Unpermitted Main House

[J Grant]

In many areas, homes built before X year when a building code was written are grandfathered in, as long as they are still standing/habitable. IF they get more than 51% destroyed such as in a storm the rebuild has to be to code.

 

[Mr Rex]

Here's a trick I learned early on. Pull the lid off the tank on the toilet. There may be a date stamped on the under side and that might give you a clue as to the year built. I also concur that not finding a permit does not mean the improvements are illegal.

Did they have indoor plumbing in most houses on acreage in 1920? Porcelain toilets?

 

[J Grant]

People change out toilets over the years...I got a new one last year so much nicer (though does much of the same thing)

 

[Amy Perkins]

Did you get permission to look at the assessor file?

 

[Tom D]

i love my big city of 200+ year old house. the earliest date i commonly see, on year built, is 1935. go to city hall and look at the empty folders. the city web site has comment on it that windows 10 might not work on the site. into the 21st century charging.

 

[MrSpokaneValue]

Let me first respond by saying that "Illegal" wasn't the correct wording for what I was getting at. The home appears to be unpermitted. It is untaxed. There are other outbuildings on the subject site that are currently being taxed, but nothing residential. The current owners have absolutely no idea what the original age of the home is, since they purchased it from the bank in 2014 after a foreclosure. They paid cash for it, so no appraisal or home inspection was done. Then they basically gutted it and remodeled it completely, WITHOUT any permits. The only thing I found inside the home that had any sort of date on it was the electrical panel which was inspected in the 90's, however the address on the panel does not match the address for my subject property.

I completely agree that there are many, MANY homes throughout the area that were built in the early 1900's and before the practice of requiring permits. Based on the minimalistic design of this structure, I'd guess that it was built somewhere between the 20's and the 40's, but that's a total shot in the dark. The biggest concern is that in order for the County to recognize it as a residence and tax it appropriately, it would have to be brought up to current code and an after-the-fact permit would have to be issued. That is a lengthy and complex process, and can be a costly undertaking.

 

[J Grant]

Can you call the county assessor office ask them why they are not taxing the residential structure? It was foreclosed on so at one point it had a mortgage on it ? The whole thing is very odd. Imo, call your client at this point, run it by them, see what they want you to do.

 

[MrSpokaneValue]

Can you call the county assessor office ask them why they are not taxing the residential structure? It was foreclosed on so at one point it had a mortgage on it ? The whole thing is very odd. Imo, call your client at this point, run it by them, see what they want you to do.

The foreclosure was due to non-payment of a mortgage involving a manufactured home that is no longer on the property.

I've been in contact with the County Assessor, the County-assigned appraiser, and the County Building division a ton over the past week trying to figure this one out. The best guess is that it might have been an old farm implement shed that got converted into a residential structure by a previous owner.

 

[Meandering]

The biggest concern is that in order for the County to recognize it as a residence and tax it appropriately, it would have to be brought up to current code and an after-the-fact permit would have to be issued. That is a lengthy and complex process, and can be a costly undertaking.

You have a major legal issue.

If it were me, I'd state, that:

the home was not found in the tax records as a home, or as a building, although other outbuildings on the property were found. The owner states the building was remodeled as a home, without permits.

All of this creates a tax liability that the appraiser could estimate, based on the taxes of other properties. The pre-printed limiting conditions state


1. The appraiser will not be responsible for matters of a legal nature that affect either the property being appraised or the title
to it, except for information that he or she became aware of during the research involved in performing this appraisal. The appraiser assumes that the title is good and marketable and will not render any opinions about the title.

Hence, you assume the title is clear and marketable. Legal costs and legal ramifications belong to the seller, not the market. An attorney should be hired by the client to understand the legal costs and ramifications to the property.


.

 

[Tom D]

you seem to have answered your own questions on this thread. i think you & the other brilliant answers here got it down. i myself, after thoroughly reading this thread, would not do this appraisal. well, maybe like new construction subject to a very long list. i can only imagine how "non code compliant" the l&i person will have found everything to have be done.

this thread is pretty interesting, better than the hollow core door one. keep up on the news.