Permit in question

[JohnieB]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Approx 16 months ago we sold our old house. There were a lot of permit issues. The house was built in 1951 and we were the third owners.

• The original owner built a garage/workshop - as far as I know with a permit almost 50 years ago
  
• The next buyer converted that to a pool/game room without permits. I knew about this and disclosed it.
  
• We - the third owner - added a patio room without a permit. I disclosed this as well.

I disclosed everything I knew - honestly and to the best of my ability. I stated that the pool room was permitted as a garage; that it was not permitted "living space"; and that we added on the patio room without permits.

The buyers had no worries. They were going to build onto the house...clear up any permit issues...and live happily ever after. I gave them all the information I had been given when I bought the house in 1994 - which was a list of 8 permits for a pool that was added in 1990...and a copy of a microfiche with pieces of a permit from 1958 which I was told was for the garage - now the pool house.

Long story short - I sold the home to the guy in the relationship...he and his girlfriend - who put all the money up - have since split. This idiot lady subleased the house to a guy who placed a "group home" into the house without proper permits and she also rented the granny flat out which she was told by our agent she couldn't do. That got our old nieghbor's mad so he turned them into the county for permit violations. She now says she's getting notices from the city that they have no record of the garage - built by the first owner - ever being permitted!!

My Question(s):
The woman ( a nut job...believe me) was not part of the transaction until 6 months after close of escrow when they refinanced and got both her and her boyfriend on the title and the loan before their breakup. Does she have recourse against me? She's scary.

I gave all information I had - that it was permitted as a garage back by the original owners by was not permitted for the pool house or as a rental unit when the owners we bought the house from converted it. AND I gave them all the permits I had in my records and told them this was what I had been given...and they had to sign-off on receiving those permits. They supposibly were going to the county to verify permits before buying...obvisously they never checked or didn't care. So "if" it turns out I was lied to back in 1994...who ends up responsible for something built by the original owner? Isn't there a way to get that accepted being it's been on the property now for well over 40 years?

As of right now I don't know what - if anything this lady will/won't do...but she's a nut case and I can see her trying to sue.

[seniorjudge]

Hire a lawyer.

Tell the nutjob to talk to the lawyer.

[HomeGuru]

Yup, I agree.

[JohnieB]

I'm assuming the lady is on a "fishing" trip ttrying to find supporting documentation to give to the county to show it was in fact permitted at one time. I'm not sure what, if any, good this would do since the garage is now surrounded by a pool added by a previous owner and the garage is now a big pool house converted by the previous owner - which is why we told her it was originally permitted as a garage/workshop and the conversion to a pool house was not permitted.

Her problem is now she's being cited....maybe being asked to tear it down(not sure about that yet)...and her "ex" boyfriend has all the paperwork. Her agent no longer works for the agency that represented the boyfriend...and since she wasn't party to the transaction they certainly wouldn't open the files for her...she'd have to have her "ex" get the paperwork and he won't have anything to do with her.

While this lady scares me...at least I can sleep at night because I know I was fully honest and open about what I knew about the house's permits and lack there of for some changes made. If she was half-way sane she'd realize you don't irritate your new neighbors...especially if you don't want them ratting you out.

Thanks for the input. I'll hire an attorney if I need one...but hopefully it doesn't come to that.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by JohnieB

I'm assuming the lady is on a "fishing" trip ttrying to find supporting documentation to give to the county to show it was in fact permitted at one time. I'm not sure what, if any, good this would do since the garage is now surrounded by a pool added by a previous owner and the garage is now a big pool house converted by the previous owner - which is why we told her it was originally permitted as a garage/workshop and the conversion to a pool house was not permitted.

Her problem is now she's being cited....maybe being asked to tear it down(not sure about that yet)...and her "ex" boyfriend has all the paperwork. Her agent no longer works for the agency that represented the boyfriend...and since she wasn't party to the transaction they certainly wouldn't open the files for her...she'd have to have her "ex" get the paperwork and he won't have anything to do with her.

While this lady scares me...at least I can sleep at night because I know I was fully honest and open about what I knew about the house's permits and lack there of for some changes made. If she was half-way sane she'd realize you don't irritate your new neighbors...especially if you don't want them ratting you out.

Thanks for the input. I'll hire an attorney if I need one...but hopefully it doesn't come to that.

**A: ok, good luck.