Understanding Permit Violations with Janyce Myrland

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Interview Transcription

ADRIENNE: 
Welcome back, and thanks for listening to the team Lally real estate show, home of the guaranteed sold program, or we’ll buy it. I’m Adrienne and I’m Attilio, and if you have any questions, you can reach us at 7999596, or check us out online at Team lally.com

ATTILIO: 
Our guest today is the president and lead designer at Dream House Drafting Inc, originally from the East Coast, she has called Oahu home for many years. A graduate of New York City College of Technology. Holds a degree in design and drafting technology,

ADRIENNE: 
with extensive experience in both residential remodels and new construction projects. She’s known for turning her clients visions into detailed construction plans. She believes that every home should be a true reflection of its owner, because everyone deserves to live in their own castle. Please welcome back our guest, Janyce Myrland.

JANYCE: 
Hi, Janyce, welcome back. Hi, Attilio, hi, hi,

ADRIENNE: 
hello. Yes, we got an email from you yesterday that was, I want to, I want to say alarming, but it was a heads up. It was a good reminder. And I think that, you know, we have quite a few listeners that are realtors or buyers sellers, you know, involved in this real estate transaction.

ATTILIO: 
There was a big hullabaloo with, I’m not gonna, I don’t even know what their names are, so I can’t even say it. But there was, like, famous real estate or flipper couple here on Oahu that was flipping homes. And you know, when they’re doing stuff real quick, and with our timelines with permits. We’re knowing we’re getting stuff done with or without permits. And it was a big Hullabaloo,

ADRIENNE: 
but, but Janyce was called, was emailing in about something else that had, you know, come across her her desk, and just wanted to, what is it? Give us? Give us the money. Yes. So Janyce, why don’t you share with our listeners? Because this is very

JANYCE: 
important. You mentioned the other couple because I have inspected two of their prior properties that they owned in my permit compliance inspection service. Yes, yesterday I emailed you because there are a number of things that the Department of Planning and Permitting is doing to become more efficient. Yes. And also, I’ve noted, as time has gone by, because it’s not uncommon for people to buy a home and then suddenly get a notice of violation because something was not disclosed as unpermitted by the seller. Yes. So I’ve helped numerous people in those circumstances, but there are some things that have happened, you know, in recent years and specifically this year, which really grabbed my attention. So yesterday, I sent you an email, yeah, because for the first time ever, when reading the details of a notice of violation, I notice that the exit the building inspector referenced listing photos. In other words, real estate listing photos, exterior, interior, Street View of. Of the home, and they had two different sets. Oh, now, as you know, you guys always remove those after a sale. Yeah, takes a lot of work to go digging, and unless you have access to the MLS, you usually can’t get them. So I’m wondering, have that, are they making use of that. Now, they might must, because, you know, they reference this year’s listing and one from a number of years ago.

ADRIENNE: 
Oh, I wonder if they’re I wonder if they’re using any kind of like AI to go and analyze

JANYCE: 
it. Well, they’re already using that at DPP, so they have a bot when you submit plans, those the preliminary, preliminary and pre screen, and then it gets worked on some more by people before getting passed on to the real examiners.

ATTILIO: 
Well, I think they’re, you know, if they’re sitting in the office and they get a report, I wouldn’t take that much to go to high central.com and look up and see if the old pictures are there and go, Okay, what’s going on? And then you got Google Street View. Though I know Google Street View can be six, 812, months old. Listing photos are as old as the last transaction, right? And so they’re pretty current.

JANYCE: 
And did have a help someone with whom you two are both acquainted that when her notice of violation was issued and she mentioned that what was there? Was there when she bought it, the inspector referenced Google Street View timeline and went back, you know, over 10 years. Oh, yeah. So just

ADRIENNE: 
to verify that that was indeed true, right?

JANYCE: 
Yes, yes,

ATTILIO: 
the Google win corroborate

ADRIENNE: 
her statement, and it was true, and she’d I know that she did not know, and it wasn’t disclosed. And it was a, it was a situation of a neighbor that was anonymously reporting, I

ATTILIO: 
remember I was Janyce. I was at an event, and the, I don’t know what it was, DPP was there, the president, and he said, you know, people, there’s no DPP police running around, going, woo, woo, woo. I got neighbors. Pull over, pull over. That’s an extra bathroom over there. That’s illegal. You know how fast you were going? Too many bathrooms. No, it’s the neighbor routing you out because you pissed them off, and they’re reporting you and but I think it’s kind of like, you know, guilt by pointing a finger, because it’s like Janyce, and you probably had some work that this is what the guy, the president of whoever was running DPP at the time. This is like 1015, years ago. But he said, hey, something like 70, 80% of residential structures on Oahu have some kind of unpermitted situation because codes are updated and changed and this and that. So

ADRIENNE: 
or you might even, like, not even know about it, like this particular person that Janyce is referencing, yeah, you just, you may be living in a home the unpermitted work and not even be aware

JANYCE: 
Janyce talk about because it doesn’t get disclosed. Yeah, some cases, the current, the person who was the most recent seller, is unaware of it, because they bought it that way, yeah, but it’s just been passed. But people should be aware of the fact that contractors, building inspectors, architects, yeah, architectural designers like myself, you know, we have a certain feeling when we look at a plan of what it would be to walk through a place, yes. And so if you’re in a neighborhood, and you’re well aware of what setbacks are, and you see something and it looks fairly new, or even just wrong because it’s too close to the property line. It grabs your eye. Yes, it does. So I have had circumstance where I was working on a set of plans for somebody and their contractor, rather large contractor on this island, was already in there, doing repair work, and the building inspector was driving up the road because they were going to do an inspection that they were called to do at another project farther up the road. But they noticed the contractors truck, they noticed supplies in the yard, and they parked, got out and said, What’s going on here? Yes, they had the jurisdiction to do that?

