City HOA/Code Compliance

Updated 7/10- I emailed with the city about this and here's the upshot since I didn't get permission to post the staff member's response in the email. I also got the front and back of the ticket of violation that you'll get on your door but the graphics are blurry since I had to convert from a PDF.

All of these details should have been on the city website. 
1. If a homeowner disagrees with the violation, they can contact the code person who gave them the ticket to clarify it. If the homeowner still has an issue, they can contact the Code Supervisor who won't be here until the end of July.
2. A code violation that isn't fixed to the satisfaction of the code people, a citation is issued. That is a failure to comply. Then, the case goes to the municipal court.
3. There is no link to the entire international code on the city website.
4. The code person will ticket ANY degree of non-compliance. That is the policy.
5. Every property will be inspected. They won't go in the backyard. If they deem it necessary, they'll get a warrant....I'm guessing they'll get that from the municipal court.
McKinney Code Violations


Original post-McKinney has a new code compliance policy for residences that might be good, and it might be bad. This is a really good idea if the city concentrates on houses that are safety hazards. It's a really bad idea if any city uses this new policy for other purposes, like generating extra revenue or pushing out some residents.


Email questions to the general code compliance address confirmed that as soon as the city hires more code compliance officers, all residences will be inspected. The city person who responded said she doesn't know if compliance officers would be going in back yards without permission or not for general inspections.   

McKinney Code Compliance

According to a recent Community Impact article, all residences will be evaluated for code compliance. They will also take neighbor complaints as a reason to zero in on certain properties. 
The citywide property maintenance code outlines the minimum maintenance requirements for residential and commercial buildings. Code violations include signs of unkempt and dilapidated structures, such as peeling paint, broken windows, failing foundations and more.
This code is meant to improve the appearance of McKinney neighborhoods, according to the city.
“Our code officers, who inspect all the residential and commercial properties, have generally looked at high weeds and grass, junked cars, trash and debris,” said Lori Dees, McKinney’s director of code services. “So now with the [new code], we will look at … obvious exterior deficiencies.” 
As of late June only 1% to 2% of McKinney has been inspected, Dees said.
The city has some of the information residents need online, including the areas assigned to each code compliance officer. They also have provided an informative graphic of all the parts of a house they'll expect to be up to code. 
Here and here and here are the city FAQs and infographics. 
Here are the areas assigned to each code person.
Here's the update to the International code.
Here's the municode on the changes to the city code. 



What property owner protections and transparency measures are missing?

There are many very important policy specifics missing from the city website that have to be addressed.

Where are the property owner next steps to contest violations or to appeal fines? What do property owners do to dispute their violations? 
What if those who get violations feel they're being unfairly targeted by neighbors or for political reasons? Will there be a way that residents can track how many violations are happening in each area (without violating the privacy of residents)? How can residents track how much extra money the city is bringing in per violation? 

We also don't see the objective criteria the compliance officers must follow to ensure that all violations are applied with uniformity and little subjectivity. What is to prevent the codes from being more harshly applied in certain areas or with certain residents? 


What amount of time do property owners get? How much are fines for each offense? Under what circumstances can a city put a lien on a property? What courts have jurisdiction?

Why isn't there a copy of the entire International Property Maintenance Code online?

When my latest open records request gets back, I'll update.

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