Permits, Inspections, etc. in Fairfax County (real estate, foreclosed, appliances) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - City-Data Forum

airjay75 · 03-11-2013, 07:11 PM

So, just closed on our home in Fairfax County last month. Previous owner was a real estate investor that bought the house from a bank (it was foreclosed on by the bank), did quite a few renovations, and then flipped the house to us. Renovations and improvements included remodeling of the kitchen and bathrooms, new carpet, new appliances, new heat pump, new siding, new roof, new fence (less than 6 ft tall), new radon removal system, and some repairs to the rear patio to stop the intrusion of water into the crawl space. I think that's basically it. Today, I received a letter from the Residential Inspection Division of Fairfax County saying they were informed by another Fairfax County agency that construction was performed at our residence without required permits or inspections being obtained and that this was an "informal notice" alerting me to the compliance lapse and that I should obtain the required permits/inspections. It also says that if I don't do anything within 30 days, it may result in formal enforcement action.

Anyone out there have experience with such letters? My guess is that once our purchase was recorded with the county, it was noted that renovations were completed in 2012 and this resulted in a notification to the residential inspections department. Either that, or someone complained while the seller was doing the work to the home. Looking at the county inspections website, as best I can tell, none of the work the seller did actually required a permit, as they were simply replacements/updates of existing infrastructure, not construction of or tearing down of walls. That said, being a first time homeowner, I am far from an expert in the permit/inspection process.

Any thoughts or experiences greatly appreciated. I will probably call the number in the letter in the next couple of days and tell them we just bought the house and tell them the situation, and see what they say. I guess the other option is doing nothing and see if the county does anything after 30 days.

Fredesch · 03-11-2013, 08:00 PM

Work with the county. Many of the things you mention might require a permit. Replacing a heat pump could need a permit. Remodeling a kitchen and bath, installing a radon removal system can all require permits. With any of these you could have moved plumbing or electrical lines.

boyd888 · 03-11-2013, 08:03 PM

Are you sure it is even a real letter and not something like those fake "notice of interest overpayment" letters you get from companies wanting to charge you to setup biweekly payments on a new mortgage? The timing of of the letter compared to your purchase would make me suspicious.

Personally I would ignore it, especially given the "informal notice" which really makes it sound like baseless money grab.

airjay75 · 03-11-2013, 08:29 PM

I'm pretty sure it's a real letter. I have gotten plenty of those fake letters being a new homeowner. This letter is on Fairfax County letterhead and isn't asking for any money or anything - it's just saying that I should comply and contact them if I have questions or need assistance.

I'm happy to work with the county and, if they want to send someone out to inspect, I don't have any problem with that, in theory, at least. Would be nice to hear if anyone else has experience with a similar sort of situation. Are they going to come out, look at your house, realize it was all work done by the prior homeowner, and do a fairly cursory review of the electrical, plumbing, etc.? Or, are they going to come out, and expect me to open up finished walls and floors to examine those things and do a really detailed review of the house? Moreover, if they do find something like electrical wiring that used to be considered up to code, but isn't today, how will they know whether that was done during the remodels or whether it was like that before the remodels, and the remodels simply didn't address that? I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself, but, like I said, would be nice to hear from anyone who has received a similar sort of letter from the county. Given the type of person I am, I probably won't be able to resist at least giving them a call.

airjay75 · 03-12-2013, 07:50 AM

Well, just to update this post, I called the county this morning. Apparently, several permits were actually pulled for the renovations that were done to our house, and they even had inspections done during the renovation process. All that they didn't do is have their final inspection, so I just need to schedule this. Hopefully, it will be painless, and the inspector will not need to cut open any walls or anything to that effect. I'll try to update the thread after I have the inspection. To be perfectly honest, I'm somewhat surprised that the previous investor owner went to the trouble of getting permits - my expectation was that they didn't do anything of that sort, but apparently they did.

Fredesch · 03-12-2013, 04:59 PM

Fairfax is strict in building code enforcement. In case you aren't aware, Fairfax has aerial photography flown every two years and compare images, so you have no hope of sneaking in an unpermitted pool or addition.

Fairfax is also very large with over a million residents and above average incomes, so few contractors will risk loosing their county business license by doing stuff without permits.

If all they need to do is are final inspections, they are not likely to ask you to open a wall since they have already seen the work inside the wall.

airjay75 · 03-12-2013, 07:18 PM

Thanks, Fredesch. That is helpful to know. Hopefully, it will be a painless final inspection process.

airjay75 · 03-21-2013, 08:16 AM

Thought I would update this thread in case anyone stumbles across it in the future and wants to know what happened. Inspector came out yesterday, took a look at my basement, tested the outlets, and that was pretty much it. He wasn't at my house more than 5 minutes, and he passed all three permits that had been issued for my residence. Very painless.

spencgr · 03-21-2013, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by airjay75

Thought I would update this thread in case anyone stumbles across it in the future and wants to know what happened. Inspector came out yesterday, took a look at my basement, tested the outlets, and that was pretty much it. He wasn't at my house more than 5 minutes, and he passed all three permits that had been issued for my residence. Very painless.

Glad it was painless for you! But it's probably worth noting that, if he determined the work was shoddy and not up to code, it could have been very expensive for you.

It's always best to ensure renovations and expansions on the property you are buying was properly permitted and inspected.

airjay75 · 03-21-2013, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spencgr

Glad it was painless for you! But it's probably worth noting that, if he determined the work was shoddy and not up to code, it could have been very expensive for you.

It's always best to ensure renovations and expansions on the property you are buying was properly permitted and inspected.

Yes, I am grateful as well. This was my first home purchase, and I never would not have thought to check county permit records prior to purchasing the home. I would imagine that most homebuyers do not do such things and simply rely on their home inspection to uncover any problems with the home. Given how easy it is to check, I would certainly recommend doing so to anyone buying a home - if I had uncovered this before buying the home, I would certainly have demanded that the seller complete the permitting/inspection process before closing.