Submitted by Intelligent_Bad8773 t3_10585jh in Washington
Hello,
So my family member is getting ready to sell his home, but I just found out that the entire basement apartment they live in was built without a permit. What kind of repercussions are they going to face? Im not able to find any specific information about consequences of this and what may need to be done to rectify the situation. They don't think its a big deal, and Im not sure if I am overly paranoid or not.
You’re being paranoid. Do not request a retroactive permit. No need to report yourself for something nobody is likely to notice. Lots of houses are bought and sold with work done by the owners themselves that do not have the proper permits, and they pass between many many owners without anything happening.
They may have a hard time selling it if their illegal construction gets pinged by the building inspector. (Never buy a house without a formal inspection folks!) They may be liable if their illegal construction causes problems (such as electrical or plumbing).
That being said, and I mean this in the kindest way, this is on them - not you.
There are no issues...they've lived in it for years.
It's fully finished with working plumbing a separate electrical panel HVAC gas and all that's separate from the main house.
It's on them for sure ... I just feel bad and I'm trying to find information to help them
Maybe let them ask their own questions.
Counties will often freeze any future permits until you bring the property up to code. They may also have fines, and/or could force you to bring the property up to code if they have strict code enforcement.
In the future, they will be rather restricted if they wanted to sell the home, as lenders will often not lend on a property that has unpermitted modifications or renovations. That means cash only sales, it could also create a variety of issues with home inspectors (if the home was on market) and potential buyers.
Nobody is going to come look at the home out of the blue, however, it potentially could cause issues for future remodels, resale, and renovations.
How would I find out if the county has a straight code enforcement I honestly don't even know where to look. My plan is to try to get a retroactive permit I'm just not sure where to start
Getting a retroactive permit is a good place to start. With the permit comes an inspection, and if the work is up to code, then you should be good. If it’s not up to code, it will need to be brought up to code.
With a basement apartment, egress is a big issue, as is ceiling height.
Terrible idea. Don’t bill, count or list it as a living space. Check “no” on the form 17 that says have you obtained permits for all remodels. If anyone asks tell them it’s an unpermitted remodel it’s not living space it’s never been a problem there’s no discounts considered and if they can’t accept those terms as what is offered for sale then move on.
Getting “right” with the code enforcement will likely require a tear out of drywall and redo if you’re lucky. Maybe also electrical and framing.
That's actually a really good 8dea to say it's not actually a living space.. he could say it's an office with an attached kitchen.
Storage...
Some counties are overly strict when it comes to retro-active permits, and if it is not up to code, you may still be required to remove modifications, or they may come up with their own plan.
What county/city (if you feel comfortable sharing that) is the property located in?
The other user that responded is correct (u/Salmundo), ingress/egress may be a real concern. As there are specific rules for windows, escape routes (fire safety), and the like.
Ingress and egress there's only one way out.... That's actually my biggest concern about the entire apartment he has built.
It sounds awful but it will be the buyer’s headache. I live in WA and we were under contract for a house that had an attic conversion. During the inspection part of the process we requested records of the permits for the work done but found out it was unpermitted. Went to the county to find out how to rectify and we would have been on the hook not only to get it retro permitted but also to pay 18 years in back taxes with interest since the addition impacted taxes and value. Obviously we walked on the deal.
Basically if no one says anything during the buying process then nothing happens. Just depends on if your buyers care or not.
Crawl spaces are generally 18 to 24 inches. Are they very short people? There are seldom fines for such things. The space can't be sold as or included in total square footage of the home. Occasionally a permit can be obtained after a build, but only if every single thing is up to code and the county doesnt employ power hungry tyrants. There are lots and lots of basement and garage and built in porch conversions that do not have official building permits.
My relative dug out the entire crawl space the ceilings are a standard height of a normal house
Wow, that could be a problem.
I bet there's foundation issues!
There is not....he had it checked last year when the drive way cracked. That was ruled normal with no need for concern by three different companies who looked at the driveway and foundation of the house
I thought so too... But there's honestly no issues with the entire apartment in any capacity. He freaked out last year when the driveway cracked he thought there might be foundation issues but three separate companies came and did a bunch of testing on his property and they found absolutely zero foundation issues. They even came and look inside of his apartment in the main house and like it was fine.
What a stroke of luck!
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The entire living space is probably about 700 ft
If they broke the law, they may have to pay a fine or may even be required to rip out the illegal construction.
Did your relatives actually turn a "crawl space" into an "apartment"?
Yeah it's fully finished with working plumbing a separate electrical panel HVAC gas and all.
Hmm...it will be interesting to see what happens.
Happy Cake Day!
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Deprecitus t1_j39chok wrote
You're probably over paranoid.