I bought a house in 2008. It was a shell. You may have seen the renovation pics posted here some time ago. I used a 203K loan to purchase and rehab the property.
Upon moving into the property in 2009 I was estatic. I started getting registration papers from the city requesting me to pay $30 per unit on my property. They wanted me to pay $60 because they had on record that my house was 2-units. Its NOT so I corrected the form (which it tells you to do if there are any mistakes) and sent the payment of $30 to the Director of Finance. A year later I get another registration letter requesting $60 and they tacked on a $100 VBN (Vacant Building Notice) FINE. I was also charged additional penalties in the amount of $197. So I paid the bill NOT knowing that as an OWNER OCCUPANT you are NOT required to pay ANY of these fees. These fees are ONLY placed on LANDLORDS of properties in the city.
SO, as a NEW home owner I was none the wiser in this matter until I got tired of getting these letters and these fines. SO I physically went down to the permit office to inquire about all this crap. I was told the above info being an owner occupant and not having to pay any of the fees. SO i demanded a refund. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT RIGHT? So I was told at that time that I never received a Use and Occupancy permit for my house so they had it listed as a VACANT BUILDING still even though my contractor had requested OTHER building permits for my property. They said I would have to pay $100 to REOPEN the permits and additional fees to have an inspector come out and look at my house. I was like use the money I already paid for something I wasn't SUPPOSED to pay for. They said they couldn't do that so I left and said screw it I'm not going to worry about it then.
Fast forward 2 years and I am getting MORE letters threatening me with $900 fines and citations if I don't address this matter within 10 days. So I emailed the commissioner who signed the letter and waited for a response. This man tells me because I never had an inspector come to my house to make sure I had carbon monoxide detectors installed that they placed the fines on my property for the use and occupancy permit.
I was like how can the city tell me my house is UNINHABITABLE after I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on renovations? WTF? He said he would reopen the Use and Occupancy permits back up for me and schedule an inspection at no cost to me. I'm like thank God because 1- I dont have the money to pay for all that crap and 2- I already PAID money for all that crap 3 years ago!
So this is why the city of Baltimore is ASANINE in their practices and WE THE PEOPLE need to start demanding changes for the way business is done in this world!
PS- before you start sending money to an agency that sends you an official looking letter QUESTION QUESTION QUESTION the hell out of them first!
That is all!
4 comments:
I'm sorry to hear about your troubles up in Baltimore City. When I first saw your facebook post, I was wondering what could have made you so upset, but I can see now. Here is just another example where knowledge is power. It's easier said than done but now that you know, you can prevent fees in the future and possibly help other people avoid fees.
I'm sorry to hear about your troubles up in Baltimore City. When I first saw your facebook post, I was wondering what could have made you so upset, but I can see now. Here is just another example where knowledge is power. It's easier said than done but now that you know, you can prevent fees in the future and possibly help other people avoid fees.
Anonymous Sean Mulcahey said...
I'm sorry to hear about your troubles up in Baltimore City. When I first saw your facebook post, I was wondering what could have made you so upset, but I can see now. Here is just another example where knowledge is power. It's easier said than done but now that you know, you can prevent fees in the future and possibly help other people avoid fees.
Anonymous Sean Mulcahey said...
I'm sorry to hear about your troubles up in Baltimore City. When I first saw your facebook post, I was wondering what could have made you so upset, but I can see now. Here is just another example where knowledge is power. It's easier said than done but now that you know, you can prevent fees in the future and possibly help other people avoid fees.
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