City of Toledo Violation Letters, seem to be a hot year for them

[Andrew Fidler]

If anyone owns property within the City of Toledo in Lucas County, OH you may end up getting a Department of Neighborhoods Violation Letter.

There seems to be a concerted focus to this year to aggressively pursue blight and disrepair...I am absolutely behind the effort but it's interesting to see it happening.

Since the beginning of the year I have had two of the "Violation Letter, 72 Hour Public Nuisance Order TMC 1726.01" come through. One was on a duplex we had removed multiple layers of old linoleum from and staged on the front porch to be hauled to our dumpster and the other was that house fire I wrote about on another post.

In both cases I was able to immediately call the city inspector, get an understanding of what the issue is and identify that I "work in Toledo, invest in Toledo, pay taxes in Toledo, believe in building a better Toledo" and give them a specific time when the issue will be resolved. This stops the issue from escalating and now that I've done what I said I'd do it's a good relationship.

The procedure for the City seems to be:

1. A Violation letter with a specific time to resolve (24 hrs, 72 hrs, etc)
2. A second letter which is a $75 Fine, Notice of Liability TMC 1726
3. A third letter which is a $250 Fine
4. A court summons forcing you to hire a lawyer, attend court at least twice, resolve the issue and then pay court fees and fines.
5. I presume if you don't attend the summons then they put a warrant out and place the fines and fees against your property meaning it will be seized if not resolved.
6. At the City's discretion they will themselves resolve a situation they deem urgent...you will receive a large bill in the mail for their time and efforts, something like $300 an hour for four hours time plus materials and disposal.

I have properties in a self directed IRA, which means the owner on file is the administrating firm...there is a two week delay between a notice being issued (yes a 72 hour notice) and my getting it. I'm happy to report that explaining that to the city has helped as well, if the inspector can understand who they are dealing with and trust that the issue will be resolved then there is a reasonable leeway afforded. (I just got the $75 fine removed which had been stuck in the 2 week delay while I addressed the 72 hour notice letter)

Overall, be aware of the increased scrutiny and immediately communicate if you receive a letter from the city.

I am happy to help if anyone gets a violation letter and needs assistance, I'm now on a first name basis with the Department of Neighborhoods :) 

[Adam A.]

I've found that Toledo inspectors are always understanding and willing to help landlords' needs to take care of the problem before any further escalation. However, judge Mcconnell is a different story.