So we bought a house 18 months ago, and recently found out that the entire granny flat (or in-law apartment) is out of code. The town found out through an Airbnb inspection and is now issuing citations.
To fix it, we’d need to tear down half of the granny flat, which would lower our property’s value. From what I understand, this should have been disclosed in the seller’s disclosure, but it wasn’t. Apparently, about three owners ago, they submitted plans to the town, then went rogue and did the construction without following the plans. They hid a temporary door, extended the unit too close to the property line, and added an unapproved kitchen.
We bought the place in part because of the granny flat and its features. Now we’re looking at major expenses to make it compliant. We’ve contacted a lawyer—do we have a case? We’d like to cover any necessary changes and legal fees or, alternatively, sell the house and recover any losses.
You likely have a case. Hope your lawyer’s solid. This definitely should have been disclosed. The previous owners might try to claim they didn’t know, but your lawyer could target the folks who did the unpermitted work and the inspector who missed it. Also, the person who did the property survey should’ve flagged the flat for being too close to the property line. If your lawyer goes after the sellers, they can argue they were aware of the code issues from past property measurements. Also, any old photos of the work would help—maybe check social media. Good luck!
@Barbara
Thanks for the tips! We’ve been working with title insurance, but as expected, they’re trying to cover as little as possible. They initially offered 50%, but our lawyer pushed, and now they’re covering everything except $5000. Today, a neighbor mentioned that the owner before the last one built the granny flat. I’m considering having our lawyer reach out to them to see if they’ll settle for that remaining $5000, since fixing it to code would be much more costly.