deck without a permit

I am selling my house in Nassau County, LI. Over 25 years ago, we put a small deck on rear of our house. This deck is not permanently affixed to the home. We were told at the time it was built that a permit was not needed since it was not a permanent fixture. Now that the house is being sold, the buyers attorney said we need a CO now since there was not one at that time. Is this correct or since it is not permanently attached is the deck ok as is. I will take the deck down if needed. Please someone, help me out. Too many different opinions.

Re: deck without a permit

I think you need to consider how high off the ground the deck is.

Where I am, if it isn't attached to the house and is below 18" (I think) you do not need a permit/CO.

Re: deck without a permit

I sent you Forum Mail.

Message edited 8/12/2015 10:39:52 PM.

Re: deck without a permit

You should verify the rules of the particular town you are located within.

But in my experience, attached or not attached to the house is not really the issue. Often there are rules about what % of your property can be covered by structure (so things like sheds, pools, etc. factor into this). There are also rules about how close a deck can be to a property line, etc.

If you know you don't have a C/O from the outset, you can often get away with it -- just disclose it to the buyer upfront and many times the buyer and their lender will not care about the lack of C/O for something relatively minor (and removeable) like a deck.

Often, the quickest and easiest thing to do, if the lack of C/O becomes an obstacle, is to tear down the deck (assuming there are steps or something leading down from the door to the deck). But the buyer/buyer's attorney will probably want a credit back on the theory that they made an offer on the house factoring in the value of the deck.

Getting a C/O can be a quick or a torturous process, depending on a lot of factors (town you are in, whether you have an open permit already for it, whether a variance will be required, whether there are other things in your home that the town can cite as violations once you let them come in to inspect the deck). Before you go down the road, you may want to consult with an expediter to find out what would be entailed in getting the deck.

What does your attorney advise?