buying townhouse-illegal bathroom? permits? (sale, condos, lawyer)

[newdude05]

Hi guys,

Need some help. I am in the process of buying a townhouse and we are under contract. I just checked the original builder plan and realized the seller might have added a bathroom in the basement that wasnt there on the plan.

My question is what should i do next to protect myself? I always bought/sold condos never done a house/townhouse before, so very confused about what permits i need to get from seller etc..

1) What should i ask the seller, to prove the bathroom was done properly, should i just ask the seller to show me building permit for the extra bathroom? Is there a specific name for the permit.

2) Also when we close i understand seller needs to provide me with a certificate of occupancy, is that correct? and in order for the seller to get the COO they will need to let the city inspector in the house first to make sure everything is done to code? so seller will have issues getting the COO also if they have an illegal bathroom, is that right?

3) I also plan to fully renovate that bathroom in the basement after purchase, which i assume the contractor will need to get a permit too? so if i purchased without sorting this out, when the contractor i hire trying to get a permit to do the renovation, they will run into issues also right?

Just confused in general about what to do next.

Thanks!

[Jay Galante]

The appraiser will certainly reach out to the township to make sure it was permitted.
You can ask upfront for them but if the township doesn't know about it then the appraiser will comment in their report.
This might cause closing to be delayed for you and require the seller to either remove entirely or adjust to current building codes.
To save yourself you may want to reach out to your agent and have them connect with the sellers before you get too far in.

[jaymoney]

You can also call the local building officials and explain you're looking into buying the property and want to know if there have ever been any permits issued.

[Goldendoodle1969]

1) What should i ask the seller, to prove the bathroom was done properly, should i just ask the seller to show me building permit for the extra bathroom? Is there a specific name for the permit.

You would just need the permit that was issued from the town building department, the won has to keep a record.

2) Also when we close i understand seller needs to provide me with a certificate of occupancy, is that correct? and in order for the seller to get the COO they will need to let the city inspector in the house first to make sure everything is done to code? so seller will have issues getting the COO also if they have an illegal bathroom, is that right?

They do need to get a CO from the town but this is a cursory examination of the property and does not cover you if it is found that the bathroom was not permitted and/or was not done to code.

3) I also plan to fully renovate that bathroom in the basement after purchase, which i assume the contractor will need to get a permit too? so if i purchased without sorting this out, when the contractor i hire trying to get a permit to do the renovation, they will run into issues also right?

This is where you will have the biggest problem is things weren't done to code. They could tell you your have to tear the whole thing out and the renovation turns into a whole new bathroom. If there is no permit, you have to make sure you are even allowed to put a bathroom in the basement.

Bottom line call the town building department and see if a permit was issued. If not you have to raise this issue with your lawyer and RE agent before closing.

[newdude05]

Thank you guys.

3) I also plan to fully renovate that bathroom in the basement after purchase, which i assume the contractor will need to get a permit too? so if i purchased without sorting this out, when the contractor i hire trying to get a permit to do the renovation, they will run into issues also right?

This is where you will have the biggest problem is things weren't done to code. They could tell you your have to tear the whole thing out and the renovation turns into a whole new bathroom. If there is no permit, you have to make sure you are even allowed to put a bathroom in the basement.

Bottom line call the town building department and see if a permit was issued. If not you have to raise this issue with your lawyer and RE agent before closing.

This is quite worrying. The townhouse was built in the early 90s so the floor plan i was able to find is generic, ie it's 1 floor plan that covers like 10 different townhouses. And the builder etc..are all long gone, and management company is new too and clueless.

So if the town tells me there is no permit for the bathroom, how do i know for sure it is an illegal bathroom, not something that's part of the original townhouse when built?

I dug through all the listing for this community while most do not have bathroom on the first floor, there are a few listings that do say they have a full bathroom on the first floor.

My realtor is telling me it's not an issue and noone cares, and they will get the COO before closing. This might be ok if it's a new bathroom and i will just let it be, but the bathroom is in bad shape and i plan to gut it (replace shower/vanity/toilet/floor/wall). It sounds like that will be an issue when whoever i hire try to do this and it turns out it's an illegal bathroom?

I am trying to get the town's building dept to pull the permits but it's worse than the dmv, the guy responsible is never around, i am told now to come back monday after calling everyday trying to find him. Lady also told me i need to fill out some kind of info request form before they can give me the permit history record (if we can ever find the guy that can do it for us). So painful

[foodyum]

Have you asked your realtor to help you with this? They usually know the folks in the building department and often have admin folks in the office that can do some of this leg work. They will earn a fee when you buy the property and usually want to make it as easy as possible for you to say yes.

[newdude05]

realtor is telling me they will get the COO, and since the inspector will come to the townhouse to inspect before issuing COO, as long as the COO is obtained, it means everything is good.

Does anyone know how true is this? will the inspector really come to every house to inspect before issuing a COO?

[rscalzo]

My realtor is telling me it's not an issue and noone cares

No kidding. when I sold my house, my realtor told me to ignore the failed radon test and simply put the test kid in the back yard. They will do anything for a sale even if it's illegal.

I don't see this as a major issue in light of your doing the job after the purchase. Unless you have the original paperwork, you might never know who did the work.

[jaymoney]

Originally Posted by newdude05

Does anyone know how true is this? will the inspector really come to every house to inspect before issuing a COO?

Depends on the town. They come around every house here because it's not that big of a town and there's not a lot of new construction going on for them to busy themselves with.

[Goldendoodle1969]

Originally Posted by newdude05

realtor is telling me they will get the COO, and since the inspector will come to the townhouse to inspect before issuing COO, as long as the COO is obtained, it means everything is good.

Does anyone know how true is this? will the inspector really come to every house to inspect before issuing a COO?

Since your realtor is so confident have your lawyer draft a contract that makes him(your realtor) financially liable should the town have a problem with the bathroom after closing. I think you will find that his tune changes very quickly.