Code Violations as a Lead Generation Source

Greetings Gang,,,hope your all having a great summer
Att. Rick,Ward,dond,JK et all

I have been pursuing Wholesaling and I am told that contacting your local town Code Enforcement Dept will provide you a list of folks with properties in need of repairs hence they are good candidates to make offers to buy their on their "problem real estate"

Gee thats great,,,

Trouble is ,when I call the good folks down at Code Enforcement ,they say "Sorry as much as we 'd like like to help you under the California Public Code Section 12345 we're not obligated to reveal that information,,we cant help you

I asked them if that wasnt public information and couldnt I get access to it via the Federal Freedom of Information Act.The nice lady replied "what local jurisdictions decide to do over rules the Federal Freedom of Information Act,,,if you have a 1problem with that ,call the City Attorney,,,"

Gee ,,,Golly Wow,,,Im disappointed,,,

Have you guys had any experience with this?Even after I told these folks I would approach these home owners with out even making a mention of a code violation and simply ask "hey would you like to sell your house" they still wouldnt help me

I dont want to alienate these bureaucrats in code enforcement and "bully them" into to forking over this information.I was nice,,,,very very nice.But I feel there must be a legal means of acquiring this information,as I understand it,this is Public Information that must be recorded somewhere.

Has any one had experience with this.These people are so obstinate I am ready to hire a competent attorney to pursue this,I want to rehab these properties and improve my town [I am a contractor} yet these folks are blowing me off and giving me the run around.I will not tolerate it

Any help greatly appreciated

Dave Doyle