Oakland Tenants living in substandard / unsafe buildings - who is to blame?

The recent Mission Street Fire in San Francisco, has highlighted the issues of City Building Inspectors failing to note and/or document serious code violations in apartment buildings.

"San Francisco fire inspectors found safety violations for years — missing fire extinguishers, blocked fire escapes, inoperable smoke alarms and locked exits — at the building at 22nd and Mission streets that burned last month, killing one man and leaving dozens of low-income residents homeless.

The building passed its last fire inspection in August — but that was apparently because of sloppy documentation by the Fire Department, officials said.

In fact, a door leading to a roof escape was padlocked in violation of the fire code, and fire officials knew about it for three years. And when fire tore through the building on Jan. 28, the door was still locked, fire officials acknowledged Friday. A 2011 inspection also found fire escape ladders that did not descend properly. No repairs have been documented."


I live in Oakland - 374 41st Street (corner of Opal and 41st - North Oakland/Temescal)

I have been dealing with the City of Oakland Building Inspector for the past 5 months, in an attempt get serious health/safety code violations cited, documented, and corrected. This has been the most frustrating and infuriating process I have ever experienced.

Here are some examples of the major issues at my building:

Rain = Sink holes, foundation issues, and rot
http://youtu.be/Ux6w11AcKA8

Interview with an architect - This is my favorite:
the 'slab has moved'
'They are going to have to replace the floor joists'
'I don't know the extent of the rot'
http://youtu.be/zXImUlygYAI

A tour of the bldg:
http://youtu.be/Aez24sojHRk
http://youtu.be/hG3CgZSACCE

Work done without a permit (we had to keep using the stairs WHILE they worked on them)
http://youtu.be/GH6dtFI9nug
http://youtu.be/cZYo8JRp1po


I filed a complaint on 09/11/2014 - demolition without a permit (the unit below me), unsafe stairs, and a rotting balcony.
Dennis Foster came out to the property on 09/12/2014. He confirmed the work with no permit in Unit 2, and issued a Stop Work Order.
I called to ask him about the back steps and the balcony. He told me that he did not look at these 2 items. I asked him to please return and look at these items. He refused, and claimed that it was not his job. (All 3 items were listed in the complaint)

When permits were finally issued for Unit 2, they were issued as 'minor bath remodel' in Unit 1.
No contractor name was listed, no license number was listed. The work exceeded the $500.00 threshold.

Property Management Companies do NOT qualify as 'owner/builders'. All permit applications for this building should have contained the name of the contractor and his license number.

The copies of permits that I have seen are sloppy, inaccurate, and missing key pieces of information.
Example: Permits with the wrong Unit # (Unit 1 is listed instead of Unit 2), scope of work is incorrect (lists 'minor bath remodel' when a full demo/renovation' is taking place)

I have pulled permit records several times over 2 months, and can see where permits were 'adjusted', but there is no documentation indicating the reason or the date. Example: The 'minor bath' remodel turned into a 'minor bath and kitchen' remodel'. When I submitted a public records request, there is no note about why this scope changed.

Pictures of the work and the permits here:
http://realestatespeculators.blogspot.com/2015/02/unit-2-minor-bathroom-remodel.html

It wasn't until a representative from CSLB came out to check for contractor's license/workers comp, did we find out who the licensed contractor was for this project (Gillikin Construction)
http://www.cslb.ca.gov/

Why is there no mention of this bill on the City of Oakland website?
California Assembly Bill 2335
"Current law declares an urgent and statewide public interest in assuring that building contractors comply with the Contractors License Law and provide workers' compensation insurance and that property owners are informed about and protected from fraudulent
representations, liability for worker's injuries, liability for material and labor costs unpaid by contractors, licensing
requirements, and employer's tax liabilities when improving their property as owner-builders."

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_2301-2350/ab_2335_cfa_20080605_172833_sen_comm.html

Other cities clearly note this in their application process.
http://www.discovercorona.com/CityOfCorona/media/Media/Fire/Forms/AB2335-Construction-Permit-Application.pdf



The City of Oakland Building Inspectors REFUSED to inspect these, until I slipped and fell and fractured my tailbone. Then they came out.
I documented by fight to get the unsafe stairs at my building inspected both prior to and after the illegal repair/replace performed by Gillikin Construction. They could have prevented my injury by simply inspecting these stairs, and forcing my landlord to give us an alternate exit, however for some reason - none of the building inspectors were willing to acknowledge the 10+ code violations on this set of stairs.

http://realestatespeculators.blogspot.com/2015/02/city-of-oakland-building-inspectors.html



In all honesty, it's impossible to really document this without ranting. The complete lack of concern and acknowledgement of OBVIOUS building code violations is appalling. I had another inspector out last week. I showed him my kitchen ceiling (sagging and about to cave in), the sinkhole that is developing on the side of the property, the serious foundation issues that evident from the street, and the rusting electrical systems, and he just shrugged.

Our mail has been getting soaked every time it rains. We have no light above our front door. We don't even have an address on our building. They couldn't be bothered to mow the damn lawn for over 4 months.. for MULTIPLE properties.

The building inspectors site being overworked and understaffed, however that's not a valid excuse for ignoring health and safety issues that could result in an injury or loss of life. It's well known that you don't 'really' need a permit to do major construction/renovations in the City of Oakland .. and I'm sure the real estate speculators racing here to buy up and flip properties know this to be the case.

Unfortunately, the result is that many tenants are living in unsafe buildings.... many of which will not survive the next earthquake.

Videos of my building. Keep in mind that the City of Oakland does NOT see any 'health/safety issues'

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6kcYmyeaFi-ppcWCtf2dCrmS17clfVxL


More information about The Apartment Group Property Management Company - aka 'TAG'
http://realestatespeculators.blogspot.com/2014/12/my-property-management-company-tag.html

Balcony Demo - no permit / no notice
http://realestatespeculators.blogspot.com/2015/02/374-41st-street-balcony-demo-no-permit.html

The front of 374 41st Street since October 2014
http://realestatespeculators.blogspot.com/2015/02/uhoh.html

The fight to get my back stairs inspected
http://realestatespeculators.blogspot.com/2015/02/city-of-oakland-building-inspectors.html

The early days
http://realestatespeculators.blogspot.com/2015/02/374-41st-street-from-2009-2012.html