Can you sell a house with open permits or unpermitted work in Illinois?

A building permit is the city's permission to do specific work, and it closes when the city's inspector signs off on the finished job. An open permit is one that was issued but never finaled: the work may be done, half done, or never started, but the city's file still shows an inspection owed. An expired permit is one the city closed for inactivity before the work was finaled; Aurora's permit page, for example, says permits typically expire after 6 months of inactivity, in the City's words. Unpermitted work is work that needed a permit and never had one; the city has no file at all, and finds out only if someone looks.

Each one is handled by the city that issued, or should have issued, the permit, under that city's code. Illinois has no statute that tells a seller what to do about any of them. That's why this guide quotes city pages where we've read them and says so when we haven't.

The Residential Real Property Disclosure Report has no statement about permits. The statements that reach permit problems are these:

• I have received notice of violation of local, state or federal laws or regulations relating to this property, which violation has not been corrected.
• I am aware of material defects in the walls, windows, doors, or floors.
• I am aware of material defects in the electrical system.
• I am aware of material defects in the plumbing system (includes such things as water heater, sump pump, water treatment system, sprinkler system, and swimming pool).
• I am aware of material defects in the heating, air conditioning, or ventilating systems.
• I am aware of material defects in the basement or foundation (including cracks and bulges).

Two definitions govern your answers. "Aware" means to have actual notice or actual knowledge without any specific investigation or inquiry. "Material defect" means a condition that would have a substantial adverse effect on the value of the residential real property or that would significantly impair the health or safety of future occupants, unless the seller reasonably believes the condition has been corrected. The Act says the seller discloses material defects the seller has actual knowledge of and isn't obligated to make any specific investigation to complete the report.

So a stop-work order or a city letter you received goes on the form under the violation statement. Work you did without a permit isn't, by itself, a statement on the form; whether what was built is a material defect is a question for your attorney. The form has an additional information area for explaining any yes, and our guide on what to disclose when selling a house in Illinois covers the rest of it. A buyer will also simply ask, and an honest answer costs less than a surprise at the stamp window.

In a city with a real estate transfer stamp, the City looks before the deed can record. Elgin's transfer stamp page says the City will conduct a property search for code violations, which must be acknowledged by the buyer, will search City records for outstanding debts owed by the seller, may require an inspection by Code Administration if the property has been vacant, and says all amounts due to the City must be paid prior to the issuance of a stamp. Aurora requires its stamp to record a deed and issues a Statement of Open Accounts first; our Aurora page has the City's details. If your house is in one of those cities, an open case shows up at the stamp step, whether or not anyone asked earlier.

In a town without a stamp, nothing forces the question. The title company searches recorded documents, and an open permit isn't a recorded document; it lives in the building department's file. It surfaces when the buyer's attorney or the buyer asks the city, which the contract can require. Elgin's permits page has a "Check For Open Permits" link; other cities answer by phone. Our Crystal Lake and McHenry pages have what each City says about its permit process.

Either way, the seller who already knows is the one in control of the timing. Tell the buyer at the first conversation, bring the permit number or the city letter, and the closing gets planned around it instead of stopped by it.

A permit closes when the city's required inspections are done and passed. Elgin's page says all permitted work must be inspected and that scheduling the inspections is the builder's responsibility; Crystal Lake describes the process as application, plan review, and inspection; McHenry asks for 24 hours' notice for an inspection. If the work is finished and sound, closing the permit can be a matter of calling for the final inspection. If the inspector finds something, the city asks for a correction before it signs off.

The alternative is a contract that leaves the permit open and names the buyer as the one who closes it after the sale, with the price or a credit reflecting the work. Whether a city will let a new owner take over an existing permit, or wants a new one in the new owner's name, is the city's rule, and the building department will say. Elgin's page warns that work completed without a permit may be required to be removed or dismantled, and that construction started without a permit can draw a stop-work order; those are the kinds of outcomes a buyer taking on unpermitted work is pricing.

Aurora adds two practical notes from its own page: delinquent balances owed to the City will delay permit issuance, and a permit submitted in response to a code violation should note the code case. Translate that to any city: pay what's owed first, and connect the permit to the open case so the file closes together.

We buy houses as they stand, including houses with an open permit, an expired one, or work that was never permitted. Our page on selling a house with code violations in Illinois covers the city-notice side; this is the permit side of the same conversation. Tell us which city, what the permit was for, where the work stands, and whether the city has sent anything. Then one walk-through, and a written offer that says which permit items the buyer takes on after closing and which, if any, you close before it.

What we can't do is make a city sign off, promise what an inspector will find, or tell you what a correction will cost. In a stamp city, the stamp step is the City's, and the closing waits for it. A cash offer on a house with open city items is below what a finished, finaled, listed house would bring; the trade is a closing that doesn't depend on you finishing the work first.

We've read and quoted Elgin, Aurora, Crystal Lake, and McHenry. For any other city or village, we don't know its permit rules and won't guess. Call the building department, ask whether there are open permits or cases on the address, what it takes to close them, and whether a new owner can take one over. Then tell us what you learned, and we'll write the contract around it.