All L&I tickets are handled through the 311 contact center.   It is better to send in a written complaint rather than to complain on the phone where the phone operator may  misinterpret your complaint.

Tip One — File the complaint online instead of calling 3-1-1

I love it when I get Monique from 311 on the phone (she’s very resourceful), but the 311 contact center is often busy.   For 1.4 million people, there’s only a handful of folks actually answering the phone.

Save the telephone for when you are not at a computer and need to report it before you forget, or it’s clear from the e-mail response that 311 routed your ticket incorrectly.

Use the online form instead.   The same folks who answer the phones also handle the electronic requests.   When you send your ticket through online, you get an e-mail after the 311 operator reads it and routes it to the City department it needs to go to.  In that email you will get your 311 ticket number.

Print that email or keep track of it on a spreadsheet (Google Docs is great for this).   You can go back to the 311 complaint page and look up what happened to your ticket.  311 also gives you a rough guess what the turnaround for your ticket will be.

Tip Two — Get that parcel address correct

When you complain about anything related to real property in Philadelphia there is one rule: You must always have the complete, correct address.   Get it wrong, and your complaint is thrown out as unfounded.

Write in a complaint for 9990 Mercer Street when you meant 9992 Mercer Street, and a City worker is liable to show up to 9990 Mercer, see that there’s a problem with 9992 Mercer but not 9990 Mercer, then close the complaint as unfounded.

Need help?  Use Google Streetview or walk the block looking for house numbers and what direction they flow up and down the block.   Then count by two starting at the first good address you can find.   Generally on most blocks the parcels are the same size.

For odd-shaped blocks you are probably better off with the Philadelphia Zoning Map.  This is the definitive resource for finding the correct address of a parcel, including vacant parcels.  Use the “blue dot” ponter tool and click on the parcel to get its frontage address.

Tip Three – Know what you’re complaining about

If you have an idea of what City code is being violated, say it.   If a door or window is busted on a house and it’s falling apart, it’s “Act 90 violation.   Broken/doors windows on property.   1 broken door first floor, 2 broken windows first floor, 4 broken windows 2nd floor.   Please investigate.”

If there’s a huge mound of garbage in the front lawn, it’s “SHORT DUMPING ON PROPERTY IN FRONT.”

No need to get emotional when you write these up.   If you’ve used an exclamation mark in your complaint, you’ve gone too far.

Tip Four – Don’t use “I think”

Don’t use the words “I think” ever in a complaint to the City, unless the City is calling you on the phone and talking to you asking more questions, and they made the phone call, not you.

“I think” is the same thing as “I don’t know”.   Either you know it or you don’t know it.  If you got the information from a neighbor, that’s fine–you know it because you were told.  Whether or not it’s true depends on what the City finds.

Examples:

Here’s an example of a very well-written complaint about a vacant property:

FIRST NAME STEVE
LAST NAME MCCULLOUGH
EMAIL steve.mccullough@email.com
PHONE # 215-686-0000
ZIP CODE 19125
DESCRIPTION PROPERTY ADDRESS IS 9999 JASPER ST
BRT ACCOUNT NUMBER IS 01155666

BRICKS POPPED OUT OF FRONT FAÇADE WALL

PART OF STRUCTURE IS COLLAPSING, 2 BROKEN WINDOWS ON FIRST FLOOR, 4 BROKEN WINDOWS ON SECOND FLOOR, FRONT DOOR IS AJAR AND NOT SECURED.  INTERIOR OF BUILDING IS EXPOSED TO ELEMENTS

PLEASE SEND L&I INSPECTOR TO PROPERTY
IMMEDIATELY.  IMMINENT DANGER OF
COLLAPSE.

This complaint is not only short; it leaves zero doubt about what the problem is. Even the most novice employee at the 311 contact center knows to route the call to L&I.

After you submit this online complaint, it will take another business day to get an e-mail reply back from the City.   Be sure to get the 311 ticket number and contact 311 in about 7 business days to check on the status of the ticket (call 311 on the phone for an immediate update).   If you have a 311 ticket number, you can check the status of it online at the same site where the online complaint form is.

Keep the complaint short and cite things that will immediately draw L&I’s attention.  Don’t go into stories about specific incidents and people, unless the L&I complaint is about an unauthorized business or illegal construction activity.   Do not “rant” in an L&I complaint, or L&I will close it immediately as “UNFOUNDED” and you will have to file another one.

For an L&I complaint about a particular business, you need to specify what activity is going on at the business and you actually have to tell L&I that it is not allowed or they won’t look at it.

Here’s an example of a specific complaint about a business:

FIRST NAME MARY
LAST NAME DONAHUE
EMAIL mary_dee@email.com
PHONE # 215-686-0000
ZIP CODE 19125
DESCRIPTION PROPERTY ADDRESS IS 9999 JASPER ST
BRT ACCOUNT NUMBER IS 01155666

ILLEGAL DAYCARE OPERATING OUT OF
9999 JASPER ST

THE DAYCARE APPEARED IN THIS HOME AND
ERECTED A SIGN OUT FRONT ON 10/2011

THIS PROPERTY IS NOT ZONED FOR A
DAYCARE.

TRASH IN BACK GARDEN AND PARKING HAS

BECOME A NIGHTMARE.   BUSINESS IS RUN

BY STACEY MCVICKER  215-686-0101 WHO

ALSO OWNS HOME.

When L&I sees a complaint like this, the first thing they will check is to see if there’s a BPL# number for Stacey, or a BPL registered at 9999 Jasper St.   If they can’t find one, then they’ll escalate it and pay Stacey a visit or drive by the property to see if what was said holds water.