All homeowners in the Franciscan received letters and inspections by Daly City. The rules ostensibly are there for safety: focusing on stairs, fire safety, storage structures, and electrical panels on the OUTSIDE of the units.
While some repairs were simple, others were costly and out of reach of the average homeowner. Some residents claimed that repairs mandated by the city inspectors ignored the fact that the construction was “grandfathered in”, meaning they were made before current state rules were enacted. Other residents claimed that inspectors found new issues each time they visited, which was seen as unfair. Also, several of the issues for the homeowner to complete were actually the responsibility of the park management. FRAC’s lawyer contacted the City with these claims, to make it more fair for all residents.
The city’s team responded to FRAC on August 18th, 2023. We wanted to share this letter with everyone what we now know about repairs prior to 1998 (grandfathered), how to find records from the city, and how to make hardship requests.
One resident was told to remove her entire deck. She was able to have the city research its own records to find out that it was already permitted by a previous owner decades ago. That’s a huge win over what could have been a VERY costly repair. She kept a copy of the permit for future use, too 🙂
We see the city’s response as a success. It’s proof that when citizens unite (as a co-op for example) we can make big strides against a system that isn’t working or isn’t fair.
You can see the full letter from the city by clicking HERE.