Bought a house with outstanding permit issues!

[Anonymous]

We bought a house back in Jan. While trying to replace our roof this week, the roofing company called and said they can't start work because there are outstanding permits on the house and rejected our current permit! Now I have to call the office to see what's up, but waiting for more details.

Questions on what I can do:

1) would I need to reach out to seller/agent on seeing how this can get remedied if there's costs associated? Is this a lawsuit issue?
2) Shouldn't the escrow company have done some digging to find this?!

Soooo annoyed!

[Anonymous]

That sucks. It should have been found in inspection but doesn't always happen. It is now your problem.

[Anonymous]

This usually just involves closing out the permit by having the inspector come out, which in my experience is very easy. Yes, you may need to replace some drywall, who knows. No, you won't be suing anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This usually just involves closing out the permit by having the inspector come out, which in my experience is very easy. Yes, you may need to replace some drywall, who knows. No, you won't be suing anyone.

Certainly don't want to go there. But one permit said they also need to provide plans for gas lines which never happened...so which means we now have to redo work for the hot water heater potentially. Just another annoying issue with home purchases we have never encountered before!

[Anonymous]

This is 100% a you problem, sorry. Call the permit office and explain the issue. They're usually very helpful to homeowners.

Your inspector should've noted the issue, but you also should be checking permits anytime you're considering a house. It takes 30 seconds and is free. Lesson learned for next time.

[Anonymous]

You can definitely sue. They are in fact liable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can definitely sue. They are in fact liable

Lol, for what?

[Anonymous]

Not yet a home owner here. How does one verify permit issues on a house you know little about? Should the escrow or title company be involved?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We bought a house back in Jan. While trying to replace our roof this week, the roofing company called and said they can't start work because there are outstanding permits on the house and rejected our current permit! Now I have to call the office to see what's up, but waiting for more details.

Questions on what I can do:

1) would I need to reach out to seller/agent on seeing how this can get remedied if there's costs associated? Is this a lawsuit issue?
2) Shouldn't the escrow company have done some digging to find this?!

Soooo annoyed!

That’s so weird roofing company checking on house permit ?
Why they care the if they only dealing with roof , it’s not like open permit equites to lean .
Do you have a lean on the property, maybe they worry you don’t pay your bills?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought a house back in Jan. While trying to replace our roof this week, the roofing company called and said they can't start work because there are outstanding permits on the house and rejected our current permit! Now I have to call the office to see what's up, but waiting for more details.

Questions on what I can do:

1) would I need to reach out to seller/agent on seeing how this can get remedied if there's costs associated? Is this a lawsuit issue?
2) Shouldn't the escrow company have done some digging to find this?!

Soooo annoyed!

That’s so weird roofing company checking on house permit ?
Why they care the if they only dealing with roof , it’s not like open permit equites to lean .
Do you have a lean on the property, maybe they worry you don’t pay your bills?

No, we hired roofers to redo the roof. They rejected their permit request and sent back a list of 3 open permits that never closed. We can't proceed with the new permit on the roof till that's been sorted.

[Anonymous]

OP do you know how to look up the perMit and inspection history on your house? If you tell us what county, we can help you.

[Anonymous]

I was just surprised this was not a part of the escrow search

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought a house back in Jan. While trying to replace our roof this week, the roofing company called and said they can't start work because there are outstanding permits on the house and rejected our current permit! Now I have to call the office to see what's up, but waiting for more details.

Questions on what I can do:

1) would I need to reach out to seller/agent on seeing how this can get remedied if there's costs associated? Is this a lawsuit issue?
2) Shouldn't the escrow company have done some digging to find this?!

Soooo annoyed!

That’s so weird roofing company checking on house permit ?
Why they care the if they only dealing with roof , it’s not like open permit equites to lean .
Do you have a lean on the property, maybe they worry you don’t pay your bills?

No, we hired roofers to redo the roof. They rejected their permit request and sent back a list of 3 open permits that never closed. We can't proceed with the new permit on the roof till that's been sorted.

I see thanks for clarifying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was just surprised this was not a part of the escrow search

They don’t do that kind of search includes only Leans.
I skipped many houses because everything was done without permit and you know they removed some walls Even load bearing ones. It didn’t mean job not well done I don’t know but for sure will be dust when selling in slow market . House with permits vs without .
Still got top dollar , feel bad for buyers who never checked . Selling agent got irritated when was asked about permits .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That sucks. It should have been found in inspection but doesn't always happen. It is now your problem.

Yup. This. My buyers asked for me to provide copies of all permits of the work that I had indicated were recent updates. I pointed them to the Arlington permitting website. This is all public and you should check your house address before closing. They have no responsibility to clean this up.