A Leaky Roof and an Improved Alley

Our Alley Prior to Improvement

We had a pretty good rain Sunday evening. And that rain resulted in water coming through the ceiling in our bedroom. That's not exactly what you want or expect after buying a home that was supposedly renovated just a couple of months earlier.

We knew the roof would need to be replaced a few years down the road. We just figured we would replace it when we put on our garage addition. However, given that the roof is leaking and God knows how long it will be before the City of Tampa allows us to actually build our new bathroom, let alone the garage, a new roof may be coming sooner rather than later.

The good news is that I did find the leaks in the attic and they are relatively small. So, I think I can patch them with metal caulk on the roof. But the call is going out to get bids for a new metal roof ASAP.

A Call to the GC and the Previous Owner

If you read My Last Post then you'd know that we are having some difficulties with the windows installed in our house - the City is claiming they weren't permitted. We have pictures before the previous owner bought the house and we have the pictures that the previous owner took for their MLS listing (both dated) and clearly the windows were installed by the previous owner. There was a permit pulled on the property for renovation work between July of 2017 and November of 2017. But that permit didn't include the windows.

So, I gave the General Contractor (Shawn Green of Vintage Designs) a call who was listed on the permit. I tried to see if he would make it right. I told him that I had pictures of the house from the MLS dated on October of 2017 and pictures of the house with different windows installed prior to the renovation work commencing. He told that was the homeowner's problem.

Our House Just Prior to July 2017

When I talked to the homeowner, he told me that Shawn was the only GC he hired and that no windows were installed. I told him that I had dated pictures that told a different story - it's also obvious to see that the windows are practically brand new, with the manufacturer's sticker still on many of them and he purchased the house from an estate, which by the pictures did very little to improve the house. He persisted. Not his problem; he didn't install them; they were already in the house. However, he did offer to assist me with any additional permit fees I might have to pay as a result. It was a nice gesture, but we may be past that point, especially if we have to pay to get all the windows in the house replaced.

Our House in October 2017 (One Month Before Closing)

At the very least, a GC should know better. So, we will be filing a complaint with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) against the contractor's license. The previous owner is a developer and a realtor and he should know better too. So, we are also strongly considering filing a complaint against his relator's license with the DBPR too.

A Call to the Title Company

The thought had occurred to us that the Title Company might be complicit in our window debacle. So, I notified them that we may be considering a title claim and I told them why. You see, it's the responsibility of a title company to ensure that the title is free from other party's claims prior to the close of the sale. Well, our property had a lien on it that was resolved by a magistrate when the previous owners held title to the property, but the underlying claims made in order for the City to secure the lien were not resolved.

If validating those claims was a complicated matter, then I can see how the Title Company might claim that they did their proper due diligence. But, even with the little knowledge of how Tampa City Code claims work that I have, I know that you can't fully resolve a claim on something like windows without pulling a permit to do so. A simple check in the City of Tampa's public records shows that the previous owners never did that. I didn't know that when I bought the house. But do I know that now. And I expect that if your entire business is based around researching claims against homes then as a Title Agent, you would know that too. Now, none of this explains why the City of Tampa absolved the previous owners of the code violations they had with the windows while my wife and I are getting raked over the coals for them. At the very least, this stuff should have been disclosed to us prior to closing. I guess what I am saying is that a title claim is not out of the question.

A More Helpful Conversation with the City of Tampa

After I talked with the previous owner and the GC he had work on the house, I called construction services permitting and I spoke to a man named Dave J. I gave him the lowdown about the windows and the alley, the bathroom I was trying to get permitted and all the issues I was having. And he was actually really helpful.

Dave told me what we needed to get from our architect to permit the windows (assuming they meet code), he said the alley issue could be removed from holding up the bathroom permit and he told me that neither of those things should hold us up from getting a new roof. He also said that in order to get our garage permit, we would have to resolve the issue with the alley and that he would have someone from right-of-way permitting call me. 

All right! Now we finally have a path forward. It seems like after running in circles with everyone I've talked to at the City, we just needed one helpful person to get things moving in the right direction. Don't get me wrong, this whole situation is one heck of a painful adventure. I mean, the City really does go to great lengths to screw the average person and if you're not from old money or in the good 'ole boy network then there is zero compassion, and even less common sense. But now there is a path forward, which is more than what I had last week.

Now, The Alley

Debbie from The City of Tampa Right of Way contacted me yesterday. She told me that resolving the Right of Way issues with the improved alley didn't look like it would be as easy as an after-the-fact permit approval. She said that an inspector had already gone to the site and it did not appear that the alley met the City's drainage requirements. She said that might be correctable, or it might not be, but there are some options available. She also said that they still needed to determine if the base was of the appropriate thickness and without some kind of design plans, they wouldn't be able to do that - if the base was not adequate, it would have to be torn out. Finally, she had me open a Right of Way request and attach the rep from the contractor who did the paving so that they could get it resolved.

After I talked with Debbie, I called the paving company who paved my alley. I told them what was happening. Of course, they were not happy about this. But they seemed open to assisting me in resolving this situation. You see, I hired a local family owned company to do the paving. My impression of them was and still is that they are very nice, professional, family oriented people who take a lot of pride in their work. They took the City's actions as a type of insult. And honestly, I can't blame them. 

The alley behind my house was basically a dump filled with garbage and debris. They hauled away all of that garbage and debris and created an attractive drivable surface in a neighborhood where the City scarcely maintains their own roads. In fact, what I understand is that during excavation, an old city road was found under that debris - a road that the City owns and is responsible for. And yet, they neglected to maintain that road for decades to the point where it became buried under several layers of garbage, dirt and debris. So, to all the people who think your tax dollars go towards maintaining roads and infrastructure: they do, just not the roads in poorer neighborhoods, apparently.

Final Thoughts

This whole process of owning a house in a largely lower income area has been one heck of an educational experience. I think I'm starting to understand why lower income neighborhoods often stay lower income neighborhoods. And it's crazy to me that the City not only doesn't want to invest in these neighborhoods, they want to make it as painful as possible for individuals to invest in them. 

We bought a house in a lower income neighborhood. And because neither my wife nor I are developers, we are being punished for that act. The developer who we purchased our house from didn't permit the installation of the windows, was inspected by the City twice afterwards, and he was absolved of all code violation penalties with no additional violations levied against him. Just over a month after my wife and I purchased the house from him, we got harassed by City Code and they blocked our other permit requests (we actually try to follow the process) because of the windows that the previous owner installed. 

As for the alley... We didn't inherit the improved alley; we hired a paving company. And it's an easy argument to say that we should have had the proper permits for it and that maybe our paving company should have taken care of that. I won't argue against that; I understand and even kind of agree with that perspective. But looking at the larger picture: the City would rather have a dump in between houses than a freshly paved road. This is what fails the common sense test to me. But regardless, we will work with the City to resolve these issues to the extent that is possible. If working with the City ceases to be possible, we will retain legal council. And as a proactive measure, I have a meeting with an attorney on Monday.