I think they charge them the original permit cost plus some penalty.I'm not sure when this is done vs. when they take out the hammer and force the work to be undone, it might have to do with who you talk to, what their mood is, phase of the moon, whether it's a safety issue, etc.It is an option though.

Plus I was willing to smack the visitors, if I was in the mood to encounter the ugly things (some nights I wasn't up to do battle.) 

To understand the period you have to get a sense of the general mood of the time and the overall economic malaise of the Great Recession.

I'll know more if I get in the mood for the pain and suffering a refi is and give it a try, but I'd rather invest in a nap for now.

But when that mood leaves, will you be disciplined enough to continue doing the boring but necessary things to keep you progressing toward your goal?

You can let her out of the lease if you’re in a giving mood but don’t give her any breaks on rent.

Try calling people on craigslist renting out their properties to see if they would be interested in selling instead of renting, never know what mood you might catch them in.

Or you find out that your PM found his wife under the keyboard player of an 80s cover band last week and is locked up for ag-assault in the county jail for thirty days with no one available to collect rent or continue the process of evicting those people on Center St. who might or might not be running a under-the-table daycare center/illegal pain pill distribution center out of your property...Does your whole house of debt collapse because Murphy wasn't in a good mood this week?

IMO they have difficult jobs but what I tell my clients is that it's like substitute school teachers.... you don't know who you're going to get and you don't know what kind of mood they are going to be in. 

It might get them in the mood again.  :-)  She's very patient with me!