(WSVN) - She had a small repair job done to her roof. The company told her she didn’t need a permit but code enforcement came along and you can guess what came next. Now, she is stuck in the middle and needing Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser to straighten things out.
Lynn and Shireen anchor the one-of-a-kind Deco Drive.
But behind the scenes, Odette is the anchor.
Odette is the managing editor of the show.
Odette Burton: “I find stories and book stories. I decide what stories go into the show and basically boss everybody around.”
Fun yes, a lot of responsibility, absolutely.
Odette Burton: “You don’t want to have too much entertainment. You don’t have so much local and you want to help like small businesses. So you want to make sure everybody gets a piece of the pie.”
Speaking of pieces, a part of Odette’s roof had a small leak.
Odette Burton: “My roof is actually under warranty. So when I called the warranty company, they assigned a roofing company to come out and fix the roof.”
Odette says the roofing company just took 30 minutes to put down new tar paper and shingles covering about 100 square feet.
Since she had a warranty, Odette didn’t have to pay anything.
She was happy. Code enforcement was not.
Odette Burton: “Well, a few days later, I got a violation notice from the City of North Miami Beach saying that I needed to get a permit.”
Odette says she was told not only did she have to pay for a permit for the repair work, she had to hire an engineer to inspect it.”
Odette Burton: “So they wanted me to end up spending like $800. For that? Why do I need an engineer? You can look at it and see it’s fine. I’m happy because my roof is not leaking.”
Odette contacted the roofing company.
Odette Burton: “They’re saying I don’t need a permit, so they’re done with it basically.”
She called North Miami Beach to try to straighten it out.
Odette Burton: “I’m a little concerned because nobody’s come back to me, and I want to take care of it because I don’t want to put a lien on my property or my house.”
If this was Deco Drive, Odette could pull the permit problem out of the show. But in real life, you are not permitted to do that.
Odette Burton: “I don’t know where to go from here. This is why I called Help Me Howard to help me.”
Well, Howard, Do you need a permit for a small repair job?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “In most cases, no. State law allows you to make minor repairs without a permit. The one stipulation, you may have to notify the city or county to confirm their definition of minor. Some cities say don’t bother us if the roof repairs are under 100 or 200 square feet. Others may want to check it out like North Miami Beach does.”
We contacted North Miami Beach and they were great. They told us they spoke to the roofing company who sent pictures confirming the repairs were about 100 square feet or less.
As a result, the building department has decided to remove the citation and close the case.
A building official sent Odette a letter confirming the violation was removed and the next time, have her contractor contact the chief building official to discuss if a permit is required or not.
Odette Burton: ‘I’m off the hook thanks to Help Me Howard.”
A weight off her shoulders and a free lesson for the future.
Odette Burton: ‘Hopefully, next time I hire a roofing company, they will do their due diligence and I won’t be caught in this situation again.”
Good point, Odette.
Now, you can do a lot of small projects like roofing, plumbing, air conditioning without a permit.
To find out what your city or county requires, either you or the person you hire can ask for the list of jobs that don’t require an expensive permit.
Anchored to a problem? Looking for the right channel to show it? We have the Drive to Deco-rate it with a solution.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
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