top
East Bay
East Bay
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

City of Oakland Building Inspectors disregarding health/safety issues in Oakland Apts

by M. Hennings
City of Oakland Building Inspection Department - Ignoring and/or refusing to enforce building code violations in Oakland Apartment Bulidings
It was been over 5 months since my apartment building was purchased by an investment group (TP Partners LLC) and the management of the property was taken over by a property management company - The Apartment Group Inc.
As of yesterday, tenants have been informed that the property management company has changed to Bay Apartment Advisors (we will continue to deal with the same people, but under another corporate identity)

In those 5+ months, myself and my neighbors have been subjected to:

1. Demolition of the downstairs unit without a permit.
2. Demolition of the balcony without a permit.
3. Repair/Replace of the back staircase without a permit.
4. Violations of EPA Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule
5. OSHA Violations
6. Health/Safety Issues
- Lead paint flaking off of windows, doors, and the outside of the building
- No exterior lighting for our front door or our back parking lot.
- Mold covering ceilings, and inside of closet doors.
- Main electrical / fusebox that is rusting with obvious signs of water intrusion
- Renovations performed without permits, that resulted in conditions that were more unsafe than what was replaced.
- A ceiling that is danger of collapse
- Serious foundation and structural issues.
- 2 sets of stairs that are not up to building codes.
Our mailboxes were left exposed to the rain for 4 months.
We did not have a building address on our front door for 4 months.
The property management company did not even mow our lawn for four months.

We live the constant stress of having no idea what was coming next. For the first 2 months, every other day there were new workers at (and inside) our building, with no explanation as to who they were or what they were going to do that day. Nobody would talk to us. Notices were simply hung on our door.


The City of Oakland Building Inspector Department
- Refused to inspect a set of stairs that were part of a Habitability Complaint.
- Refused to inspect a balcony that was part of a habitability complaint.
- Argued that inspecting items was not his job.
- When health/safety issues were pointed out, he ignored the most obvious/egregious issues, and only noted the lesser items.
- A building inspector had to be FORCED to return to hang a stop work order on a Balcony that was demolished without a permit.
- I see building permits that have been updated with no documentation as to why or when.
- Retroactive permits have been issued for work, without first inspecting the work that was done.

I am a tenant in an apartment building. Part of your JOB is to INSPECT the building to make sure it is SAFE.
When you refuse to do you job, tenants end up injured. Sometimes they end up dead.

Because the City of Oakland Building Inspectors blatantly REFUSE to inspect OBVIOUS code violations, I finally hired a building inspector to look at my apartment building, and here is some of what he found:

- The back stairs as reconstructed by the contractor and left at the time of the STOP WORK Notice, are a hazard and a potential life safety issue, for inhabitants and guests of Units # 3 and 4)

Long-term introduction of water into the wall cavities have contributed to:
- Evidence of some settlement issues affecting the foundation (visible deformation, decay, and/or failure of interior unit walls, ceilings, and floors)

- Framing deficiencies that are serious failures in the wood framing components at all four elevations of the buildings

- Sill span issues over the the vents.

- There are at least six vent openings that are approximately 36” wide, and placed such that the bearing sill plates spanning
the vent openings - meant to bear on a solid concrete foundation - are deformed and failing, since the sill plates are not intended
to take such loads over the 36” span. [Photo 15]. This means the wall framing relies on a double sill/sole plate to span this void
(occurs at all vent opening locations).

- At the left side elevation, at that vent-opening closet to the rear of the building, the plates are deteriorated, decayed, depressed and close to failure.

- The left rear corner of the structure (Unit # 1)appears to have settled and a hole in the siding at the rear elevation, by the corner allowed us to observe the absence of any concrete footing below this wall. [Photos 16 & 17].

- A framing member (2x4 stud) was cut and a portion removed [Photo 18 – top of cut stud is to the right and at bottom corner of the sidewall vent] to allow for the installation of the sidewall vent for the newly installed furnace (installed under the ‘Minor Kitchen Remodel’ Permit – Furnace installation was not permitted). Removal of any of the existing, required framing members seriously compromises the structural integrity of the dwelling.

- There is a cantilevered section approximately six feet wide, and approximately eighteen inches deep, that continues up to the roofline. One of the joists has literally deteriorated away, leaving this cantilevered construct in jeopardy of eventual collapse – as evidenced by the mold and decay on the visible, interior, supporting joist

- These conditions – along with decayed, collapsed, missing siding - indicate the need for an immediate structural analysis, prior to any further property improvements.


This is an extremely short list of the items that were found during the architectural inspection of the property. I also have a copy of the Structural Pest Inspection Report that was pulled by the real estate company - Hendricks-Berkadia for Bay Apartment Advisors

This 2O+ page report also indicates the existence of rot and fungus that needs to be further investigated and dealt with.
Instead of resolving the serious health/safety issues of this building, the owners/property management company has quickly renovated the unit below me, and has now listed it for $2000.00

Meanwhile, the health/safety issues in this building remain.. some of these issues make me wonder how much longer this building will be standing. The City of Oakland has chosen to ignore these issues, failing to perform adequate inspections to ensure those of us who pay rent to live in this building are living in a safe building.

Look around Oakland. Much of the housing stock is in terrible shape. Is this in part because we have building inspectors who don't understand or acknowledge code violations, or fire code violations?

Why is it so difficult to get code enforcement in this City?
Add Your Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
M. Hennings
Wed, Mar 4, 2015 12:36AM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network