If you are buying a house that has an additional in-law unit. How do you verify if this additional unit has a permit? Will there be an issue if it does not have a permit?

You can check with the city’s building department of which this house locates. Most cities in Santa Clara County now allow you to search the permit status online by using the property’s county assessor’s number or address.  You can also call the building department to verify.

It’s important to verify if any addition to the house has a permit or not.

• First, the square footage of the addition without permit will not be counted. For example, the house originally has 1500 sqft. But the house has an in-law or added room with additional 200 sqft. This 200 sqft will not be counted without the permit and county record will still show the house has only 1500 sqft. This will compromise your appraisal value as appraiser cannot count in the additional sqft.

• Second, this may even prevent you from getting a loan. I recent did a loan for my client. The lender specifically says that they will not be able to fund the loan without permit because the investor will not buy loans from the bank for the house with non-permitted structure.  My client told me it has a permit but he cannot find the document. Fortunately, I was able to find the permit record through the city’s building department and provide the info to the appraiser to strengthen the house value. As a result, we saved his loan at lower rates which in turn saved his money.