What To Do With Code Violation Post-purchase??

[Tae C.]

Hello all,

I have had a property since August 2017 that’s been undergoing a slow rehab.  A month or so ago, I received a letter in the mail from the county informing me that there is a code violation for all sorts of repairs that were needed.  Well yeah, that’s obvious as it was a very distressed property.  Here’s the frustrating part.  This violation has apparently existed on the property since January 2017.  There had been two previous owners, including the individual that basically wholesaled it to me (he did take title on it for a few days), since the time that the code violation was enforced.  As a new flipper, just curious of a couple things:

• do title searches not detect code violations such as this?
• Is this solely on me to fix at this juncture?
• The reality is, my rehab should take care of all the items mentioned - but regardless, what exactly do I have to do to get the violation resolved?

Would appreciate any insight, thanks!

[Jon Holdman]

• do title searches not detect code violations such as this?

No.  Its up to you do "do your own due diligence" before the purchase.  A call to the building department would be a very good idea on a "very distressed property".  I've done it more than once.  

• Is this solely on me to fix at this juncture?

Yep.  Its your problem now.  I've been forced to pull down cabinets, tear open walls and trench up finished basements to allow inspectors to have a look at work done decades ago.  This was a rehab where I was the lender and the rehabber was caught doing work without permits and gave the property to me and my partner deed in lieu of foreclosure.

• The reality is, my rehab should take care of all the items mentioned - but regardless, what exactly do I have to do to get the violation resolved?

First step is to contact the building department.  In my case, we then request an inspection with the city.  I was there along with contractors and several city inspectors.  We went through the property and they identified everything they wanted done.  Did you pull permits for the work you're doing?  If so, seems odd they didn't alert you to the issues at that time.  If not, well...