How To PUll Code Violation Leads

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Property investors use the term "driving for dollars" meaning they drive through neighborhoods looking for distressed properties. Why waste your time and gas driving when your local code enforcement department is doing it for you? Code violation leads can provide opportunities for real estate agents and investors.

Most housing code violations are administered at the city and county government levels. There are several methods used to try to locate this information:

1. Check to see if your local code violation department has a website portal where the violations are listed.
2. Check out city datasets for your location. Many of the larger cities are using open data portals to provide code violation case information. Try a search of "open data (your city)" and see it any open datasets are available for code violations. 
3. If all else fails you can send a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to your local code enforcement authority to obtain the info needed. Some may charge for this service.

It's time to do it yourself. You will need to create a spreadsheet to attach the code violation leads to. You will need to make columns for the following:

1. Date
2. Case number
3. Name of homeowner
4. Mailing address of homeowner
5. Property address (where the code violation is taking place)
6. Property type column
7. Description of the violation

• Enter the date and case number into the columns on your spreadsheet. When entering dates you should be using the most recent filings. The goal is to reach the homeowner in real time while the code enforcement activities are currently taking place. This could be the best time to reach the homeowner.

• Some of the code violation resources used don't provide the names or mailing addresses of the homeowners. But they do provide the location of where the violation is taking place.  If the name of the homeowner isn't provided open your local county property assessor/appraiser web portal. Do a search of the violation address.  Enter the name of the homeowner as provided in the property record.

• While you still have the assessor's web portal open check to see if the county has a different mailing address for the homeowner that is separate from the property address. If so use the mailing address provided. Do not send mailers to the property violation address if the owner has a different mailing address. It could be a rental unit or a vacant property. Keep the web portal open for the next step.

• This is the address where the violation is taking place. With the assessor web portal still open check out the property type to make sure your interested in it. Also take a look at the last sale date of the property. If it was purchased recently there may not be enough equity to make it worth your time.

•  Do an internet search to verify the property isn't listed. This can be done by entering the address into your browser and checking the results against online real estate sites.  All of these sites will tell you if the property has been listed. ALWAYS DO THIS STEP. IF THE PROPERTY IS FOR SALE THAN THE EVICTION LEAD WILL MOST LIKELY BE OF NO VALUE TO YOU.  

• In the last column copy and paste the description of what the violation was for into your spreadsheet. This will help keep you organized as your list grows.

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