Seller removed a tree before closing. Now city is delaying permit

[Alice Huang]

Hey BP community!

Back at it again and looking for some insight. Maybe someone has experienced this.

We are in the middle of permit processing from the City and a tree removal issue is holding us back (San Antonio, TX is a tree preservation city.. or something along those lines)

Facts on the current situation are as follows:-

We (the new owner) are held liable for the penalty on tree removal prior to permitting approval and the mitigation fee as we are the ones processing the building permit currently. (We applied for a new construction permit and one of the steps was to ensure tree canopy was preserved to a certain percentage)

The seller (previous owner) was the one who did the tree removal

Tree removal was done prior to our lot acquisition

The seller acknowledged that all fines and penalties were paid in line with the tree removal PRIOR to acquisition.

But city is holding us (the new owners) liable for it since the fines are associated with the lot.

Not asking for legal advice but just wanting to see if someone has experienced something similar? TIA

[Scott Mac]

Originally posted by @Alice Huang:

Hey BP community!

Back at it again and looking for some insight. Maybe someone has experienced this.

We are in the middle of permit processing from the City and a tree removal issue is holding us back (San Antonio, TX is a tree preservation city.. or something along those lines)

Facts on the current situation are as follows:-

We (the new owner) are held liable for the penalty on tree removal prior to permitting approval and the mitigation fee as we are the ones processing the building permit currently. (We applied for a new construction permit and one of the steps was to ensure tree canopy was preserved to a certain percentage)

The seller (previous owner) was the one who did the tree removal

Tree removal was done prior to our lot acquisition

The seller acknowledged that all fines and penalties were paid in line with the tree removal PRIOR to acquisition.

But city is holding us (the new owners) liable for it since the fines are associated with the lot.

Not asking for legal advice but just wanting to see if someone has experienced something similar? TIA

This is just a side note on the trees.

All of those birds in Montreal and all over (up north in the USA) that leave your area for the winter--go to San Antonio and other similar places (not Austin).

The number of them in San Antonio in the winter is amazing--lining the overhead wires and trees--jut an amazing amount.

 So the trees in San Antonio are part of a much greater eco-system, even your hometown Montreal's eco-system (but it looks like your birds winter in Miami and the Fla. Keys).

For instance, a little 15 foot high tree in the parking lot of a grocery store in mid winter might have 20 birds in it, chirping loudly 24 hours a day.