to a totalitarian police state (for the crime against humanity of having a program to ensure that slumlords maintain their properties in some semblance of decency at least once every two decades) strains the credibility of your claim that you are not a landlord well past the breaking point.
Your stubborn and persistent defense of the city council gives me pause...
I don't like to be snide, but I hope you aren't one of those historians that rewrite history for their own convenience.
Cheers, Carl