Depending on where you live and whether or not there is a mortgage company
involved in the sale, a certificate of occupancy might be required before
you can complete the closing. Where I live, if the town where the property
is located requires a certificate of occupancy with any change of ownership,
the mortgage company won't issue the mortgage without it. In that case, the
seller would have to get one. Since you already made multiple calls to
local government offices about this, it's not likely that anyone there will
issue the certificate without addressing the garage issue.

Hopefully, you have an attorney representing you who reviewed the sales
contract before you signed it. It's really a legal issue at this point, and
what happens next depends on exactly how your contract is worded and what
the laws are in your area. Sometimes it is possible to complete the closing
by having the seller put up money to be held in escrow by the title company
until certain issues are resolved. Most likely, the seller is going to have
to figure this issue out with the local officials before the closing. I
think you'll find that the part about the homeowner not being able to sell
the property for one year after getting the permit will be untrue.

"Mail Ias" wrote in message
news:c8Jmb.25320$ao4.37150@attbi_s51...
What should I do about a house I'm getting ready to buy that has a new
garage
but the owner never got a permit for it?

Long story short - 44 year old home with new 3 year old garage in back.
Looks
OK as far as being away from easements and property boundaries. My home
inspector didn't notice anything unsafe, but he's not a building or code
inspector. Entire garage electric is fed off of a GFI circuit on from the
deck. Seller said that he remembers getting a permit but can't locate the
copy. Multiple calls to local gov't offices indicate that no permit was
ever
obtained. We can only assume that one was never issued nor was the
building
ever inspected.

I have two main concerns. Safety and resale.

Safety. It may be possible that the garage was not built properly and is
unsafe or may fall apart after some time (or some other issue). I don't
really know how to address this without getting a building inspector to
check
it out (more on that later).

Resale. When we sell the house later on we may be faced with similar
issues.
My brother-in-law and his wife had to get permits for their finished
basement
when they sold their home nine years ago. They were the fifth owner of
the
home, and it was the second owner who finished the basement. It was quite
a
hassle.

My potential solutions a

1. - getting someone in the home or garage building business to come
out
and check out the garage. They should be able to look at it and see if
it's
built properly and have an opinion about it complying with local building
codes.

2. - get a proper permit and inspection. Problem, and I know this
sounds
screwey, but I can't. I've been told that only the homeowner can do this.
AND, the homeowner has to sign an affidavit stating that he won't sell the
home for one year. Sounds crazy and illogical I know. It was explained
that
the rule was put into place because of some sleazy rehabbers doing poor
work
and then flipping properties. I'm going to confirm that Monday

I could apply for a permit and inspection after I close on the property.
But,
what if there is some serious problem that will cost many dollars to fix?
Yeah, I can go back to the sellers. But, I'd rather resolve all that now
while I'm still in control.

So, what suggestions can you offer?

Any help is greatly appreciated.