Have you closed yet? If not, have your attorney find out if a permit was pulled, and if it wasn't, do not close until this is completely cleared up.

In the town I just moved from it is illegal to fill in a pool and when disclosed to the tax assessor by sale information, the owner (be it the seller if not yet closed or the buyer if it has) will be required to have it all dug out and removed, filled, inspected for proper grading and compacting and then fined. You need to know what you're dealing with.

Generally a Military Member and his family are not in a home long enough to accomplish a task such as filling in a pool.

How long was the CG family in the home? Now that you've become aware of the pool issue, have you asked them about it?

Was the pool removed/filled in in-fact without permits?

Don't create drama where there is none.

Your realtor should have advised you on this when you made the purchase. Call the realtor now and ask the question. He/she should know if a permit is or is not required. I hope you haven't closed yet on the property. If not, it is in the seller's best interest to comply or you can back out.

I agree with all of the above. This is part of your due diligence so you must find out if there was a permit. Maybe the seller or his agent can provide it, otherwise you will have to search the public record. I wouldn't buy it if it wasn't done properly and hasn't been removed from the assessment--the seller would have to take care of these, or more than cover my costs of doing all of this.

He is making an offer today. I think the offer will include a provision that all work (addition) was done with permits. Maybe that provision is for the sales contract and not the offer, not sure. He has not closed yet!

The seller was on the premises. He said they (meaning him and wife) filled it in because it was collapsing or something. ( pools here in NJ are often liners). At the time it didn't occur to me about permits. The property disclosure reads in response to "are you aware of any fill or expansive soil" he wrote, "pool removed, filled with top soil." The "top soil" looks like typical NJ sandy dirt, not topsoil! That's all it says. They lived there 4 years, they did not build the addition, but did fill the pool. They have kids, so I guess a collapsing pool was something they had to address.

But it appears he did not remove the pool, he left it and filled it in with sandy dirt, it is still down there.

I read an article why you should never fill a pool without the correct process and permits if necessary. If this pool was filled 4 years ago, what happens during the rainy season when you have rain day after day? Where does the water go? Does it just stay in the dirt/pool and get heavier and heavier? Could it collapse?

This is a nightmare for the buyer! Walk away fast!

Not all states or localities require a permit to fill in a pool. But having lived in New Jersey I know many localities seem to require a permit if you want to change your underwear, so I would not close until the permit is produced, or the required remedial fix has been done and approved.

Good news, I really thought they did it without one, but the had a permit and it is closed which means it was inspected. There is an open electrical inspection on the permit for the furnace three got three years ago. I guess we should require that to be done.

I'm surprised they got a permit. They got it on 4/29/15, which means they didit at the same time they were listing the house. It must have been bad, it also means they won't come down a lot on price since it is listed for what they paid back in 2011 and they put in new furnace/ac and filled in the pool. Even diy pool demo,has costs.

Are prices up or down since 2011? I guess housing in FL is generally cheaper than NJ, so maybe they will have wiggle room.

Military folks will not reduce selling price because housing is cheaper at the next Duty Station. He/she has to allow for the possibility that after FL he'll be transferred to DC or back to Joisey or San Diego or San Francisco.

As I advised at the top of this thread, "Don't create drama where there is none."

Just because someone is Military doesn't make them a law abider. They will cut corners if possible. As will any seller. I think cindywhitall is very savvy in investigating all the possibilities. If a permit wasn't pulled, then that is the responsibility of the seller.

SaltiDawg, my uncle, a commander in the Navy was a bit saltier than you. When I was a little girl, he'd pay me 10 cents to have a drink of his beer. I'm a kid. I did it for a dime! Then he got old, and he had a stack of retirement checks. His joy was holding them till the last minute to cash them just to mess up their books. He hid his money under this certain board. YEP! He was salty, but just not enough!

"Just because someone is Military doesn't make them a law abider"

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. The OP started off with a lot of uncalled for drama. I advised getting the facts.

The OP opined that because the (Military) seller was moving to a lower cost housing area, maybe they'd come down. I said that was unlikely, based on experience and the likelyhood that they would be again transferred to a high cost area!

I never even hinted that the seller was a "law abider" - don't know what's got you hyped up.

I also don't know what is the point of your story about your Uncle, the Commander was. However, it is getting late - maybe that explains it.

