No building permit for basement

[blessedame]

I very foolishly got a contractor to build my basement without obtaining a
building permit from my county. For some reason, I thought you only need a permit for outside construction and not for anything done inside the house.

Now the basement is finished and a friend of mine told me I should have got a permit from my city and my county.

I leave in Montgomery Country, MD.

Please I need to know what to do.

I am scared the county would ask me to tear the basement down and slap me with $$$$$$ of fines.

Thanks

[Rich]

It's not likely that anybody will be knocking on your door looking to get paid for a basement remodel. As long as someone doesn't say anything to the county :)
One item that usually comes up during selling your home is what is called "Full Disclosure" - this is where you may have problems. You're required by law to disclose that the basement was finished without a permit. Usually it's not a problem unless the buyer has a problem with it. You can tell them to have a home inspector check it out to ease their anxiety.

[blessedame]

Rich

Thanks a bunch.

I still kick myself though but now I can sleep better.

[big10surf]

There is one more Caveat you risk, I grew up in Mont. county, my guess is you are somewhere in Germantown in the new developments. Mont co is one of the wealthiest counties in the country and they are not stupid. One thing you risk is when you ever decide to sell your house, you can get hit with a tremendous property tax bill that could bit you in the butt at closing. Your property taxes are based on finished sqaure footage of your home. If you are not reporting a basement, they lose money. If someone reports you to the county, they can come back and hit you with all kinds of fines, back taxes etc. Also, your homeowners insurance can deny any claim if your basement is not code, so if you have a fire that burns down your entire house that started in the basmentm, your screwed. You can risk it, but you can lose everything all over an extra 1- or 20 bucks a month in property taxes is not worth it in my eyes. Just my .02

[LiDD]

One thing you risk is when you ever decide to sell your house, you can get hit with a tremendous property tax bill that could bit you in the butt at closing. [quote]

There may be fines involved, but property tax levvies can only go back so far.

[quote="big10surf"] Your property taxes are based on finished sqaure footage of your home. If you are not reporting a basement, they lose money. If someone reports you to the county, they can come back and hit you with all kinds of fines, back taxes etc.

That's IF you allow an inspection. Simply denying your basement is finished when code enforcement comes knocking at your door is usually enough to keep them at bay. A nosey neighbor would then have to swear an affidavit that s/he personally saw your finished basement, losing anonomonity.

And Also, your homeowners insurance can deny any claim if your basement is not code, so if you have a fire that burns down your entire house that started in the basmentm, your screwed. You can risk it, but you can lose everything all over an extra 1- or 20 bucks a month in property taxes is not worth it in my eyes. Just my .02

Again, your insurer must prove that it wasn't to code and that it was the cause of the fire. Simply falling asleep with a lit cigarette in the basement doesn't give an insurer grounds to deny a claim.