These ‘inspectors’ typically issue infractions on items that requires a landlord to pull permits for no good reason.It’s not fair. 

No permits were drawn for this structural work as required by california building code.Further investigation of the foundation leads to $65,000 worth of work needed, with engineering required to be warranties for life. 

IE if you have permits for STR  or just renting them out..

I just got hit with reassessment with Franklin county, basically any time permits are pulled it will trigger assessment.  

If you are considering making any renovations to the property your permits would be the jurisdiction of the County instead of the City/Village which can be a blessing or a curse depending on the location...

- Liens, permitting issues, zoning issues, titling issues, etc?

Go to the city website, it should be very specific on how they calculate permit fees.  

We would live in the basement apartment, and rent out the upstairs.I'm just concerned about the apartment not technically being approved.Only the owner of record can request that the city permit the apartment, so I couldn't do anything about it until I own the property.What would you do?

The STR landscape changes frequently with many cities tightening restrictions but there are opportunities depending on what your looking for.La Quinta for example, has a 90 day moratorium on any new STR permits as they look into their STR and balancing recent neighborhood complaints due to the increase in demand for STR due to the pandemic.

Definitely a solid place to look but there are some rules to work with to get a permit and do it correctly.