{"id":4008,"date":"2018-11-09T08:11:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T13:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/?p=4008"},"modified":"2022-12-13T10:09:21","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T15:09:21","slug":"municipal-infraction-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/09\/municipal-infraction-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Municipal infraction and your home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"municipal<\/a>
Municipal infractions result from neglect repairs and maintenance (infographic from census.gov)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A common home buyer preference is to buy a home that is not within the confines of a HOA or condo association<\/a>.\u00a0 Maybe the home buyer\u2019s impression is that HOAs and condo associations bully home owners.\u00a0 But the truth is that HOA and condo association rules are created for a number of reasons, which include health and safety.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t comply with the community rules, they can compel you do so.\u00a0 But even if you don\u2019t live in an association managed community, it\u2019s your civic duty to comply with county and\/or municipal ordinances to maintain your home. Disregard for civic responsibility may result in a municipal infraction.<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, regardless of where your home is located, your home has to satisfy health and safety standards<\/a> that are enforced by your municipality (e.g., Montgomery County, City of Rockville, City of Gaithersburg, etc.).\u00a0 Deferred home maintenance<\/a> can surely affect the value of your home.\u00a0 However, if it is found that your home doesn\u2019t meet code standards, you can receive a notice of a municipal infractions.<\/p>\n

Municipal infractions are also another name for code enforcement<\/a>.\u00a0 In his manual Municipal Infractions and Code Enforcement, Practice and Procedure for Municipalities in the State of Maryland<\/em><\/a>, Frank M. Johnson stated the need for having such procedures by saying:<\/p>\n

\n

“Most persons will follow the law voluntarily, but the reality is that when a law isn\u2019t enforced, it becomes less effective for everyone. Even those who voluntarily comply are less likely to take a law seriously when it\u2019s known the law won\u2019t be enforced. In addition, steps to enforce the law often involve the most serious violations which, if not corrected, can lead to results which have a significant community and neighborhood impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mr. Johnson\u2019s manual was originally written for the City of Gaithersburg, but was also adopted by the Maryland Municipal League<\/a> (mdmunicipal.org), which is a statewide non-profit association that promotes municipal administration.\u00a0 What started as a local handbook describing the entire process of municipal infractions (from complaint to enforcement), became a statewide template in code enforcement.<\/p>\n

Municipal infraction and your home<\/h3>\n

If you ever received a notice of municipal infraction, or just wondered how the process works, check put the manual.\u00a0 The manual describes why you\u2019re receiving the citation, and how it can be enforced. It also describes the appeal process, as well as what can happen if you don\u2019t comply.<\/p>\n

Typically, the municipal infraction process begins by a complaint that triggers an investigation.\u00a0 The investigator will inspect and witness any code violations.\u00a0 If there are violations, the investigator will notify you and attempt to resolve the issue(s).\u00a0 Most home owners resolve the issue(s) with the first notice.\u00a0 However, if you don\u2019t comply (or attempt to comply) with the first notice, you will likely be fined.\u00a0 The court can also order you to correct the issue(s), which is called an \u201cabatement order.\u201d\u00a0 If you don\u2019t comply with the abatement order, your municipality can go on your property (and inside the home if necessary) to fix the issue(s) and send you the bill!\u00a0 If you don\u2019t pay, a lien will be placed against your home, while collection actions are implemented.<\/p>\n

What Caused You to Get Cited For a Municipal Infraction?<\/h3>\n

Montgomery County\u2019s Department of Housing and Community Affairs (montgomerycountymd.gov\/DHCA) also publishes valuable information about the process.\u00a0 The Housing Code Enforcement Handbook<\/em><\/a>, is written for the public to understand housing code enforcement in the county.\u00a0 The DHCA states that seasonal issues are the most common code violations reported, such as overgrown grass and weeds, dead trees and snow-covered walkways<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Original published at https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/09\/municipal-infraction-home<\/p>\n

By Dan Krell<\/a>. Copyright \u00a9 2018.<\/p>\n

If you like this post, do not copy; instead please:
\nlink to the article<\/a>,
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\"Protected<\/a>
\nDisclaimer<\/a>. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A common home buyer preference is to buy a home that is not within the confines of a HOA or condo association.\u00a0 Maybe the home buyer\u2019s impression is that HOAs and condo associations bully home owners.\u00a0 But the truth is that HOA and condo association rules are created for a number of reasons, which include … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Municipal infraction and your home”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[178,419,13,421],"tags":[1165,1164,887,926,648,885,1163,1162,797],"class_list":["post-4008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-maintenance","category-home-owner","category-real-estate","category-repairs","tag-civic-duty","tag-health-and-safety","tag-home-maintenance","tag-home-owner","tag-home-repair","tag-home-repairs","tag-housing-code","tag-municipal-infraction","tag-real-estate"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1VZLf-12E","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4008"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6578,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4008\/revisions\/6578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}