Illegal home modifications in Connecticut

[Shvonne C.]

In Bridgeport, CT to be exact.

I have a property that I am looking at Tuesday that is a 2 family that was converted to a 4 family illegally. The current owner says her father did it a long time ago, she doesn't know when.  Since I haven't seen it yet I don't know the real condition of the property or the changes. I plan to make a trip to the permit department this week pending the visit Tuesday. My questions are:

• Has anyone had any experience with something like this and how did it turn out?
• Does anyone have experience in Bridgeport or Connecticut in general with this?
• I'm wondering how time consuming getting this approved to be a 4 family would be in a best and worse case scenario?
• How costly could it be to get this approved in a best and worse case scenario?

Thanks for any info!

[Richard D.]

Shavonne, this happens frequently here in Fort Worth. Depending on the city ordinances, and the code compliance division there, it could become rather costly. The best advice anyone could give you is do your research, talk with code compliance and the permit office.

Here in Fort Worth there is a magic date of July 7, 1948. Apparently, that is where city records start due to a fire at city hall. So if you can prove that it was there before that date, they don't do anything about it. They just presume all paperwork was filed properly and move on. Maybe, something like this occurred in Bridgeport since it is a much older city than Fort Worth, just ask. The worst they could say is no.