Purchased rental with non permitted garage conversion

[Riley Barclay]

Just purchased my 2nd property in North Carolina. It currently had tenants when purchased but they are now moving out. The garage was converted into an additional room/den and from what was listed sq/ft wise it was not permitted. As I am going to go in and do some repairs and upgrades I'm looking for some insight on how to proceed with the garage conversion.

The house currently has wall units for ac and I am going to add an hvac system throughout (including the garage conversion) to match with the rest of the neighborhood.

Should I just add the hvac and continue renting the property or go to the city and get permits/inspections done for the conversion that was completed? I want to make sure the money I'm putting into the property with the hvac will not have to be re-done due to the unpermitted work on the garage in the long run.

I know if I get the permits I can raise the sq/ft of the property but also heard stories that they may want to tear everything out to the studs in the conversion. This wouldn't be an issue but from everything I've seen, the conversion was done well and would hate to rip it out just to put it all back together again

Any thoughts or insights would be great! Let me know if any more info would be needed. Thanks!