Being Fined For Bandit Signs
Hi, i dont know if this has happened to anybody yet but i received a call today stating that i did not have a permit to have signs up and that the city of Norwich is going to call the police on me and i will be fined. what should i do about this?
Many activities require a permit these days ... get used to it ... get the permit and move on.
I already tried and they cannot grant me a permit for such a thing unless i am a licensed realtor. any other suggestions?
As I have heard it said before...
"Sometimes it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission"
I would think its another investor in the area calling you - don't be threatened... wait until the cops tell you to not do it!
Good Luck!
[addsig]
If you are placing the signs on private property, you may be able to negotiate something with the property owner, if the sign stays put, and results in a deal for you. I believe that if you aren't on the community right of way, you shouldn't need a license, You might look into the license thing further to see if this is just a bogus call, or if it is legit.
They call them bandit signs for a reason--they are illegal; however, if they are tasteful and professional-looking, city governments generally look the other way unless they get a specific complaint, and then they will order you to remove that particular sign only (not all your signs) or face a fine. Sounds like a bluff from a competitor to me. You might want to use a pre-pay cell phone number from now on, so you can't be traced easily. Even if you do, should you get a complaint, remove that sign.
King,
Does that whole pre-paid cell # thing work? If the code enforcement folks are serious, whats to prevent them from calling you to set up an appointment to meet you at the property, and then give you the citation instead of discussing your deal?
I know that this is a "glass half-full" scenario, but the pre-paid thing seems to be . . . . . . I don't know . . . . , it just doesn't feel right.
Just my opinion,
Jeff
no it was def. the City of Norwich becasue it was on my caller ID. thats okay becasue i have 3 deals going on right now because of them..big deal fine me 1000.00 for the 60,000 that i am going to make. I will get fined all day long at this rate. thanks guys, Ryan
Hi Ryan
Welcome to the Bandit world!
Make sure if they actually do fine you that you get a complete copy of the ordinance they are citing so you can make sure your next set of signs comply with the ordinance.
For an example, being a licensed real estate agent should not be a requirement to geting a permit to put a sign out to buy a house. Find out exactly what they are upset about, and if possible who initiated the complaint.
Steve
thanks steve sounds good. yes, for some reason they said realtor signs are fine as long as they are selling houses and they can stay up until the house is sold. i dont really care. screw them
Most cities have one person who enforces the sign ordinance. I doubt he/she would go to the trouble to track anyone down. I guess your city could be more aggressive...
I've been fined for bandits before. In fact, I was (unfortunately) one of the first to be fined. They put me in the database under "we buy houses" and I started getting certified letters for other investor signs as well, lol.
Our local ordinance states up to $500 per sign so when I first started out, I was very concerned that I might be risking a serious amount of money.
The city and county folks just picked them up and never contacted me. I used my direct office line because if there was a problem, I wanted to know about it.
The state folks did fine me, but it was only like $8 per sign and it wasn't that many signs. I went through that more than once. However, it was just a revenue game. I had to pay the fines regardless, but if I paid within the first 10 days of the notice, I got my signs back.
Angry calls and governmental calls decreased once I went to weekends only. Additionally, I felt better as I didn't feel like I was "littering" any more.
[addsig]