City of North Port Building violations Permits (apartment, attorney)

[katydidit64]

Hello Everyone,

I have recently bought a house on Auction.com that is now being named in a code violation hearing. It seems that one of the previous owners changed the unattached garage into a studio apartment.

The property has been listed on the tax rolls as having this studio apt since 1995.

I called the building/zoning permit office and they say that it will have to be returned to original state.

My questions are:
1. Anybody have any idea where I can get a copy of regualtions in effect back in 1995 (18 years ago, can you believe it?)
2. How can a property be listed for 18 years on the tax rolls and just now have a problem?
3. Does anyone think I can get this 'grandfathered' in, and if so any ideas on how to do that?

Thanks for any help provided!

[macrodome2]

Did you check to see if any permits were pulled when the work was done? If the previous owners got permits (and the final inspections) you should be OK. If they did this without permits, you're probably stuck. The only argument you could make is if they included it in your property tax assessment then they knew about it and tacitly approved. You may need to consult an attorney if there were no permits.