away from the deal.
If you go through with the purchase of the home, signing a contract and going through the closing process, that home is now yours. But if work was done on the home without a permit — even if you had no knowledge of it and the work was done by a previous homeowner — you will still be held accountable for it and be forced to deal with the repercussions. “If construction has been done without the necessary permits, the local government could find out and cite you for property code violations,” points out Bieber. “When the issue is discovered, the homeowner will have to pay fines for the unpermitted work. If you’re the homeowner, you’re the one who has to pay, even if the prior owner was the one who did the work without clearing it with local officials. Your tax assessment could also go up once the upgrades are properly disclosed.” Further, whatever repairs, renovations, upgrades, or improvements that were made without a permit have to be inspected after discovery. You will quickly see why it isn’t worth it to buy a home that has had work done without permits once the walls in your new home are ripped open to check if the wiring was done correctly, or a fireplace or backyard pool that are against code are removed. Always check to make sure there hasn’t been any illegal work done on the home you wish to purchase. If there has, perhaps the seller can fix the problem (such as paying the fine, having the work inspected, and then bringing it up to code). But sometimes it’s just not worth the hassle, and it’s better for you to back out and find something else. And keep in mind — if a previous homeowner has cut corners on permits, etc., they might have also cut corners in other areas, too, which leads us to reason 5.
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