Permits: What Long Islanders should know before they buy or sell a house

Real estate listings are rife with mentions of renovated kitchens, bathrooms, basements.

But with each project comes a question once the house hits the market: did the homeowners obtain the proper permits?

"The reality of it is, if you're exposing dry wall, you need a permit," said Frank Gucciardo, managing partner and executive director of Hicksville-based PKAD Architecture and Design.

Homeowners looking to avoid complications when it comes time for a sale should be proactive, experts say: it is not safe to assume a project would not require a permit or certificate of occupancy. For example, a builder could tell a client they do not need a permit for a project, or open a permit they never close.

Here are a few things real estate professionals say homeowners should know about permits.

Temporary structures may need permits, too

As an agent for Signature Premier Properties, Tracy Boucher said a recent client had a CO for one shed, but had two on their Lindenhurst property.

The issue was not the sheds themselves. Though one was a plastic Rubbermaid shed, it was in violation of village policy because the residents were only allowed one shed on the property, she said.

Boucher's clients quickly eliminated the Rubbermaid shed and addressed several other violations, she said.

"But what happened was, then, the title company has to put in for a new search, that took another two weeks," Boucher said. "Instead of just saying, 'OK, we'll release your COs,' they say, 'reorder it,' and then you're put to the bottom of the pile."

Whether a homeowner needs a permit depends on where they live and their circumstances.

It came with the house, but maybe not a permit

Long Beach resident Josh Goldfeder works as both a licensed real estate salesperson for Serhant and an expeditor, a professional who handles the administrative work and is familiar with local permit processes.

Often, he said, he is asked about mother-daughter houses — single-family homes with dual living spaces. Mother-daughter permits are not automatically transferable to buyers, Goldfeder said. A buyer would have to acquire their own permit for a mother-daughter living arrangement, he said.

An existing feature for which the seller has a permit is not necessarily permitted for the new homeowner.

Gucciardo said he often sees families frustrated because they bought the house a certain way and still face violations. For example, if a homebuyer purchases a house with a finished basement and there is no egress window, the buyer has to address that issue, he said.

"The new owner now has, in essence, bought that problem," Gucciardo said. "The town wants to ensure that the problem goes away, and that it's legal."

The municipality is not necessarily interested in who did the project, whether it was a previous or current owner, he added.

"They're not placing fault, they just want to ensure that the building has a proper CO," he said.

And the effort is not in vain. The municipality's interest is the "health, safety and welfare of the public," Gucciardo said.

Lindenhurst native Johnny Tiburzi, who works as an agent out of Signature Premier's Sayville office, said one of his clients had lived on their property for about six decades before deciding to sell. After they put the house on the market, the homeowners found out about various violations, Tiburzi said.

They slapped violations for a bay window, that again was there for like 60 years.

— Johnny Tiburzi, Signature Premier agent

"They slapped violations for a bay window, that again was there for like 60 years," Tiburzi said of the village of Lindenhurst. "There was a shed which was an oversized shed, didn't have a CO, and then there was almost like a sunroom in the back."

While the house was under contract, Tiburzi said, the village would not release the municipal search that disclosed what was legal and illegal until the established violations had been addressed.

Boucher's clients also found themselves facing a violation because a previous homeowner had renovated a window without a permit, she said. The clients had to address the existing violations before the village would release any occupancy information, Boucher said.

Permits don't have to be stressful

"Another thing we see often is," Goldfeder said, "people adding driveways don't know that they have to get a new certificate of occupancy."

He also fields inquiries about pools, decks, fences and spaces converted to additional bedrooms, he said.

But rectifying a permitting problem can be simple and does not have to cause stress, he said, and violations do not always impede a sale. Goldfeder himself has sold houses with features that were not up to code.

"I tell my seller," he said, "We have to disclose it if you're aware of it, let's just disclose it, let the buyer make their educated decision."

Newsday's Arielle Dollinger contributed to this story.