Point-of-Sale Inspections etc.
Dear Friends,
I’m writing to ask for your input on a few issues before council. I’m also asking that you make your opinion known, preferably by coming to council committee meetings on the issue, or general council meetings, where the public can make comments. A schedule of upcoming meetings is at the end of this post.
The first issue is Point of Sale Inspections. There’s been a lot of incorrect information out there about our proposed legislation, and most of the reactions (including those expressed in the recent Sun Messenger editorial) are based on bad information or misunderstandings.
We are proposing that before the sale of a home can be completed the owner would pay (about $175, which would fund the additional personpower and paperwork) for an exterior-only inspection of the house. These inspections would be the same type of exterior inspections we already require, no more and no less. Any objections about inspectors entering homes are baseless, nor is there anything in the legislation about repairs inside the home. We will continue to do regular door-to-door inspections, starting the cycle again in 2008 and continuing whether point-of-sale is in place or not, and our inspectors will continue to respond to neighbors' complaints and cite high grass and weeds.
Our primary reasons for requiring an inspection at point of sale are:
• For homeowners without the funds to make repairs while they live in the house, the time when money is being transferred may be the only time when such funds are available. This addresses the objection that low-income owners or elderly residents can’t afford repairs. At sale time, the buyer can assume the responsibility for the repairs, or the seller can use the equity that comes out of the sale to make repairs.
• Too often people sell their home a year or more after the scheduled regular inspection, and in the interim there are new violations that haven’t been addressed. The buyer or seller may hire a private inspector and find out about possible violations, but there is no official city inspection that comes with a requirement to repair them. Other times the buyer pays for a house not knowing that there are violations, then at the next regular inspection he or she learns that repairs are necessary, and the funds may no longer be available.
• The current trend toward low- or no-money-down sales allows buyers to purchase homes without the funds to fix the house if violations are found later. These homes often get resold quickly, again without repairs being made. What’s left is a rundown property that pulls down the values of the properties around it.
If violations are found at point of sale, there are various ways that the repairs can be made and paid for:
• the seller can pay to make the repairs and include the repair cost in the price of the house, or
• the buyer or seller, or both, can put funds for repairs in escrow as part of the transfer, and as repairs are made the funds are paid from escrow, or
• the buyer can assume responsibility and deduct the cost of repairs from the purchase price.
CABOR (Cleveland Area Board of Realtors) has said they have no objection to this exterior-only program, since it’s something we already have in place.
There is no comparison to be made with programs in Cleveland Heights or Shaker, since theirs are both exterior and interior inspections.
The majority of council, and the mayor, see point-of-sale as an effective tool to raise the level of home maintenance and the quality of life in our neighborhoods. The message it will send is: “You can’t let your property fall into disrepair and lower the property value of your neighbors’ homes.”
The next issue is also about keeping up the quality of our housing stock. We are working on legislation that says you can’t use sheets or newspaper as window coverings. It may seem a small thing, but it’s important that we set and keep standards. It’s a shame that we have residents who care so little about the community, and that we have to address the problem with legislation, but that’s the way things are.
The third piece of legislation is about public health. I’ve proposed anti-idling legislation that would make it a violation for diesel trucks and buses to idle their engines for long periods of time. The fine particles in diesel exhaust contribute to asthma and other respiratory problems.
The law would not apply to gasoline vehicles, or emergency or service vehicles that need to run their engines to power service equipment like refrigeration units. It would not apply when the outside temperature is below 32 or above 80 degrees, and there are other exceptions to provide for the health and safety of drivers and passengers.
My hope is that we can eventually follow the lead of the city of Cleveland, which has a policy that none of its city vehicles, gas or diesel, police cars included, may let their engines idle. They’re saving a fortune in gas money and keeping the air clean.
SO...here is the schedule of upcoming meetings. I hope you’ll either attend or write to me with your input.
2/26/07 – 6:30pm WINDOW COVERINGS
7:30pm ANTI-IDLING
8:00pm FULL COUNCIL MEETING
3/12/07 - POINT OF SALE INSPECTIONS
WARD 4 MEETING - MARCH 28, at 7:00pm at the Community Center.
FYI, Council meets the second Monday each month, no meetings in August.
Thanks for your time!
