Are
Open
Permits
Giving
You
Headaches?
The
single
biggest
obstacle
for
home
sellers
these
days
is
the
issue
of
open
permits.
Since
many
Counties
have
declared
war
on
open
permits,
home
owners
are
finding
themselves
at
the
mercy
of
county
inspectors
when
the
time
comes
to
close
on
the
sale
of
their
home.
Attorneys
and
title
companies
are
recommending
that
buyers
not
close
if
a
permit
search
reveals
open
permits.
In
some
cases
they
require
the
escrowing
of
sellers'
funds
to
cover
the
cost
of
closing
permits
after
the
closing.
An
ounce
of
prevention
The
best
way
to
save
yourself
from
headaches
(or
a
delay
in
your
closing)
is
to
find
out
the
permit
status
of
your
home
BEFORE
you
put
it
on
the
market.
That
way
you'll
have
plenty
of
time
to
take
care
of
business
before
a
buyer
falls
in
love
with
your
home.
Call
your
County
Building
and
Zoning
and
ask
them
to
do
a
permit
search.
They
can
check
the
computer
and
tell
you
if
there
are
any
open
permits
on
your
home.
At
that
time
they
will
also
provide
you
with
the
name
and
contact
information
for
whomever
pulled
the
permits.
You
can
then
contact
the
contractor
to
get
the
permit
closed.
What
if
the
contractor
has
flown
the
coop?
If
your
contractor
is
no
longer
in
business
,
you
have
a
couple
of
options:
þ
You
can
close
the
permits
yourself.
This
involves
contacting
the
Building
and
Zoning
Department;
arranging
for
any
missing
inspections;
following
up
with
inspectors
and
the
department
to
make
sure
that
the
permit
is
closed
on
the
computer.
þ
Or,
you
can
contact
a
local
permit
expeditor
to
close
the
open
permits
for
you.
The
main
advantage
of
this
is
that
the
expeditor
can
prevent
other
issues
from
being
raised.
Once
you
bring
building
and
zoning
into
your
home,
they
can
cite
you
for
ANYTHING
that
they
find.
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