ChanThe4th t1_j9m91o6 wrote on February 22, 2023 at 11:58 PM

Reply to comment by Todd-The-Wraith in Texas homeowner faces fines after suspected DWI driver damages house by SarcasticGamer

I'm going to take the more realistic approach and say you're completely wrong.

The only reason this person got the extension is because of how much attention this recieved. These government workers don't give af about you or your life. They are there to collect money.

The fact that the person even recieved this notice without being given explicit details on how to proceed says all that needs to be said. This was a cash grab that failed and became embarrassing enough to be swept up before anyone notices the mess.

CoolKicks t1_j9mydwp wrote on February 23, 2023 at 3:04 AM

A house a neighborhood over from me caught fire. They lost about half the house in the fire, and boarded up what was still standing and just tried to live in the rest of the house. The city had to condemn the house to get them to move out of a house that was no longer habitable.

This code violation seems like the automatic version of that process. Almost certainly the city will issue a violation for a basketball size hole in a wall, or a car size hole, because there is a process to follow to make sure homes are safely habitable.

Is it tone deaf, yes. But for every story like this, someone is still living in the 30% of their home that’s still standing after a fire, and legal process is legal process.

Todd-The-Wraith t1_j9nnooc wrote on February 23, 2023 at 7:04 AM

Local governments would much MUCH rather have voluntary compliance than face a litigated code violation.

These notice letters have contact information for code enforcement on them.

Now if the homeowner had called and was denied an extension then this would be the outrageous story the headline makes it out to be.

deathleech t1_j9o4vsi wrote on February 23, 2023 at 10:59 AM

Nah, they are usually pretty good about granting extensions if you try to be reasonable with them. We had to move a shed and I contacted our town. Basically went back and said it’s the middle of winter and I can’t do it at this time of the season. They came back and gave me a 4 month extension no other questions asked. Of course it was a silly warning in the first place, and I am sure some cities are more anal than others, but for the most part they just want you to be in code rather than tick you off or have you ignore them.

jabberwockgee t1_j9nw579 wrote on February 23, 2023 at 8:55 AM

I imagine it would be easy to find a story where someone had dates set for construction that wasn't within the time limit, so a city kicked them out and made them homeless, right?

ChanThe4th t1_j9nwiar wrote on February 23, 2023 at 9:00 AM

Yes, you can find the story of a 72yr old cancer patient being fined for not taking care of his yard while doing treatment. You can find stories of people facing violations and fines for endless amounts of absolutely ridiculous issues that would be resolved better by simply calling or reaching out to make sure the person is ok.

Why is it so hard for people to treat others in a humane fashion? Why does everything revolve around punishment rather than simple communication?

jabberwockgee t1_j9nx9no wrote on February 23, 2023 at 9:11 AM

That's not the same as this situation.

If you're going to be contrary for the sake of being contrary, at least bring an example.