House not fit for human habitation

[Derek T.]

There was a house that came on the market that I went to view and saw it had a notice from the county that said it is not fit for human habitation. I contacted the county to see what the issue or code violation was but there is a 2 week process for them to get back to me. What could possibly cause this? When viewing the house there seemed to be major water damage from the top floor. A lot of the dry wall had been pulled down on each floor, there was significant mold in the basement, and there was some flooring issues but I didn't notice any other major problems. This was past my experience grade so I didn't bid however I am curious as to what the issues could be with this house.

[Account Closed]

In my area the "red tags" and habitability notices are there for legal reasons. If the muni is aware of property with broken glass or mold or broken stairs or any kind of problem that could cause injury, they have to call it out in order to protect themselves in case of a lawsuit. Even rodent droppings is enough to get an empty property tagged as they are a possible health hazard. Additionally, once those types of tags on are a property, they will usually include "do not enter" notices. This is supposed to be a deterrent to crime and vandalism as it allows law enforcement to write citations for entering.

The code people are just doing their job, which usually has nothing to do with a true assessment of habitability or whether or not the problems can be remediated or repaired.