Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Connecticut
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-18-2019, 04:21 PM
 
4 posts, read 10,856 times
Reputation: 13

Advertisements

Hi. My family is selling my grandparents home in Norwalk, CT. They did an addition in 1983 that they never pulled permits for. How do we go about pulling permits. Is it a big deal to not have a permit? TIA
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-18-2019, 04:51 PM
 
Location: Coastal Connecticut
21,467 posts, read 27,712,350 times
Reputation: 6659
For something major like an addition it’s a pretty big deal.

You’ll need to get an inspection done for a CO and they may want to rip up the drywall to see if work was done to code.

Without that it will make selling difficult.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-18-2019, 06:09 PM
 
Location: Connecticut
34,630 posts, read 56,360,262 times
Reputation: 11145
Yes, it will be a big deal. Are you certain no permits were issued? It’s kind of hard to do a major addition without someone noticing.

As Stylo said the city will likely require you to rip down all the wallboard to expose the structure. They may require a licensed electrician to rewire the entire place. If there is any plumbing, a licensed plumber may be needed. I hope for your sake there are permits. Good luck, Jay
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-18-2019, 06:49 PM
 
Location: Fairfield County CT
4,383 posts, read 3,261,493 times
Reputation: 2706
That is a major big deal for the liability of the city of Norwalk.

If the house is sold and something happened (say a fire) because of faulty electrical the town could be sued. I wouldn't doubt if they make you tear everything apart to look at EVERYTHING.

I inquired about putting a basement apartment in my home (which Trumbull code now allows) and what I would need to do is so extensive for code. I decided to just finish the basement, put a "wet bar" sink in a strip of cabinets (for a little kitchen), bathroom and make it a guest space. But even with that the town is checking everything along the way as we put all the different elements of the basement in.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-19-2019, 02:49 AM
 
6,820 posts, read 4,313,205 times
Reputation: 22314
In some places if you don’t include it in the square footage of your home you are fine.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-19-2019, 06:27 AM
 
Location: Fairfield County CT
4,383 posts, read 3,261,493 times
Reputation: 2706
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
In some places if you don’t include it in the square footage of your home you are fine.
They are selling the home.

There should be an appraiser for the mortgage company and the lawyers are going to see this. If you don't disclose any problems with the house (which this is a problem) and something happens the new owner I believe can sue you.

To the OP: I would make an anonymous call to the town hall and see what they say about this situation. Or have someone else make the call. I would be curious to see what they say.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-19-2019, 06:51 AM
 
2,289 posts, read 2,920,672 times
Reputation: 2286
Quote:
Originally Posted by CTartist View Post
To the OP: I would make an anonymous call to the town hall and see what they say about this situation. Or have someone else make the call. I would be curious to see what they say.
Make an anonymous call to the city and talk to an experienced local real estate agent. There are a lot of houses sold every year with unpermited work. Generally you can hire an engineer to inspect, require repairs, and write a stamped letter saying the work is acceptable.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-19-2019, 09:08 AM
 
4,709 posts, read 5,913,501 times
Reputation: 2177
some good advice here already, but I'd suggest calling the town first and see what the process is. I know that if you sell to a veteran who is using a VA loan to purchase, they VA won't even approve the loan if every replacement/addition is not permitted.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-19-2019, 01:53 PM
 
2,312 posts, read 2,138,594 times
Reputation: 1313
Are you sure it was done without a permit? I would go through the property records at City Hall to see what assessed plans they have on file, if the addition shows up after the assessment after the renovation you might be OK and they just lost the Certificate of Occupancy. I'm not sure about Norwalk specifically on major additions but for many municipalities there is a grandfather clause in zoning that just requires an inspection and a new CO to be up to code for work that long done. I would check the records first and then call the city's zoning department to inquire about processes.

Good luck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-19-2019, 02:30 PM
 
Location: Fairfield County CT
4,383 posts, read 3,261,493 times
Reputation: 2706
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beeker2211 View Post
I would go through the property records at City Hall to see what assessed plans they have on file, if the addition shows up after the assessment after the renovation you might be OK and they just lost the Certificate of Occupancy. I'm not sure about Norwalk specifically on major additions but for many municipalities there is a grandfather clause in zoning that just requires an inspection and a new CO to be up to code for work that long done. I would check the records first and then call the city's zoning department to inquire about processes.

Good luck.
Norwalk is on the Vision Appraisal list. You can see if the addition and square footage is on the field card right here.

Vision Government Solutions
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Connecticut

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top