Agent didn't disclose unpermitted bedroom?

Question

My friend bought a house thinking it was a 2 bedroom home. A couple years later they decided to sell and their new agent said its only a 1 bedroom home. Apparently the second bedroom was unpermitted and the agent didnt disclose this when they first bought it. Do they have any legal rights against the agent not disclosing the unpermitted bedroom?? This is in California by the way. thanks!

the appraisal said it was 2 bedrooms, tax roll says 1 bedroom. For all i know the previous owner thought it was a 2 bedroom home, or both agents new that the second bedroom was unpermitted and advertised it as a 2 bedroom to sell it easier and at a higher value. The house was built in the 60's. Im guessing it was a master suite at one point and they converted it. It does have a closet in each room, room sizes are adequate..... my concern is how come my agent never told me tax roll said 1 bedroom? Now im trying to sell to break even, but i cant get the value as a 1 bedroom and my new agent says we need to disclose tax roll says 1 bedroom... he doesnt know the legalities of who is at fault or i would just ask him.

Answer 1

Legal rights, possibly. Realistically pursuable legal rights, not so much likely.

About the best they can hope for is to write a formal complaint to the Realtors "commission" or whatever it is that regulates Realtors in California and hope the person gets in trouble or fined.

Now they'll know more and be able to research more correctly in the future. Crappy way to learn that though.

Answer 2

Your issue would really be with the seller of the house... the agent is not responsible for checking for permits, it is the responsibility of the seller to disclose if there was an ad-on. Also, how old is the house? and when was the ad-on done? Years ago, there were no permits... and the new agent is probably only getting the information from the tax roll. Ask to see a property profile. Check with the local permitting agency (city or county) to see if there have ever been any permits pulled for the property. Was the ad-on a quality job (permitted or not)?
Don't get upset yet, until you check into a few more things.

** Your issue is really fairly common. Yes it should have been disclosed, if agents had knowledge of the tax roll showing a 1 bedroom, it should have been at least a red flag that the buyer should check further. However, given the age of the home, check with the local building department to see if/and what kind of permit would have been required. Just because it does not have a permit, does not mean it was done poorly. What part of the structure was affected with the remodel? Was there additional foundation laid? was the roof modified? there is a lot to think about, but if your friend has been living in the house for a couple of years with no problems, thats a good thing. Find out what you need to do to get it up to code(if its possible) while it is on the market, and do your investigations. As long as your friend discloses what he knows, he is fine. As for the value, the appraisers value is what you should be concerned with, more than what the tax roll reflects.

Answer 3

Any issue is with the previous owner of the property, unless it can be proven that the listing agent at that time was aware of the illegality of the bedroom, and promoted the property as a two bedroom in spite of that knowledge.

I fail to see how a bedroom can be 'unpermitted'. Perhaps the room does not qualify in standard terms as a bedroom, but I'd venture it's permitted for at least some OTHER use.

On follow-up, you are basing this on what the TAX ROLL says? It's entirely possible that the former owners added/converted a room to an additional bedroom, and that the tax assessor just didn't catch it. What the tax roll says has NO bearing on whether or not the room in question qualifies as a bedroom. If your agent insists on listing this as a single bedroom based upon the tax roll, find a different agent.

Answer 4

Of course it's entirely possible that the previous sellers didn't do the addition and didn't know that the room was unpermitted. Therefore, they could not disclose what they didn't know. As far as the new buyers, in regards to selling, in California, it's ok (from the seller's standpoint) to have an unpermitted room. There is no law against it.

I have bought and sold many properties in CA and it seems odd to me that this was not discovered. It would seem that the discrepancy of the recorded number of rooms would have been noticed when the house was appraised. It should have either changed the original square footage or the number of bedrooms,,,

Answer 5

You have potential tort issues with the buyer, the listing agent, and your agent. The first two misrepresented the property, the third failed due diligence (It's one click on MLS to see what public records say, for crying out loud!)

The specifics about when your friend should have learned the truth about the property, and statute of limitations from that point, are likely to be the major points of contention.

Talk to a lawyer, now. Not free legal aid. You want a real estate specialist for this one.

Answer 6

Definitely talk to a lawyer. The agent only knows what the seller told him so the issue is more with the previous owner than the seller’s agent.

Answer 7

I would not wait too long about this very serious matter. Telephone one of those free legal aid places in your city. It is supposed to be "free." Also, my favorite information website is listed below. It addresses any state in which you are interested. This should give you up to the minute information that will be of bountiful assistance about the real estate law.

Answer 8

Maybe, ask a real estate attorney to be certain.