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Buyer Being Retroactively Held Responsible for Building Permits Not Obtained by Seller
Here is a crazy situation.  I was curious is anyone else has run across this and how they handled it.
Location:  Cumming , GA (suburb of atlanta)
My client the buyer purchases a house a year ago.  House had a finished basement.  Seller's disclosure says that any required permits have been obtained.
Last week, the doorbell rang.  It was the building inspector, who had been called by a nosy (and I'll add asinine) neighbor who had seen painters at the house.
Inspector explaines that they have to respond to all calls.  My client shows him the basement, which has clearly been finished for a while and is being very lived in.  Inspector then says he has to check to see if the proper permits were filed to finish the basement and if they were not that my client, the current owner, would be responsible for paying for the permit and that the inspectors would have to "open the walls and ceilings" to inspect the plumbing and electrical.  My client would then have the cost of repairing the walls, etc.
First of all:  Can the County do this after the fact?  Secondly, what sort of recourse does my client have against the ... more

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