I’m Buying A Home With Work Done Without A Permit, What Is My Responsibility?

July 15th, 2011 by David J. Williams

I’m Buying A Home With Work Done Without A Permit, What Is My Responsibility?

A: Hopefully you have some open contingencies still and have some leverage to require the seller to get permits and the subsequent approval or CO prior to closing. Thats a big risk to take on after closing with little or no leverage at that point to get help from the seller.

A: Hopefully you have not signed the Purchase and Sale yet. If not, your best bet is to put language in there stating that the seller is to take care of pulling a permit for the work and getting it signed off before closing. What they will have to do is get a licensed electrician to pull a permit, check the work, fix any non-compliance issues and then have the town inspector sign off.

Regardless, you will not get hit for penalties or fines for a permit they did not pull. Your biggest risk is that work was done that is not up to code, but that is what your home inspector is for to find those issues.

A: You may get worse than that. You may end up having the house declared unsafe or closed for safety reasons. You may also end up having to tear the system out and redo it which may include tearing out drywall for inspection. This is way too involved for a 1st time buyer.

My advice to you is to buy a different home. There are plenty of them for sale. Make your first home buying experience a positive one.

If the work is done correctly and is safe, you can determine if you want to do the permits. Ask the contractor who you contact to inspect the work about permits in your area.

A: Not sure when you found this out. Normally if you know this is a concern before writing an offer, you need to address it in the offer. If you found out thru a home inspection, you can address this during your inspection contingency. Make seller pulling a permit for the 200 amp service as a condition of closing. Your agent, or attorney, can draft the amendment for you. You are correct that if you do nothing, you do inherit any potential issues/fines, etc. Good luck & hope all goes well with your purchase!

A: These DIY projects with no permitting and inspection can be a problem later. You are so right to check this out before the transaction closes. One of the things I see property inspectors do here in my area is check with the local building officials for outstanding permits as part of the inspection checklist. Check your offer as well since some contracts have clauses stating the party responsible for closing out permits, paying assessments, etc. Of course I am in Florida so your real estate agent/Realtor® is your local expert check with them.

Good luck.

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