Buying property and previous owner renovated with no permits

[Evan Renaud]

A question about buying a house that the previous owner began and nearly finished renovating without acquiring building permits. If I were to purchase this property does that fall onto me or what challenges would face a potential buyer? Thank you for your time and any knowledge on this.

[Frank Chin]

Depends on the violation.

I had banks providing the mortgage coming by to do inspections, and they check room counts. I had insurance companies come by to check if an illegal converted basements has proper egresses. This is aside from the permit issues, so the illegally converted basement can be insured without permits, but done correctly.

Other things which I'm aware of in my rentals that I acquired with renovations without permits includes an enclosed breezeway. There were many such renovations done in  my town which requires a zoning approval after a public meeting. I hired an architect to check things out and he pointed this out to me. So I told him to do the paperwork to get the zoning approval. But he advised most such renovations without permits usually does not include footings below the concrete slabs. Told me it's doable but it's one of a few things I'll have to take care of when I sell.

So you'll have banking, insurance and zoning issues. Do you know what all the issues are and how much it would cost to correct? In NYC, if you did a job without a permit, have to get a permit to have the violation corrected, you'll have to pay a fine in addition to fees for the new permit.