License renewals not sent out
As in past years, L&I only mailed out half of the rental license renewal notices I should have received. And based on the message board at HAAPCO, I'm not the only one having this problem.

L&I
Been having problem w/ contractor developing houses next to my 85 yr old Mother-in-Law, while tearing down property next to her the contractor did considerable damage to her property. It's almost a year now, he's finishing the properties with no resolution to the damages to her home. There were considerable code violations, that the contractor hasn't address. L&I has been aware of the violations since day one, still the contractor has sold or rented one of the properties? Shouldn't a Certificate of Occupancy be awarded only after violations/damages to other properties been resolved? I contacted the North District to get clarification, was told the Supervisor of the District allowed the renting or selling of this property due to "extrodinary circumstances", when I asked what that was, told it was at the supervisor descrition to award that. My question is Who do I need to pay to resolve this?

Just like a waitress
L&I is just like a waitress if you want good service, you better give them a big tip!!!

corrupt
Dear jacksplat and news1234 just because you maybe corrupt doesnt mean L&I employees are corrupt.

why does this department even exist?
L&I are supposed to monitor noise complaints from bars. Interestingly, they've probably never issued a single citation for that. Why? Cause 99.99% of all bars don't really make much noise M-F from 9am-3pm, which is when all these L&I bozos work. What a joke. And what's the point of having an inspection AFTER something goes wrong? Shouldn't the idea be to catch problems BEFORE the building collapses? Oh wait, that must be the new way new day that Nutter promised.

respect
Damage issues are civil matters not l&i,most of the Dept are hard working honest folks,PUBLIC SAFETY is L&I goal,dont cheap shot them,they take enough abuse

We are good!
L & I in Philly is the best in the country; look it up. We're not pay-as u-go as in other cities; our job is to INSPECT work being done that has been properly permitted through the system, which i might add, quite alot of you nice folks out there seem to forget about. Can we catch all violations? No, we can't. But we try. Maybe you'd like the alternative and just let everyone build whatever, however they please. Forget about the DYI shows and ask an inspector what's the right way to do something. Oh, and to "jhchang"... dude, if you had a clue you might be dangerous.

They saved me from a bad purchase
I called L&I to ask why the condo I was looking at had stop work order signs posted in it. (Of course, the realtor said it was all a misunderstanding and taken care of) Turns out the place didn't have a certificate of occupancy, despite several units already being sold. L&I was happy to fax me the documents relating to the code violations so I could see what was going on. Had they not been so helpful, I might have gone further toward purchasing a place that had serious, unresolved code violations. It was a little tough to figure out who I needed to talk to at L&I, but once I got through to the people who actually dealt with that project, they were extremely helpful.

Demolition Process costs taxpayers BIG MONEY!
The curbside bidding process to demolish homes in imminent danger of collapsing was introduced in its current form in July 2008. This is a recent new process (July 2008-with a new spec) where the lowest winning bidders, are the bidders that EVADE TAXES by paying people in cash, pickup workers up at Home Depot on Aramingo Avenue and give them 10 hr. days for $80.00 cash, and have been cited for burning debris and numerous other Licenses & Inspections violation issues. And why this is important is that the head of the Contractural Services department thinks he is the Golden Child saving the department money. Well, that department is funded by THE TAXPAYERS! When there is no compliance oversight, the City of Philadelphia and its taxpayers lose. Paying in cash and not collecting or submitting Federal withholding taxes is a felony on many levels. No city wage tax, no BRP, NPT Taxes, no state or federal taxes, no unemployment insurance or workmen’s compensation insurance. You get the picture. And who benefits? The slimy selfish demolition contractors who bid so low that legitimate contractors can rarely compete. The legitimate contractors are required to have everyone on their payrolls, maintain the right workmens’ comp, unemployment comp insurance and do not break the laws looking to make money by EVADING TAXES. This is a wasteful, mismanaged and corrupt program that is the brainstorm of L & I’s contractural services unit. Who is investigating this? IT’S OUR MONEY!!!!

