File a records request

Answer a few questions. Leave with a request ready to send.

The free tool I used was the California Public Records Act. This builds the same kind of request for you, in your words, and hands it to your own email ready to send. Nothing you type here reaches me or anyone else — unless you add a line asking the county to send us a copy of its reply.

Wizard Build your request

California Public Records Act · request builder● stays in your browser

1 What do you want records about?

My own propertyThe full code-compliance file for a parcel you own or rent — cases, letters, inspection notes, photographs. County-wide enforcement dataHow many complaints the county gets, how cases are opened and closed. The big picture. The county’s own rulesThe policies and retention schedules behind code enforcement.

2 The property

Property addressOptional, but it helps the county find the file.

Assessor’s parcel number (APN)Find it on your property tax bill, or look it up on the county assessor’s site.

3 You

Your name

Your emailThis goes in the letter so the county can reply to you. It is not sent to us.

I’m a member of the pressAdds a public-interest fee-waiver request (Gov. Code § 7922.530).

4 Ask the county to send HOME a copy? (optional)

Add a line asking the county to deliver a copy of its response to The Story of HOME.This adds one sentence to your request, in your name, designating our intake address (records@growinghome.life) to receive a copy of the county’s reply, which we log to document the county-wide pattern. That’s how one parcel becomes a pattern. We keep only the county’s response, not your request. Off by default and entirely your choice — leave it unticked and we never see a thing.

Your request — previewTo: cda.records@nevadacountyca.gov

Or file on the county portal

How “send” works. This site has no server and sets no cookies, so it can’t submit for you behind the scenes. Instead it fills out the request completely and opens it in your own email app (or you copy it into the county portal). You press send — you stay in control, and your details never pass through us. The only way we learn you filed is if you add the optional line above, which asks the county to send a copy of its response straight to our intake mailbox.

Prefer to write it yourself? Show the plain templates →

Template — one property

Subject: California Public Records Act Request - Code Compliance Records for [address / APN]

Dear Code Compliance Division:

Pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Government Code
Section 7920.000 et seq.), I request copies of all Code Compliance
records related to the following property:

Property: [address]
APN: [assessor's parcel number]

Specifically: all code compliance case files for this parcel (case
numbers and dates; all violation letters, notices, and citations; all
inspection reports and field notes; all photographs taken during
inspections; all correspondence with the owner; all compliance
determinations); any currently open case file; and any compliance or
settlement agreements.

If any records are withheld, please provide the index of withheld
records required by Government Code Section 7922.525(a).

Please respond within 10 calendar days (Gov. Code Section 7921.010).

Sincerely,
[your name] / [your contact information]

Send to cda.records@nevadacountyca.gov or file through the county portal. County-wide and policy templates work the same way — the wizard above builds all three.

Basics What the law gives you

The deadline The county must respond within 10 calendar days — produce records, cite a specific exemption, or give a completion date. It can extend 14 more days in unusual circumstances, with notice. It cannot go silent. (Gov. Code § 7921.010.)
The cost Only the actual cost of copying; electronic records are generally free. Press can ask for a fee waiver on public-interest grounds (§ 7922.530).
If records are withheld Ask for the specific exemption in writing and for the index of withheld records (§ 7922.525(a)). “Open investigation” is narrow and is legally contested for administrative code enforcement.
Keep the “no records” answers If the county tells you a record doesn’t exist, that written answer is itself a record worth saving.

Help If you get stuck

First Amendment Coalition — free CPRA guidance; a hotline for the press · firstamendmentcoalition.org
iFOIA — generates CPRA request letters for California agencies · ifoia.org
Reporters Committee — California Open Government Guide · rcfp.org/open-government-guide/california

This is practical information, not legal advice. If a letter has already arrived, add your case — comparing notes is the one thing this process is built to keep us from doing.