Architects in Westchester County NY, Fairfield county architects - Residential Legalization and Building permits

Residential Legalization and Building Permit Issues Take Homeowners by Surprise

You've finally decided to take the plunge and refinance your house to get that dream kitchen. the process is going smoothly when, out of nowhere, the title company picks up that certain improvements in the house, for example an added powder room or deck, are not recorded on your property card at the town hall. No Certificate of Occupancy, also called a Certificate of Compliance, exists for the improvements. The title company will not give clear title so you can't get financing. Now what do you do?
Or you've decided to sell your house and finally have a buyer yet, right before the closing, the purchaser's title company, during a search of records, notices that your enclosed porch doesn't have a Certificate of Compliance. In today's tighter lending environment, title companies and banks have become much stricter about these issues. the closing is put on hold as you scramble to clear up the problem, potentially risking losing your buyer.
Architect Michael McCann, AIA, a licensed architect in New York and Connecticut, of McCann-craft, Inc. has received many frantic calls from homeowners and realtors looking to quickly clear up legalizations issues, especially if a closing hangs in the balance. Frequently these unrecorded improvements were done prior to the purchase of the home by the current owner. Regardless of when these changes were performed to the house, title and mortgage banks and companies want C.O.'s before awarding clear title.
In the course of making presentations to almost forty real estate offices throughout Westchester. McCann reports that he has heard plenty legalization tales of woe. Village of Pelham Building Inspectro Len Russo said that he has even received calls from attorneys present at actual closings asking legalization or open building permit questions that were just discovered by the title company.
Fortunately, some of these problems can be solved simply by having an architect , familiar with the legalization issues, render and submit plans for the existing work. Occasionally, minor alterations are necessary and sometimes more extensive work is needed to bring the improvement into compliance with the building code.
Every home has a file at their town hall which records, for example, the dimension of the house, number of rooms, bathrooms, square footage, lot size, closed or open porches and finished or unfinished basements. Many towns are now making it possible for owners to view these records online.
When improvements are planned for a property, the owner must file a building permit application available from the building department, submit plans from a licensed architect or engineer and get town approval and variances if applicable, before beginning construction. the plans are then reviewed by the town's building department for compliance with the Residential Code of New York State or Ct. and any additional zoning laws enacted by the localities.
Dealing with the local building department often invokes fear in homeowners, but building officials and inspectors only want town records to be accurate and up to date in addition to the improvements being built in a safe and legal manner. Building Inspector Russo reinforced the importance of accurate records for the homeowner. "People don't realize that we maintain permanent records regarding their properties and having that information current can be vital if a property catastrophe strikes, such as a fire."
Bottom line, it's the law. Always make sure building permits are property obtained when contemplating any building project, and closed out when the project is completed. that way you can avoid the inevitable problems that will occur when the property is sold or refinanced, especially in today's lending environment. After all, not one wants to get stuck at a closing that won't close.

Michael McCann AIA is a licensed architect and builder in New York and Ct. He has extensive experience as a residential architect in Westchester County, NY, Fairfield county, Ct and the Hamptons. Michael McCann, president of McCann-craft, Inc. is also a builder licensed in Westchester county, NY and Ct.