I’m writing to ask for your input on a few issues before council. I’m also asking that you make your opinion known, preferably by coming to council committee meetings on the issue, or general council meetings, where the public can make comments. A schedule of upcoming meetings is at the end of this post.
The first issue is Point of Sale Inspections. There’s been a lot of incorrect information out there about our proposed legislation, and most of the reactions (including those expressed in the recent Sun Messenger editorial) are based on bad information or misunderstandings.
We are proposing that before the sale of a home can be completed the owner would pay (about $175, which would fund the additional personpower and paperwork) for an exterior-only inspection of the house. These inspections would be the same type of exterior inspections we already require, no more and no less. Any objections about inspectors entering homes are baseless, nor is there anything in the legislation about repairs inside the home. We will continue to do regular door-to-door inspections, starting the cycle again in 2008 and continuing whether point-of-sale is in place or not, and our inspectors will continue to respond to neighbors' complaints and cite high grass and weeds.
Our primary reasons for requiring an inspection at point of sale are:
• For homeowners without the funds to make repairs while they live in the house, the time when money is being transferred may be the only time when such funds are available. This addresses the objection that low-income owners or elderly residents can’t afford repairs. At sale time, the buyer can assume the responsibility for the repairs, or the seller can use the equity that comes out of the sale to make repairs.
• Too often people sell their home a year or more after the scheduled regular inspection, and in the interim there are new violations that haven’t been addressed. The buyer or seller may hire a private inspector and find out about possible violations, but there is no official city inspection that comes with a requirement to repair them. Other times the buyer pays for a house not knowing that there are violations, then at the next regular inspection he or she learns that repairs are necessary, and the funds may no longer be available.
• The current trend toward low- or no-money-down sales allows buyers to purchase homes without the funds to fix the house if violations are found later. These homes often get resold quickly, again without repairs being made. What’s left is a rundown property that pulls down the values of the properties around it.
If violations are found at point of sale, there are various ways that the repairs can be made and paid for:
• the seller can pay to make the repairs and include the repair cost in the price of the house, or
• the buyer or seller, or both, can put funds for repairs in escrow as part of the transfer, and as repairs are made the funds are paid from escrow, or
• the buyer can assume responsibility and deduct the cost of repairs from the purchase price.
CABOR (Cleveland Area Board of Realtors) has said they have no objection to this exterior-only program, since it’s something we already have in place.
There is no comparison to be made with programs in Cleveland Heights or Shaker, since theirs are both exterior and interior inspections.
The majority of council, and the mayor, see point-of-sale as an effective tool to raise the level of home maintenance and the quality of life in our neighborhoods. The message it will send is: “You can’t let your property fall into disrepair and lower the property value of your neighbors’ homes.”
The next issue is also about keeping up the quality of our housing stock. We are working on legislation that says you can’t use sheets or newspaper as window coverings. It may seem a small thing, but it’s important that we set and keep standards. It’s a shame that we have residents who care so little about the community, and that we have to address the problem with legislation, but that’s the way things are.
The third piece of legislation is about public health. I’ve proposed anti-idling legislation that would make it a violation for diesel trucks and buses to idle their engines for long periods of time. The fine particles in diesel exhaust contribute to asthma and other respiratory problems.
The law would not apply to gasoline vehicles, or emergency or service vehicles that need to run their engines to power service equipment like refrigeration units. It would not apply when the outside temperature is below 32 or above 80 degrees, and there are other exceptions to provide for the health and safety of drivers and passengers.
My hope is that we can eventually follow the lead of the city of Cleveland, which has a policy that none of its city vehicles, gas or diesel, police cars included, may let their engines idle. They’re saving a fortune in gas money and keeping the air clean.
SO...here is the schedule of upcoming meetings. I hope you’ll either attend or write to me with your input.
2/26/07 – 6:30pm WINDOW COVERINGS
7:30pm ANTI-IDLING
8:00pm FULL COUNCIL MEETING
3/12/07 - POINT OF SALE INSPECTIONS
WARD 4 MEETING - MARCH 28, at 7:00pm at the Community Center.
FYI, Council meets the second Monday each month, no meetings in August.
Thanks for your time!
posted by Jane Goodman | 7:03 AM
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4 comments
