HAMMOND | In 2007, three people died when flames engulfed their illegally constructed Drackert Street basement apartment. It's a scene that a code enforcement task force is hoping never is repeated.

Street by street, building inspectors are looking at rental units, Building Commissioner Jim Callahan said. During a recent sweep in one South Hammond neighborhood, he said 12 of 76 multifamily buildings were found to have units constructed illegally.

"It's probably the largest problem we deal with in the city," Callahan said.

While inspectors have found high concentrations of buildings in violation of city codes in east and central Hammond, Callahan said there are pockets throughout the city.

The problem with the apartments is safety.

"Most of them we find were done without any permits," Callahan said. "We don't know who the contractors were who did the work. We can't see how the electrical work was done."

What's more, he said is that many of the units, constructed either in basements or attics, have exceptionally low ceiling heights, increasing the risk to residents should a fire break out. The apartments in attics, particularly, add weight to the floor beams that weren't intended to support it, which could result in a collapse.

"When you build, you have an attic. You and I might store our Christmas trees up there. It's not meant for the weight of a bathtub," Callahan said.

Neighbors regularly report possible illegally cut up units to the city, Callahan said, and employees search through more than a century of permits, looking at whether work was done legally.

"We have old books with every permit ever issued in this city," Callahan said.

If there's proof the conversion might have been done without city approval, Callahan said he goes before the Board of Works and asks that the city order the units converted back to a single-family residence. Callahan said the city doesn't ordinarily fine landlords who maintain the buildings, so long as they comply with the order to remodel the homes back to their intended use.

"We just want to stabilize the neighborhood," Callahan said.

Signs of illegal cut-up units

Hammond Building Commissioner Jim Callahan said there are some telltale signs neighbors can look for in helping to determine whether they should report a possible illegal housing unit. Callahan said many times parking spaces on a street will become rare and an unusually large amount of trash will be collected from the home on a regular basis.