Never start a War with the neighbors-Advice Needed

[chickenwhisperer]

Quote:
I know I know I know I opened up a can of worms by calling code enforcement. Trust me, you have no idea how much I put up with over there before starting to ask them about the music, and code enforcement I felt was one of my last resorts. I would NEVER, EVER, EVER call code enforcement on ANYONE ever again, I wouldn't wish that on anyone now that I've seen personally what they're all about. They called on me out of being vindictive. I called because I had a true reason. They were denying me to my right of enjoying my own property. And there's a big difference between my fines and theres. Mine are undeserving, theres are, they built those additions knowingly, I bought this place in good faith with the porch. It was advertised by the realtor as being with a porch. The shed...whatever. I'm glad most everyone here thinks that this is ridiculous and petty and hopefully someone in the office will have a heart and be understanding over the whole issue. It bothers me so much its the first thing I think about, very hard not to let an issue like this not bother you.

I apologize for my harshness.
The tone of your original post told me we were pretty much on the same page, it is the response here that changed that tone . . .



What people think should be right is usually different than what the law says is right.

When you took that step to call code enforcement, you should have been prepared to suffer similar actions in retaliation.
Calling code enforcement is not like calling the cops for loud music . . .

If this thread was about a BYC member having CE called on them, it would be filled with replies of people telling the member to call right back on the reporting party.


Just look at the bright side . . . your gonna have a brand new deck soon

Laurajean, this has been on my mind all day too . . . its not even my problem

 

[chickenwhisperer]

Quote:
Are you serious?!

. . . as a heart attack

 

[chickenwhisperer]

Quote:
I wouldve liked to meet PawPaw

I am gonna add that to my signature

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
When we bought our home (So. Cal) it was disclosed to us that the entire second story was added without a permit. They had some buyers that backed out because of it. We didn't care as we had it inspected and it was built to code, just no permits were pulled. HOWEVER, when we move we will also be obligated to disclose to any future buyers OR to have it legally permitted. We won't be able to sell it otherwise.

I can't imagine that you have to have the porch permitted right now, only when you get ready to sell.

Last summer my son bought a home. The first one he offered on had an illegal add-on. The title company would not allow the sale to close without a permit being acquired. The house was bank-owned, and they were unwilling to pay the cost, so my son would have had to--at about 10K, and that is assuming that everything passed inspection, which I doubt considering the condition of the add-on. He bailed and found a much nicer home jsut down the street. Not bank owned, and in much better condition for about the same price. Virtually identical floorplan (excluding the add-on).

 

[wegotchickens]

Nathan, I had been wanting to get in touch to see how your millies were doing. Then I saw this. Good luck with your interactions today. Sure hope you get some helpful answers.

 

[greeneggsandham]

Quote:
My problem is that its too late for them to back off. Code enforcement is involved now. And she found me through Facebook sending me a nasty message saying she was going to make my life miserable and I better keep myself off her dad's property etc etc etc. I did want to send her an email back saying she just did her brother a huge disservice but I decided to cut all communications with them.

I would print that out and file a harrassment charge against her. She is making a threat to you.

 

[Catstar68]

Quote:
When we bought our home (So. Cal) it was disclosed to us that the entire second story was added without a permit. They had some buyers that backed out because of it. We didn't care as we had it inspected and it was built to code, just no permits were pulled. HOWEVER, when we move we will also be obligated to disclose to any future buyers OR to have it legally permitted. We won't be able to sell it otherwise.

I can't imagine that you have to have the porch permitted right now, only when you get ready to sell.

Last summer my son bought a home. The first one he offered on had an illegal add-on. The title company would not allow the sale to close without a permit being acquired. The house was bank-owned, and they were unwilling to pay the cost, so my son would have had to--at about 10K, and that is assuming that everything passed inspection, which I doubt considering the condition of the add-on. He bailed and found a much nicer home jsut down the street. Not bank owned, and in much better condition for about the same price. Virtually identical floorplan (excluding the add-on).

