Inherited Code-Enforcement Lien Cleared Before Closing.
A homeowner under contract to sell discovered a 2019 NOV and recorded lien against the property — issued to the prior owner for unpermitted backyard work. Permit Solutions cleared the file in 87 days; the sale closed two weeks later.
The seller had owned the property since 2022 and was three weeks from closing on a sale. The buyer’s title search surfaced a 2019 Notice of Violation issued to the prior owner — citing an unpermitted 14×18 pergola and an unpermitted side-yard fence. By 2023, accruing daily fines had been converted into a recorded lien against the property. The lien blocked the sale.
The seller had two options: pay down the lien in full to clear title (the title company’s estimate exceeded $42,000 in accumulated fines), or resolve the underlying violations and negotiate the fine mitigation. The buyer’s closing window was tight.
Three complications that made this more than a paperwork problem.
The original violation was issued to a prior owner.
The current owner had no original drawings, no permit applications, no record of the work. Resolution had to start with documenting what existed today.
The pergola exceeded current setback requirements.
Site assessment found the pergola encroached on the rear setback by 1.4 feet. Full legalization required either a setback variance (slow) or partial removal (faster).
The fine schedule was on the high end of the County range.
Accruing fines totaled approximately $42,000 by the time we engaged — but County Code allows for fine mitigation when the underlying violation is resolved in good faith.
We worked the case in five parallel tracks to compress the timeline.
Document flow:
- Day 1Property record pull, NOV file review, code-enforcement contact
- Day 3Site assessment, photos, measurements, viability decision
- Day 8As-built drawings of pergola begun; setback decision: trim 1.4 ft
- Day 14Fence survey completed; over-height confirmed and scoped for trim
- Day 21Structural engineer’s letter and foundation letter issued
- Day 28After-the-fact permit application filed for pergola (post-trim) and fence
- Day 49Plan-review corrections responded to; permits issued
- Day 61Contractor completed setback trim on pergola; fence height brought to code
- Day 68Final inspections passed on both structures
- Day 75Code enforcement file petitioned for fine mitigation
- Day 87Mitigation hearing: fines reduced from ~$42,000 to $3,400; lien released
The mitigation was the inflection point. Without it, the seller would have walked into closing with the full accrued fine still owed.
| NOV file | Closed |
| Lien | Released and recorded as satisfied |
| Property record | Pergola and fence permitted, finaled, and on record |
| Fine outcome | Reduced from approx. $42,000 to $3,400 via mitigation |
| Sale closing | Closed 14 days after lien release |
| Total engagement | 87 days from first call to lien release |
“The lien was issued to the prior owner. We didn’t even know about it until the title search. Permit Solutions read the file, found the legalization path, got the lien reduced to almost nothing, and we closed two weeks later.”
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