No Follow Up?
L&I posted notice on a neighbors property here in Fishtown recently stating that an unsafe structure in rear of property must be town down. The owner of the above property lives out of town and he has workers that check up on his properties every once in awhile. They just tore off the violation and repainted the front door to hide any sign of it. L&I never came back to check, unsafe building still stands and owner is showing the property to prospective buyers. He painted the unsafe building to make it look better too. Com'on L&I, if you issues violations, follow through. Come to Marlborough St in Fishtown and fix this problem now!

quality of life issues
Ive had dealings with L & I's contruction inspectors and couldnt thank them enough.As a contractor they showed me how important life safety and building codes are.They are diamonds in the rough they have saved me time and money on numerous projects and again I thank them.

not surprised a contractor likes L&I
My one run in with them, over tearing down an old detached garage that was a hazard, clearly was the result of an angry neighbor who was angry that I didn't give him the job. The neighbor works for a contractor and had a nice cozy relationship with L&I.

maybe you shouldnt have tried to rip off the city
if you had the proper permits maybe your neighbor would not have called L&I.

alphabetsoop
your exactly the type of slum owners that always try and beat the system maybe that contractor was legal always getting permits paying taxes , good wages to his men insured and bonded but he couldnt compete with a no name contractor hiring illegal imigrants that dont pay taxes but why would you care obviuosly your a dead beat trying to beat the system and when your one of them L & I will come down on you hard and rightly sooooo....

Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest
All I wanted to do was change from family day care to group. The first dummy at the desk gave me papers that were totally incorrect. I then called back because I said to myself. Self why do I have papers for building, in my hands. Duhhh! I swear all of the city deparments need to be revamped. The ignorance level with in the City of Philadelphia is at a all time high. I don't think that the people that work for us are aware that sometime in the near future, they will be without a job. Philadelphia is going PRIVATE. And all you _ricks and _prickets who don't want to do your jobs won't have to. Welcome to the unemployment line! I mean the attitudes of these people make New Yorkers look like teenie boppers. I really think it has something to do with the lack of education most of these people have. Another thing is that the city workers are angry when you stop them from their cigarette break, or two hour lunch. Oh here's a good one, stop them from going to the bar. When I worked for the city we were hidden with in any deparment. We did exactly two hours of work a day and were paid for eight. And this practice is still taking place as I type. We are simply told don't get caught. That's why you can find so many workers in the bars around the city. That is the ones that are left. Philadelphia has become a cess pool for what ever can come up with. All you need is the right amount of money and you can get what you want. PAY TO PLAY!!! And this starts at the very top of the chain pool. The sad thing is Philly could be a great city if given a chance, but the greedy people here won't allow that to happen.

NIGHTMARE NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR
I purchased a home in Manayunk 3 years ago and quickly found out my next door neighbor is a mentally ill hoarder that takes no responsibility for property upkeep in the front or back of the house. After several months of dealing with garbage and trashcans and orange cones piled up on the front walkway I filed a claim with L&I. I called them every week and NEVER got any resolution. They never came out to evaluate the situation. Due to the excessive amount of garbage I even had a rodent issue inside of my home which was unexpected due to the excessive cleanliness and lack of food out. I then got the police involved and filed ordinance violations because his backyard looks as thought it has NEVER been tended to. HE has vines and overgrown bushes that are flowing over into my yard and after becoming tangled around my wires ripped off my windowsill. I am a young homeowner that values my property and pays my city wage tax...i expected more than what I got from L&I which was nothing. I have been forced to pay for repairs to my home due to my unfit neighbor all of which could have been avoided if L&I would have done their job.

NIGHTMARE NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR
I purchased a home in Manayunk 3 years ago and quickly found out my next door neighbor is a mentally ill hoarder that takes no responsibility for property upkeep in the front or back of the house. After several months of dealing with garbage and trashcans and orange cones piled up on the front walkway I filed a claim with L&I. I called them every week and NEVER got any resolution. They never came out to evaluate the situation. Due to the excessive amount of garbage I even had a rodent issue inside of my home which was unexpected due to the excessive cleanliness and lack of food out. I then got the police involved and filed ordinance violations because his backyard looks as thought it has NEVER been tended to. HE has vines and overgrown bushes that are flowing over into my yard and after becoming tangled around my wires ripped off my windowsill. I am a young homeowner that values my property and pays my city wage tax...i expected more than what I got from L&I which was nothing. I have been forced to pay for repairs to my home due to my unfit neighbor all of which could have been avoided if L&I would have done their job.