So, is the title company liable since the house should have title insurance and they didn't catch the unpermitted front porch add-on. From Wikipedia:

The owner's policy assures a purchaser that the title to the property is vested in that purchaser and that it is free from all defects, liens and encumbrances except those which are listed as exceptions in the policy or are excluded from the scope of the policy's coverage. It also covers losses and damages suffered if the title is unmarketable[6] The policy also provides coverage for loss if there is no right of access to the land. Although these are the basic coverages, expanded forms of residential owner's policies exist that cover additional items of loss.[7]

Is a porch without a permit at the time of sale consided a 'defect'? Does this have any bearing on the title, since the porch is listed but the sellers declined to report it????
I may be barking up the wrong tree here.... anyone?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Last summer my son bought a home. The first one he offered on had an illegal add-on. The title company would not allow the sale to close without a permit being acquired. The house was bank-owned, and they were unwilling to pay the cost, so my son would have had to--at about 10K, and that is assuming that everything passed inspection, which I doubt considering the condition of the add-on. He bailed and found a much nicer home jsut down the street. Not bank owned, and in much better condition for about the same price. Virtually identical floorplan (excluding the add-on).

So, is the title company liable since the house should have title insurance and they didn't catch the unpermitted front porch add-on. From Wikipedia:

The owner's policy assures a purchaser that the title to the property is vested in that purchaser and that it is free from all defects, liens and encumbrances except those which are listed as exceptions in the policy or are excluded from the scope of the policy's coverage. It also covers losses and damages suffered if the title is unmarketable[6] The policy also provides coverage for loss if there is no right of access to the land. Although these are the basic coverages, expanded forms of residential owner's policies exist that cover additional items of loss.[7]

Is a porch without a permit at the time of sale consided a 'defect'? Does this have any bearing on the title, since the porch is listed but the sellers declined to report it????
I may be barking up the wrong tree here.... anyone?

I would think this a good point. State law will differ from one place to another, and the specific policy and deed terms may make a difference. I know that disclosure laws vary from state to state. When we purchased this home 11+ years ago, and sold our previous home there were significantly stronger disclosures required than when we had purchased the old house 13 years prior. And even more when we sold my MIL's home after her death several years later.

 

[NateinFL]

I found out all my answers today if any of you were wondering! I was down at the county office complex for hours and finally got to speak to the head of code enforcement and this is what the deal is...the responsibility of the porch being permitted falls on me as far as they're concerned. There's no "grandfathering in" when it comes to building structures. First step is I have to get an engineer to come out and draw plans for the porch, which means calling every single one in the phone book to get the best price. He said don't stop at the first one. Some may say yes they'll do it, but it may be for a very high fee if they are busy. He said some may say $300, some may say $3,000. Since the violation isnt getting fixed within the 10 days, he will make a case against me, in about 8 weeks I'll have to go in front of the county commissioners and he will ask them to give me 180 days to complete the fix. FL laws are very tough since Hurricane Andrew and its very likely that the porch will need to come down, he said there's a chance it may not though. If I do need to tear it down and rebuild it, he said I would certainly have a case against this previous owner and his advice is to get an attorney. The Rubbermaid shed does require a permit, and there's a possiblity it may be permitted if it is able to be fitted with an anchoring kit bought at Home Depot. Also must be 5 feet from the residence which makes sense. Which leaves me ANGRY with Home Depot for selling these sheds in the county, and not even warning the consumer that the sheds must be anchored and permitted with the county. He advised taking the shed down but I paid $600 for it and wanna keep it up! Also, what am i supposed to do with my riding lawnmower, can't store it in my bedroom! I've also got the same time period to get this shed problem corrected. So, hopefully all you guys can take this as a learning experience, BUYER BEWARE when it comes to this stuff. Pull up permits with the county if you're considering buying a house. Unfortunately for me this was my first time buying and thought I was safe going with a realtor, etc. And to be perfectly honest I think you should feel safe going with a realtor but whatever. The whole issue with the neighbor pulling strings in the department, even if she did have someone tell her who it was, I think she would have figured it out I complained on her anyways. The harassment through the email, I've got everything in case she does decide to try acting out on me. Figure if I start filing harassment charges it would just make this whole messed up situation even worse. And I asked the guy about taking it up with title company being held responsible, he said not likely . Hope ya'll learn from my mistake

-Nathan

 

[Camelot Farms]

And I asked the guy about taking it up with title company being held responsible, he said not likely .

Check into that anyways Nate. It cant hurt to investigate a little bit. While knowledgeable, I am sure that he isnt an expert on what a title companies liabilities are.

Good luck!!