Park county govt forcing people out of their homes.

I am curious if anyone has accounts of Park County government forcing people out of their homes for no good reason.

I just found out that that county forced one couple to tear down their home that they have been living in for more than a decade because they did not get their permit fees. House was fine, showed it was fine by functioning for a decade. (keep in mind that recently an fully inspected house just blew up in VOS). Inspections don't make us safer, they just make our house take 25% longer to build and cost $10-30k more.

Anyone know of any other occurances like this...where say the building inspectors right to come into your bedroom is more important than one's right to live in the home they built on land they own. (well rent from the county)

Building codes and zoning have shown to dramatically reduce property values in a down market while dramatically increasing home cost. Residential building inspectors have never been able to show any data or evidence of increased safety, esp locally, when they cost citizens as much as the entire county budget each year and there is clear evidence of this. No one has ever mentioned they liked or appreciated the BI besides the BOCC...prob because these BI is another tax collector for the BOCC.

Any info out there worth sharing? People wronged to make abusive (esp in Park CO) and unAmerican jobs and elimiate the local economy.

A neighbor of ours expanded on their home without permits.

Then sold it.

The next buyers were unaware that the previous owners had dangerously overloaded several ciruits rather than expand the main breaker box. They were also unaware fo the complete lack of foundation under one section of the home - that had been built on an old flagstone deck.

Building codes don't exist to protect the builder or the current residents. they exist to keep stupid people from killing the next residents.

I have to believe there is more to this story.
We are in the construction field and I cannot imagine building or remodeling something without building codes and inspections.
They are in place to protect current and future homeowners.
Ever watch Holmes on Homes?
I have to believe that the county will work with you to go back in and retrofit most anything not up to code before they make you tear a house down.
Yeppers....got to be more to this story.

I'm bettin the home didn't follow foundation or framing codes, and it's more expensive to fix and make it safe than it is to replace it.

I am just unclear that the county can just tear it down.
Seems to me that it would need to be condemned or something.
You would think there would be some news about it somewhere.
That is pretty extreme.

Becky wrote: I am just unclear that the county can just tear it down.
Seems to me that it would need to be condemned or something.
You would think there would be some news about it somewhere.
That is pretty extreme.

You're right. That is newsworthy. I'm sure the media outlets would be all over that story like bears on honey.


If it had actually happened.

I agree with Becky: there must be more to this story.

Generally speaking, building codes are your friend. If you are building a sunroom, for example, it doesn't need the exits and electrical systems that a bedroom does. Obviously you and your babies are usually awake in a sunroom, usually asleep when you hit the sack, so the bedroom systems need to be more secure. (Here in Parkco, the septic system is based on the number of bedrooms, not baths, the assumption being that people sleeping in a home will probably pee and poo too.)

From the buyers' perspective, I am less concerned about whether a buildout was "permitted" than whether it meets code if a permit had been obtained. Lotsa people up here go without the permit, especially if they are only adding a window or expanding an existing space. The onus is on the inspector to flag issues that would not be code complaint if the building inspector happened by.

Have never heard of the county requiring an entire scrape for failure to obtain permit, and can't imagine that was the first stage of the process.

I have lived many places without codes and saw no issues, except more opportunity and citizen wealth..

Where was the home inspector or engineer or good contractor that those people hired before they bought the home they knew nothing about?

I think the part that most people are missing is that there are professionals out there you can hire...please people start railing about the vehicle repair inspections....bad repairs kill all the time and we apparently could care less. Would you be ok if the county came and inspected your car right now and if not up to their standards, force you to park it...and then get rid of it because you cannot have a non functioning car for too long in your yard.

Do the research....places without codes have little to no issues, more rights and more opportunity. Please someone show me one cost benefit analysis. Places with codes have high taxes and lower values in rural areas. People in places without codes cannot even imagine that americans would put such laws in place....they cannot believe you need to let the government inspect your home...there are more systems in place....ask govt leaders why they initiated the codes and they all have the same answer....$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Ask their replacement and the answer is safety, safety, safety.

Those are just tales of what could happen when homeowners are stupid and don't know it. If someone does not understand something, they can hire an expert, that is better than the county inspection process. Experts are liable, county is not.

Park county inpectors miss things all the time and then bust you on something harmless. I cought something a local inspector missed that would have resulted in a fire within minutes of the homeowner moving in and starting the heating equipment. Would they have been at fault. Is the county at fault for the houses that have blown up locally...Same inspectors still there, so I guess not.

Why in this one case do you expect the govt to do the job, yet poorly and then for most other things in life we have to figure it out?

I bet you let me in your home, I can find 10 reasons to condemn it.

I ask any of you that argue....would you be willing to submit your home in it's current state to a building inspection by the county and move out untill all the things, both law and bias, that they tell you to fix are fixed, pay for all follow up inspections.

Please speak up and lets get that inspector over to your house. gee your kids could be at risk and since you all recognize that most don't understand houses and need inspections, why not your house, why not tomorrow. It might not even be safe enough to have your family over for the holidays.

It is extreme, did happen, they were forced legally (the laws you love) to rip it down based on the building code.

The reason I am asking is so I CAN BRING IT TO THE MEDIA. The people who this happened to are not aggresive, the local media does not hunt things down, especially if they make the county look bad, nothing bas is ever really said about the county in the paper.

Any of you ever buy an old home....east of us, many of the homes were built prior to codes...how on earth did it work until 20-30 years ago. Only out west are most of the homes this young?

Again, anyone can hire all the experts they need, for less than the county charges and they will be working for you.

Cost/benefit is something that can be calculated....you don't when you don't want to know the answers....clearly the scare tactics have worked on all of you....you actually think you need the county to build the average house to make it safe, but will let anyone fix your brakes and put your kid in the back seat?

Get real. Do some research and stop being a fraidy cat, or start demanding the other 100 inspections that would be logical based on your reasoning.

My home, my risk, my experts, what is the problem? Do you hesitate to walk in a home older than 30 years. Most places back east a home build in the last 100 years is new. Kids get educated in 150 year old schools....not here. Everything must be new and burdened. No data, all decisions will be made based on scare tactics.

Anyone show me any reports of current non coded communities with problems as a result, even just one....or is it all stories of what could have happened if....but has not.

My arguement is based on single family residential on owned property. Not commercial and not multifamily, one could start to justify codes there, just start.

interesting thread

i know one family who was building an addition without a permit recently got stopped when the building inspector happened by while coming to inspect another property that was putting on a new roof who did get their permit.

as far as code goes i am in favor of it as i have seen some interesting stuff go up without permits mostly over in badger creek and other areas off the beaten path. i wouldn't mind seeing it revised so that it is more understandable.

what i do have a problem with is the building inspectors being arrogant and unhelpful. l---n can be a piss poor excuse for a building inspector. if you are doing it yourself he will be abusive and threatening when he should be interested in helping the parties get it right. it doesn't matter how courteous you are to him, he just doesn't think he should have to deal with anyone building themselves. tht has to change. he also needs to be willing to courteously walk people through the nightmare of building code book. that applies to the other b.i. too.

and i wouldn't put it past any of the b.i. as horrible as they are to be involved in the scenario addressed above. they can be real stinkers and b.o.c.c. could care less so long as the homes are 'being built right'. if you complain about the b.i. you can kiss your permit and home goodbye.

Failure to have an appropriate permit and/or failure to comply with building codes can be a justification for insurance companies to not pay a claim, especially if they can find linkage between the damage and the failure.