San Antonio house citations

[Trey Fischer]

A friend of mine bought a house a few months ago and last weekend an inspector knocked on their door on a Saturday and issued a citation for unpermitted work. The inspector said they used recent online interior photos and deemed the work unpermitted. Example can lights or a remodeled bathroom.

The issue is the house was remodeled like 5 years ago by a flipper and possibly has been remodeled several times. The house was built in the 1950s. They bought this house from a family. They haven’t worked on the house but planned to.

The inspector was stating that they could rip open the walls and other things to be able to inspect the unpermitted work. The citation is very generic and isn’t specific.

What do you believe is the best way forward? Should they obtain an real estate attorney?

Thanks

[Rick Pozos]

@Trey Fischer I have talked with several city of San Antonio Inspectors recently and they are going through the MLS for listings that say completely remodeled or say that significant work was done to the house and checking for permits.

They are going as far as pulling electrical meters when a listing says that it has been rewired completely and never pulled a permit!!!

I try to warn people who are looking to buy a house that says it was rehabbed, check the city website to make sure the seller pulled permits. You can do this yourself.