I wrote an offer on a home marketed through a Realtor as having 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Two bedrooms in the basement are illegal because they don't have windows or closets and one bathroom was a remodel in the basement but never pulled city permits. So really, its 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. Is this illegal for the Realtor to do this?
2007-07-06 10:34:29 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
It's definitely an oversight on the part of the real estate agent, but it is not illegal to make an error. You DID have the opportunity to view the property before you made the offer.
The time to have checked on this was BEFORE you wrote the offer and not afterward.
In my market, we tend to call those basement bedrooms "bonus rooms", such that we are advising there are rooms down there, but they're not bedrooms.
The bathroom in the basement is still a bathroom. If the realtor had advertised it as a 'legal bathroom', you might have a reasoned complaint.
2007-07-06 10:40:15 · answer #1 · answered by acermill 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the state. In general this is legal, but frowned upon. Since you did see the home and are aware of the non-standard bedrooms then nothing illegal occurred. If you had made an offer sight unseen and the fact that the bedrooms are not up to code was not disclosed then that would be illegal behavior.
The problem is that since this is not illegal and is not stopped it will continue. As long as you are aware that the bedrooms are not standard bedrooms and you know the permits were not pulled for the bathroom then nothing illegal occurred. On the plus side, if there is an issue related to construction of the downstairs bathroom in the future it may end up being the responsibility of the previous owner since they did not have it inspected.
2007-07-06 10:43:17 · answer #2 · answered by arimarismacon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Was your offer accepted? Why did you write it?
The bathroom isn't illegal for the Realtor since he/she wouldn't have pulled permits, but the bedroom issue is rather imaginative if not illegal. Was there a walkout in the basement? If not, you can't even use the square footage down there.
2007-07-07 05:33:01 · answer #3 · answered by Ginger 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
duh.. ya it's illegal. just like it's illegal to say you have 3 bathroom when you really have 2.5
2007-07-06 10:43:33 · answer #4 · answered by moose 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