Oh no...Has this ever happened to you?

[Tarl Yarber]

Hey Everyone!

If you actively do rehabs and flip homes, sooner or later you may get one of these!  Every state/county/city/village/municipality/etc is different in regards to Permits, so every now and then I am sure some of you out there push the limits here and there.

I just got "red tagged" on one of my properties due to a surprise visit from a city inspector who noticed my contractors repairing some siding on the exterior of the house.  I get a call afterwards stating that we are to cease work until we get the proper permits.

In my area, they want you to get a permit for every tiny thing you may be doing, even changing a supply valve under a sink if they want to push it on you.

In this scenario, once you are caught, you have to play by their rules so that you can get back on track and get what money you can still make on the property so long as the inspector didn't eat your profits away.

What's your story? Do you have a nightmare to share? How did you handle a surprise like this? Or are you the type to pull all permits no matter what?  I'd like to read what you have to share!

[Bryan R.]

You have to pull permits, that is just the cost of doing business. I see lots of guys get away without them, or just pay the fines and figure that is less cost than getting permitted every time, but for me if I'm doing anything significant I'll pull a permit. If it is truly only cosmetic work I may not but anything electrical, plumbing, HVAC, structural, is getting permitted.

From that picture looks like you got caught out by Tacoma Power for no permit electrical work. Now imagine you did no permit electrical work and sell the property to a family, house catches fire and burns down and a child dies. To me that is 1000x worse than the additional cost of doing permitted work. I like sleeping well at night, being fully permitted means I don't have to spend the next 20 years worrying about lawsuits quite as much.