Owner should get permits before renovating

Q:

I recently had some renovations done to my home and didn't get a building permit for it.

Now I'm thinking that if I didn't get a building permit for the work, then I'm probably not paying the higher taxes I should be, and it might cause me trouble if and when I go to sell the house.

I'm wondering if I call the assessor's office to inform them of the renovations I've made whether they in turn would inform the inspector's office. In that case that would open up a whole other can of worms that I really just can't afford.

As you can see, I don't want to get hit with a lot of taxes if I go to sell the house some day.

A:

I think you're mixing apples and oranges and ending up with a can of worms. The issue of whether you should have pulled a building permit is not directly related to your real estate taxes.

The purpose of a building permit is to ensure that the planned construction is safe and that it meets all the zoning requirements of the town or city where the building is located.

Regarding your real estate taxes, state law requires every community to conduct a property reassessment every three years.

If you had done your renovations in Year 2, let's say, and you had obtained a building permit, and if the assessors had run through the building permit files that year, it might have caused them to reassess your house in Year 2.

If they don't reassess in Year 2, they certainly are going to reassess in Year 3 – whether you pulled a permit or not.

So you shouldn't have to worry about not paying all the taxes you should be paying. However, you should be worrying about not having obtained a building permit.

My advice is to go get that permit at your earliest convenience. You may be in violation of the law if you don't.

To tell you the truth, your plight is not all that unusual. A lot of people do what you did: make some renovations at their house, not realizing that they might need a building permit for the construction.

After examining the work you did at your house, the building inspector will determine whether you should have gotten a permit and what you need to do now.

If the construction is in violation of code, you might have to rip it out. If the construction is satisfactory, the inspector may OK it and issue you the permit for the required fee, of course, after the fact. You may or may not have to pay a penalty.