L&I Site downed?
For the record, we have over 11 complaints for the same violation on one property. We've tracked down the individual inspectors responsible for our zip code, and have left voicemail after voicemail asking about the results of our complains, with no response. I've called 311, and L&I month after month, with the violations recorded, and still nothing. Now the L&I website is down, and I can't even track what I've submitted. Why is it down? And why can't I get a response from anyone at the L&I office?

CInder Block Wall Fell Down on Pavement/Street
On Saturday 3/13 a cinder block wall 8ft x 20ft on the vacant lot on 623-630 East Girard Ave fell down on the East Flora Street side of the vacant lot. This wall was the only wall left standing when everything else was torn down. It is a very dangerous situation and no one has even come out to look at it or block it off. People walk by this wall all the time so the owner is luckly no one got killed. Children use this street to go to the Library, Recreation Center and Penn Treaty School. This is a very critical situation and needs attention immediatly.

Barbecue on sidewalks?
I have a neighbor on my block with a giant, rusted barbecue right on the sidewalk all year round. it sits up against their house and they light it up when it gets warm. Is this legal? 3 garbage cans by people on block too yet tons of litter until I pick it up. Who do I contact to get these cans and barbecue removed? somebody?

Another Terrible agency
L&I is awful just like almost all the city agencies unless they want something from you. If anyone has problems and you live in the area of Port RIchmond or Bridesburg you can always contact CLIP in Northeast Philly, they do a pretty good job at resoving issues with bad neighbors.

L & I sucks
went to L&I to find out about a house, 3 years ago, on 1700 block of Yewdall, to see who owned it & how much back taxes were, was thinking about purchasing it & fixing it up, I own property next door. They still have not got back to me & the abandon house still sits, allowing rain, cats & trash to be collected inside & damaging my house next to it...IT"S A FIRE HAZARD!! Still has red tag on door....you suck L&I JR

Outsource L&I and save money.
There is no valid excuse for the lip-service paid to the citizenry by L&I. Just as it's outrageous to have lousy trash pickup, so too is it unacceptable to have lousy service from L&I. From inspectors that can be as arrogant or unresponsive as they like on down, it's just plain shoddy. Mayor Nutter needs to shut down the agency, and outsource it to the private sector. It would both save money and relieve the citizenry of their frustration. The inspectors are the de-facto building police, and they have insufficient oversight or are granted unusually broad powers. There is the appearance of impropriety. Does it really make sense to keep a fleet of fueled vehicles for L&I? How much money in overtime do they absorb?

Outsource
Watchdog - if there is outsourcing, those inspetion agencies would be hired and paid by the contractor that they are inspecting. Can you say conflict of interest ? The citizenry would not be certain, at any time, if the inspector is acting in there safe interest.

No Response
I sent a letter to L&I over a month ago asking for their assistance in dealing with Cloud Nine Properties. I sent them a certified a letter because they had work done on a house next to my buisness and the roof that was re-done and now has extended over to my property. Cloud Nine Properties has done nothing to resolve this problem so I reached out to L&I for their assistance and still no response.

Response
I called L&I with a problem. Had a quick reponse to the issue.

Responsive
I filed a question with '311' via the web. I receiced an e-mail response the SAME DAY from L&I. They promptly replied to a follow up e-mail too. Say what you will... i'm a satisfied taxpayer!!!

Get the Right Agency
To L&I sucks. You went to the wrong agency to get the owner. You need to go to the BRT. Better yet you can do it on-line where you can also see the back taxes. Then you can go to the Sheriffs Department and force it into Sheriff sale. If you understand the functions of the Agency and the budget constyraints you may have a different opinion. So lobby City Council to fund more demolitions. As you can see from above I ahve had a good response.

License Renewal Fees More than Tripled
Last year I paid $50 for a residential vacant building license. I just received two new bills each for $750. One for the vacant building and one for the lot that I own. Is this some kind of mistake or joke? I received the bill two days ago and the money which can only be paid by check or money order is due by 2/11 which if not paid will incur a 1.5% penalty. Is there no consideration for the average person in the City of Philadelphia? Last month I received a fine of $50 because someone illegally dumped on the vacant lot next to my property, and within a few days i received a second bill for $75.

