Purchased home had Expired Permit(uninspected)

[wsniper1]

Ok guys I just bought a new(to me) home at the end of November. Home inspection went good and all the papers signed and everything. Got my stuff moved into the home. about a week later, I recieved a letter in the mail stating that I needed to set up an inspection on an expired permit on the property.

Today I had the inspection on the permit, which is an "Electrical Upgrade" from 100amp to 200amp service. I had no idea what the permit was for previous to this. The inspection failed....

I had not taken out this permit, nor did I know of any work being done previous to purchasing the home. Nothing was listed on the sellers disclosure. The Electrician and the previous owner took out the permit together, long before I looked at the house.

What course of action shoudl I take, I am waiting to hear back from my Real Estate Agent, but if he can do nothing I am going to need a lawyer.

The reasons the inspection failed:

1. Panel is inside of the bathroom.

2. Needs additional ground rod(EAsy)

3. Panel is too far from electric meter(20ft inside)

This is going to require an enormous amount of work. I do not have the financial ability to pay for thousands of dollars of work. This is a big mess.

Hoping I get some helpful information from the ES group here where I am sure there are lawyers and RE agents.

[wsniper1]

bump, anybody?

[fight4oldc]

First I'm not a lawyer but I am a Virginia Realtor. PA laws may differ from VA.

How they got the permit in the first place if the plan was to have the panel in the bathroom and too far away from the main is beyond me. You have to submit a plan prior to receiving a permit.

Secondly the HI should have caught this.

If they failed to disclose an expired permit and if they are required to disclose this in PA then they are liable. In most states the contract survives settlement.

Lastly I am not sure if clear title can be conveyed in PA with outstanding expired government permits in need of final inspection. This could be a title issue as well.

I am also wondering if it was obvious to you and your Realtor that work had been done to the home. Work such as additions, rehab, remod etc... to include new baths or bedrooms. Anytime you suspect "after market" or "after new" construction you need to ask for all permits just to be sure and safe.

[jrockster21]

Yeah - seems to me that clear title was erroneously given, so you should be fine. May be a huge pain in the ass, but you should be able to get someone else to cover the work, whether it be the Home Inspector, the title company, or the previous owner. I would definitely consult a lawyer - it will be worth the $300 for sure.

[Teller]

Oh, nevermind. I thought you bought in WV and the tags on the house were expired. You can fix that with a trip to the DMV.

[DeanCollins]

1.) contact a real estate attorney to take care of this. His fees should be taken care of by the seller, if he doesn't want to go to court. A judge can reverse the sale for this type of crap.

2.) If Pa has contractor licensing, contact the licensing board and make a compliant against the Electrical contractor who's the "Contractor of record". Don't know what that will do in Pa, but here in FL they'd give that contractor 30 days to resolve it while waiting for his hearing to Fine, suspend, or revoke his license. Also FL has a "Homeowners fund" that will pay a homeowner up to $5000 to remedy these kind of problems, then they go after the contractor. The Building dept. should also go after the contractor with an action that gives him a certain amount of time to bring this under code or they should have recourse, or refer him to the licensing board (If Pa has one).

3.) Call the contractor and tell him to fix it or your going to take the above actions.

4.) The remedy to the Panel being to far from the meter maybe to add a disconnect panel closer to the meter. I have one of those in my NC home.

The realtor above made several good points. The owner failed to disclose this defect. The Home Inspector should be called as well, he's insured, ask him who his insurance company is. He should also be licensed, make a complaint against his license as well.

Anyone buying a home, needs to go to the local building dept. and get a copy of the "Permit Card" or "permit history". This will go back to the original builder permit and is helpful in negotiating with sellers about unpermited construction. I would say that the Every house has unpermited work done to it. Faulty electrical (or gas) is obviously not something you want to have amatuers doing in the place that you sleep at night.

[sean_e_b]

Ok guys I just bought a new(to me) home at the end of November.

I don't get it, it's your home, they can't make you fix things if you don't want to. Unless there are some different laws out there than there are in Iowa.

Hope things work out.

[Buford T. Justice]

Good luck to you sir.

[wsniper1]

Thanks all for the helpful information. I will see what my realtor can get out of the other parties(their realtor contacting the prev owner, and contractor). If its not up to my expectations(All work done at no cost to me). I will be getting a RE attorney.

thanks guys