Code Enforcement:

In almost all jurisdictions in the State of Washington, code enforcement operates on “complaint only.” This means that in 99% of the cases a neighbor who is upset by something that is happening on the subject property makes the complaint. In most jurisdictions, code enforcement’s main goal is to bring the matter into compliance. Therefore they always give you a certain amount of time to bring the matter into compliance rather than immediately filing a notice of violation to start the fines accumulating.

My role is to first see if there is a violation. You would be surprised hoe often there is no violation. If there is a violation then how can it be brought into compliance and make sure the fine is zero or very modest.

Fines used to be quite minimal, but in the last few years I have heard of fines reach as high as $7,000 when it was a case that really annoyed the judge, and it had a profit- making aspect to it.

In most cases you are entitled to an internal hearing, which would be in front of a supervisor of one of the code enforcement officers. Usually these are a waste of time because you are asking an “in-house” person to overrule someone they work with. The next step is to file a notice of violation with a compliance date and if it is not complied with by that date it is referred to the jurisdiction’s legal department who then files a formal charge in a lower-level court, usually a municipal court From that point on you are dealing with the jurisdiction’s attorney and a judge who is usually not familiar with zoning cases.

The typical violations are 1) conducting a business out of a home without a license, 2) outdoor storage of construction material, or other junky looking things, 3) abandoned cars, 4) doing construction without a permit, and 5) set-back issues.

Call or Email us for an Appointment