@ sadi57, Blame City Council, not L&I
Please go to the City Council website and search under "Legislation" for Bill # 100162 passed on June 17, 2010. As you can see, it is the City's governing body that has imposed this increased fee on you and only L&I's job to enforce that fee because it is the law. Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez heads the Committee and the bill was sponsored by Councilman Clarke. You can blame the mailing delay on the 20,000+ vacant city properties and out-of-date computing technology due to lack of funds and proper investment of taxpayer dollars. Be careful who you vote for...

VICTIM OF CORRUPT L&I AND CLIP
Be advised that I am a victim of L&I and CLIP scandal in which some of these employees were cited for robbing and looting homes in the northeast section of Philadelphia. I testified to a grand jury and there is an presentment available. For those who want to see it, email freespaceboy@yahoo.com and I will gladly oblige. If you feel you were a victim of CLIP between 2004 to present, please contact the Philadelphia DA office. ATTN: Sharon Piper. These city employees not only robbed homes, they also sold items on the street..using city trucks and property. trial is coming this September. they gained entry to these homes with false orders under the color of the city. In some case, people were evicted from the homes and items were stolen. Raids were performed on some of these employees homes and victims' belongings were found. No more cover up...... Rating score should be a negative 1000.

Eye Sore Vegatable Gardens and their structures
Why is the City doing nothing about the Eye Sore Huge Vegatable Gardens and the structures that are built for them to grow on. I have caught 14 field mice in the past 3 weeks from my neighbor doing this as he is distrubing their natural home. There are places in Phila you can rent to grow gardens like this. Please make these people take them down. The city need money start fining them for not having a permit to build.

5 Horses in Residential Neighborhood!
I am a resident of southwest philadelphia, and have been for the last 28 years. 5 years ago a couple moved into our block, which has 10 property owners in total, refitted their garage into a horse stable, and brought 5 horses out to join us in our residential neighborhood! An average horse creates 50 pounds of manure a day. That is 250 pounds of manure on a daily basis. They are in violation of numerous codes, L&I has been made aware, multiple times, in writing, in e-mail, and via the phone, however have taken NO ACTION! I recently decided to sell my house, next door to the "horse people" as we affectionately call them, and so far the buyers who have come out have all stated, in writing, that they would have made an offer if not for the horrendous smell of horse manure. Another resident on our block is trying to sell his house as well, same issue. In addition to manure, the bugs and flies have really picked up. I spoke with the owners of the horses, and their reply was "We're not leaving, if someone wants to buy your house, they better love horses" UNBELIEVABLE L&I has not responded to my repeated phone calls and e-mail, the SPCA says there is nothing they can do, and the District Attorney states that this is outside of their control as it is another City of Philadelphia agency not enforcing their policies. L&I is corrupt, it just so happens that every time a resident calls, the "horse people" seem to be in a rush to get their horses on to a trailer and get them out of there. It just so happens that the L&I truck shows up about 15 minutes after they leave... "nothing we can do" To add insult to injury, the horse people have cleared out a section of Redevelopment authority land to use as a horse corral. This land is right across the street from my house. They let the horses do their business right there and just leave it to ferment.. RDA has been informed, came out, put up no trepassing signs twice (which the horse people rip down) and say "Theres nothing we can do about it." GET AND INJUNCTION! TAKE LEGAL ACTION. THEY ARE FLAGRANTLY VIOLATING TRESPASSING AND ZONING CODES AND THERE IS "NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT?" The police department is corrupt. I see the cops feeding the horses carrots, but every time we call them to report the trespassing on RDA land, they never ever show up...thats right, they don't come. Unfortunately I've had to hire a private attorney to sue L&I and RDA for not enforcing their zoning regulations and no trespassing ordinances. 7 of the 10 property owners on our block have all said they would vote the horse people off the island, and will be joining me for a class action suit which my attorney is very confident will yield the desired results. FYI, the owner of the horses owns south street bagel on 2nd and south. He has a worker that lives in an apartment (zoning breach) above the horse stable (zoning break) who is a 60+ year old polish immigrant. They don't even give him keys to the fence. He climbs a 6 foot tall, chain link fence, every night to get to his residence...sad.