PS In my original post I said, "Generally a Military Member and his family are not in a home long enough to accomplish a task such as filling in a pool." If you think this suggests that this is because I somehow think this is because Military Folk are more "law abider", it must be later where you are than I think.

It's just a reality that if one buys a home expecting to have to move in 3-4 years, one generally does not buy a place with a pool that will need to be filled in.

Salti, do you have kids? I was trying to be prepared to explain the issues and help guide my son, who often still resists advice. Waiting until I had the info could have too late since the town policy is to get you the info in 7 days. With a 3 day atty review it could gave been to late. Just trying to educate myself here. If I knew all the answers I probably wouldn't post. Buying a home with a un permitted pool removal was not the kind of thing I wanted my son to learn about the hard way. I wanted to know the potential problems so I would have the info to convince him of the importance of holding off until we knew. I got lucky and talked some agreeable people into pulling the records while I waited. I knew it wouldn't be that hard (7days ha!)

If he's old enough and has enough funds to pay a house note, he's old enough to make his own mistakes.

Sorry Sophie, nobody can afford a 200k mistake and if I made one and then found out someone could have alerted me to a problem I never even thought of, I'd be pissed as heck. Somethings are learning experiences, like buying an electric hwh because you don't know gas is cheaper to run, buying a house with a major defect is not.

When I was 25 I didn't even own a house yet, then we got a condo, then townhouse, then house. We did learn some along the way, but were wiser older and even more financially stable before we got our house. He is 25 and I am impressed that he can make this move, but he not so old and wise that he can't use some guidance to avoid a financial mistake.

Turns out they will only come down 2k on the price, so he's probably not getting it. He doesn't like the price.

You didn't just alert your son, YOU went to the Gov't and waited while they waded thru the paperwork, etc. Like many other posts, your handwriting is all over this.

Why, you just started another thread on the sale. lol

Maybe your son could post here if he wants to "buy by internet." ;< (

Oh for heaven's sake. "GrumpyDawg" , she's trying to HELP somebody. More than what you are doing. You know, I seldom if ever get snarky, and I'm really soooooo out of my comfort zone responding like this, but WHO is stirring up drama, here? Take a chill pill.

Thank you to those who actually had useful advice rather than judgments.

salti, just don't respond to me ok? Did you ever think that maybe I have time during the day that he doesn't to go to the township? Or that some people don't like to bother to post on message boards to ask for advice from complete strangers, but I do? (I feel like posters are usually more mature adults, not a lot of young 20's lurking--are there?) It makes me feel good to receive support sometimes and other times I do gain valuable advice and points of view. Sometimes I even give good advice! Sorry If I'd rather help my son now, even if he doesn't think he needs it, than watch him deal with the fall out of decisions made without full knowledge. So, just forget it.

The other thread has to with sales prices, this one is for problems with filling in a pool. One wold get advice from realtors or previous buyers/sellers. This one was targeted to those with pool experience. Don't give advice if you don't want to, but DO NOT JUDGE me for asking for it.

Anyway, this thread can be over. The pool had a permit , thank goodness. I was doing my research just in case it hadn't, because it looked like a possibly diy, so we would know what we were in for and so he could have info on whether to proceed. As it is, he hasn't gotten the house. Maybe seller will have a change of heart. We'll see.

Wow! lol

btw salti, they didn't wade thru paperwork, they hit a few keys on the computer, and then hit print.

And yet you keep coming after me...

I was responding to a nasty personal attack, which a monitor deleted!

Does your 25 year old still live at home?

No one here, including me, suggested that due diligence on the filled in pool not be performed. As has been your practice in other Forums, Heating and A/C for example, you go all dramatic before finding out the facts... or, more appropriately, before your adult son found out the facts.

I thought you said they required days to pull up the answers as to permit and perform an Atty review, but YOU stood there - as your son was too busy during the day?

Not exactly, when I got there I filled out the form and she I should have it within 7 days (apparently policy states that they can take that long per the public records act) and I asked them if I could just view it to see if there was a pool permit, rather than wait for copies of complete records. There are options to view, fax, email or pick up. I figured it was a fairly easy yes or no thing since most stuff is computerized. We walked 15 feet to the other office and she asked them if they could check, since 7 days would be after atty review should it get that far. They weren't busy so they did.

He does not live at home. He is in a rented condo which he hates. He doesn't like that lifestyle and being so close to everybody. Son works 30 miles from the location. Not exactly something he can do on his lunch hour. He is fortunate to have family. It must be hard for people who don't.