Surveyor Differences

[NoMoreJuice!]

I had my surprise renewal inspection yesterday, and I was SO pleasantly surprised to find that the surveyor was a super nice human being!

In the last place I lived (in a small town of about 6k people), the surveyor covered 8 counties, and she was a NAZI. Every one of my friends that had a home daycare also felt that she just had it in for us. I have two dogs, and I pick up my yard EVERY day, but she would go out and walk every single square inch of my yard looking for poo. She wrote me up one time for having 18 piles, and I said there was NO WAY because I just picked up that morning. She got so angry with me and said I was calling her a liar, so I had to put shoes on all the kids and take them in the backyard with me so she could prove it to me. Well, it was late summer, and my black walnut tree had dumped a bunch of walnuts and they had turned black. So she pretty much hated me ever since that incident.

When I moved to a different town, I was so afraid of being inspected, because I assumed they were even meaner in a bigger town. But I was so wrong! My surveyor yesterday was so kind and pleasant, and even gave me a chance to put a few things away (bottle of cleaner on the kitchen counter, toothpaste in the bathroom) without writing me up. My nap mats and blankets hadn't been picked up yet (they normally go in Ziplock XL bags) but she just said "that's ok, I see the bags with names on them, and the mats are two feet apart, so you're great!" She also waited patiently for me to print off another copy of my SIDS training, since I had lost my original. I was seriously dreading her visit, but she made me feel so relaxed and like she was on my side instead of against me!

I think I'm in love with her.

[e.j.]

That's the way it should be. I wish they all could be like your current licensor. I've had 3 so far in my years doing this job. My first licensor was wonderful. I never dreaded his visits and in fact, almost looked forward to them. My second was very by-the-book and a tad rigid but as long as you were doing what you were supposed to be doing, she seemed fair. The third, I only saw once and that was more than enough! She came in for the first time and started going through all of my cabinets and kitchen drawers. She had a problem with several things the other licensors never mentioned. I got the feeling she was very unhappy in her job and tried very hard to make me feel the same way. I'm hoping she's as bad as they get. I'm on my 4th now. I haven't met her yet but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she's more like my first licensor and not so much like the other two.

[KSDC]

I have been doing this for almost 8 years and have had the same surveyor that entire time. I was one of her first homes to inspect. I love her! She has the attitude that her job is to help me do my job.

I have heard horror stories about the previous surveyor that seems to have been like your old one - just there to try and find trouble.