Unanswered question-unreturned call
I am forced to leave my house on average an hour a day three days a week due to a strong raw sewage smell. A plumber and the Water Department did not find any problem at my house. Some of my neighbors believe my problem is coming from my neighbors house (they are hoarders). Since L&I had an active case on their property I tried to contact L&I. My call went to 311 where I was told they could not take a complaint on raw sewage smell unless I could see the raw sewage. If I could see it I could probably determine where it was coming from. The first court date for my neighbors was scheduled for early June but they were able to get an extension until July. Then in July they were able to get to more extensions until early September. Meanwhile I was still forced to leave my residence and did not know what else I could do to find the source of the smell. After the 311 call I sent a letter to the Mayor asking if there were any city agencies that could help me with this matter. I continued to attempt to find help with tracking down this really bad odor. I read on the 311 website that the Department of Health could help so I sent an e-mail. They responded that they do not handle this and they felt it should be referred to L&I so they forwarded my e-mail to 311 to be forwarded to L&I for investigation. I received an e-mail from 311 telling me there are no city agencies that address residential odors but if my neighbor had any visable violations they could make a referral to L&I. My neighbor from across the street came to my house to see (or smell) first hand what I was going through. He too checked my basement line and saw no problem and said he thought it was coming from next door. He called 311 and registered a complaint about my neighbors house. That would be the disappearing ticket comment I made under the 311 review. When the 311 operator could not tell me what a disposition of "DT" meant for the ticket I had him give me the name and number of the L&I inspector. He connected me to the inspector who told me he was in his car and would call me back when he got to his computer. I waited two days for his call back. I called him again and he apologized and then told me he had never been in the residence in question and that the case was now with a court inspector he gave me the inspectors name but had to call back with her number since he was again in his car. He called with the number. When I called I was told this person was on vacation. I left a message requesting a call back. I also followed up with an e-mail requesting a call. The following day much to my surprise I finally received a response to my letter to the Mayor which had been given to L&I for response. The letter basically told me what I already new which was that L&I had received complaints of excessive debris stored in the interior of an occupied dwelling. When the owner failed to comply the matter was referred to the Law Dept. for prosecution. Following a series of requests from the owner the judge granted a continuance until September 15th. The letter stated at that time L&I would ask the courts to impose a conditional fine on the owner with the stipulation that if the violations were not corrected within a specified time frame the fine would be made absolute. The letter also made mention of the previous complaints dating back to 2007. Since there seems to be some discrepancies in what I been verbally told about the previous case and what the letter writer had written I chose to respond in writing. I explained that the letter actually did not address my concern with the raw sewage smell. Did L&I find plumbing issues in the house? Is that part of the violations the home owner is supposed to correct? I mentioned that I had a request in for the inspector to call me and that I hoped either of them could answer my questions. On September 16th I found out that L&I had not done something they were supposed to do so the judge had to give another continuance until 10/25/11. I sent another e-mail to the letter writer. I mentioned that I still had not heard from him or the inspector in response to my question. I believe L&I has no concern for the health or safety of the residents of Philadelphia. In no agency private sector or government is it acceptable to ignore requests for a returned phone call.

Neighbor files false complaint against me and city inspector won't return my calls
My next door neighbor (South Philly - Italian market area)filed a false complaint against me saying that there wasa defective drain in my yard (apparently their basement flooded when it rains and they felt a defective drain in my yard was the source of the problem) To test this I hired a Pa. licensed plumber to test my drain by pouring water with blue dye into my backyard drain and see if it was coming up into the basement. It wasn't. I was told by the plumbing company there was nothing wrong with the drain. This is documented because they gave me something in writing to prove this I send a letter certified mail to my neighbor with this documentation (even asking her to pay half the cost for testing it) I was ignored of course. Recently I got another threatening letter from the city saying this was my final warning about fixing the problem and I could be fined up to a thousand dollars a day until this problem is fixed . According to my tenants no city inspector ever came to inspect the drain in my back yard so how would they know. I have called the inspector named on the letter so many times, sent him an email with the documentation from the plumber and no matter what I do this city inspector ignores my attempts at communication. (I guess my next door neighbor - continues to think I will fix a problem in her house that I did not cause) What do I do next to prevent myself being fined thousands of dollars by the city for a false complaint by my neighbor