Report a Complaint about Disrepair Outside a House or Building

Identify your complaint

Keep in mind

Together, you and your neighbors form a strong community. Working together to resolve an issue can create a stronger block and neighborhood. We’ve put together optional first steps before filing a complaint with us.

• Try talking with the property owner. If you need help finding the owner of a property, contact the City Assessors' Office online or at (616) 456-3081
• Contact your Neighborhood Association to see if they're able to help the owner

Make sure you have time to complete the form

This form will take about 5 minutes to complete. You'll be able to save your entry and resume later if you need more time.

Consider creating a Citizen Access account

We use a third party application called Citizen Access to receive complaints about vacant housing. You can submit a complaint anonymously without logging in, or create an account and log in first to make it easier for you to track the status of the complaint over time.

Haven't used Citizen Access before? Make sure to review how to create an account before starting.

Submit your complaint online

After following the link below, you'll agree to the disclaimer. All you’ll need is the property address and a description of your complaint.

Submit an Exterior Housing Complaint in English

We'll review your complaint

We'll start a case after we review and accept your complaint. Then we send a letter to the owner for complaints we enforce. We give the owner 21 days for non-hazardous issues. Our inspectors follow up with an on-site inspection. If timely corrections aren't completed, the process continues. If the complaint is a hazard, our inspectors inspect the condition as soon as possible. You can track this online through Citizen Access.

Check out our enforcement process(PDF, 221KB) for more details. 

Check the complaint status

Want to see what's happening with the complaint you filed? Visit the Citizen Access website:

• Click the Enforcement tab
• Click on the Case Number for more information
• Don't see your complaint case Case Records? Search by Site Address, Parcel Number, or Case Number in the General Search section of the page
• If you logged in before submitting your complaint, you'll see the case listed under Case Records

Identify your complaint

All houses and buildings must be in good repair to make sure our community members are safe and healthy. The following is a list of the exterior maintenance standards for our city:

• Structure in good condition
• No holes or areas where animals could get in
• Gutters, railings, and other features in good repair
• Trees and shrubs maintained and not damaging sidewalk or structures
• Valuables stored in a safe and orderly way
• Address visible from the street

Keep in mind

Together, you and your neighbors form a strong community. Working together to resolve an issue can create a stronger block and neighborhood. We’ve put together optional first steps before filing a complaint with us.

• Try talking with the property owner. If you need help finding the owner of a property, contact the City Assessors' Office online or at (616) 456-3081
• Contact your Neighborhood Association to see if they're able to help the owner

Make sure you have time to complete the form

This form will take about 5 minutes to complete. You'll be able to save your entry and resume later if you need more time.

Give us a call 

Call us at the number listed in the Contact Us section of this page.

We'll review your complaint

We'll start a case after we review and accept your complaint. Then we send a letter to the owner for complaints we enforce. We give the owner 21 days for non-hazardous issues. Our inspectors follow up with an on-site inspection. If timely corrections aren't completed, the process continues. If the complaint is a hazard, our inspectors inspect the condition as soon as possible. You can track this online through Citizen Access.

Check out our enforcement process(PDF, 221KB) for more details. 

Check the complaint status

Want to see what's happening with the complaint you filed? Visit the Citizen Access website:

• Click the Enforcement tab
• Click on the Case Number for more information
• Don't see your complaint case Case Records? Search by Site Address, Parcel Number, or Case Number in the General Search section of the page
• If you logged in before submitting your complaint, you'll see the case listed under Case Records

Identify your complaint

All houses and buildings must be in good repair to make sure our community members are safe and healthy. The following is a list of the exterior maintenance standards for our city:

• Structure in good condition
• No holes or areas where animals could get in
• Gutters, railings, and other features in good repair
• Trees and shrubs maintained and not damaging sidewalk or structures
• Valuables stored in a safe and orderly way
• Address visible from the street

Keep in mind

Together, you and your neighbors form a strong community. Working together to resolve an issue can create a stronger block and neighborhood. We’ve put together optional first steps before filing a complaint with us.

• Try talking with the property owner. If you need help finding the owner of a property, contact the City Assessors' Office online or at (616) 456-3081
• Contact your Neighborhood Association to see if they're able to help the owner

Make sure you have time to complete the form

This form will take about 5 minutes to complete. You'll be able to save your entry and resume later if you need more time.

Visit our office

To file a complaint in person, visit Code Compliance at the address listed in the Contact Us section of this page.

We'll review your complaint

We'll start a case after we review and accept your complaint. Then we send a letter to the owner for complaints we enforce. We give the owner 21 days for non-hazardous issues. Our inspectors follow up with an on-site inspection. If timely corrections aren't completed, the process continues. If the complaint is a hazard, our inspectors inspect the condition as soon as possible. You can track this online through Citizen Access.

Check out our enforcement process(PDF, 221KB) for more details. 

Check the complaint status

Want to see what's happening with the complaint you filed? Visit the Citizen Access website:

• Click the Enforcement tab
• Click on the Case Number for more information
• Don't see your complaint case Case Records? Search by Site Address, Parcel Number, or Case Number in the General Search section of the page
• If you logged in before submitting your complaint, you'll see the case listed under Case Records