ATTILIO: 
Yeah. They’re like, pull over. Okay. Do you know what you did wrong? Just like the police, right? Do you know what you did wrong, where? And they’re looking for that green paper, and will that be up on the wall? And then, like, let’s talk about this green anymore. It’s not green. What color? What color is

JANYCE: 
it? It’s just a plain paper and a half by 11 like,

ATTILIO: 
oh, man, come on. DPP, we’re looking for the green paper.

ADRIENNE: 
So Janyce, what would you say is the like, the importance of the full disclosure in a sale? I know like, how when Attilio and are sitting down with salaries, we’re, you know, we’re explaining this to them that they just need to be honest to a fault. But okay,

JANYCE: 
folders, move. Closure is critical, because, as we have discussed in the past, there is no grandfathering when you do your after the fact permit. Should you get caught, or should you decide that you want to do it because you want everything right, it has to meet current code. And while the City and County of Honolulu lagged for years in terms of what code they had adopted. Yes, currently we are at 2018 for electrical and 2021 for the City and County of Honolulu land ordinance and for the International residential code, 2018 as city and county has adopted it. And the reason why it’s phrased that way is because there are things that apply elsewhere that don’t apply here. So that means if the unpermitted work, let’s use enclosing a carport as an example, was done back in the day, and now someone’s been caught, and let’s say they just did single wall around the perimeter. Well, that’s not appropriate, because single wall has not met code for ages, yes, and it certainly doesn’t allow you to anchor a wall appropriately to meet the code. Meet the concerns high wind or hurricane

ATTILIO: 
event, then they’re

ATTILIO: 
putting grandma over there with her big screen TV and her Barca lounger she might you know, you putting here in jeopardy by not having the up to code.

JANYCE: 
You also wasting electricity if our ports enclosed as a room, and now you know, you didn’t insulate it, you know, and you’re trying to use your AC that that just is ridiculous. Yeah, as you we’ve all seen around the area in the older homes, the carports and even garages back in the day, didn’t have ceilings. Everybody could have a place to store, Boogie Board, surf, yeah,

ATTILIO: 
etc, yeah, yeah.

JANYCE: 
That doesn’t meet code anymore. An enclosed garage, yeah, is, if it becomes a garage, needs to have, you know, fire protection to separate it from the living space. Yes, house, yeah. So the ceiling can’t be open. The walls don’t have to be insulated, but they definitely have to have the five, eight type X chip board, which is a one hour fire rating, yeah. And if there was a door from the living space into this then it needs to

ATTILIO: 
have the auto close. Also be a

JANYCE: 
solid door with

JANYCE: 
a self closer. Yeah.

ADRIENNE: 
So, So Janyce, we are running about about like, three or four minutes. Make

ATTILIO: 
a comment when grandma’s warming up her car. We don’t like the you be sleeping in the living room getting carbon monoxide poisoning. The doors open.

ADRIENNE: 
Let’s talk about the financial, the financial consequences that you’ve seen, yeah, as a result of this unpermanent work. This is a scare straight version, and why it’s important to, you know, to get this all straightened out. Okay, yeah, as we wrap

JANYCE: 
it up, project years ago, yeah, where something had been left unattended forever, from back in the day when DPP would start you off at pennies and work their way up as time collapsed. Yeah, all fines at DPP are daily. Okay, when you have a notice of violation, they are being much more efficient and quick about when that notice of order gets served to start fines. Fines are typically starting, I don’t know exactly, but I’d say between 45 to 60 days, and they are $50 a day, even if you have a building permit application Yeah, in the system being worked on. Uh huh. The days keep counting. Janyce, is

ADRIENNE: 
it true? I heard that if those fines rack up significantly high, that they can actually come in and foreclose on the property now, at this point, or they’re starting to, if you just ignore I have

JANYCE: 
not seen the foreclosure, but receive a call from somebody who was in that circumstance, and they were going to do a refinance, and they were a house flipper, so they felt that they were being singled out, and that DPP would not have been as aggressive against a homeowner who perhaps bought something not knowing you also asked about fees. Fees get tripled on your building permit fee. Oh, wow. So whatever the normal building permit fee would be, if you have a notice of violation, it will be tripled. Oh,

ADRIENNE: 
okay, so

ATTILIO: 
be nice seeing. Neighbors is the point. No,

ADRIENNE: 
no, just be aware.

JANYCE: 
No construction, yeah. And

ADRIENNE: 
then also, I know Janyce, you’ve got the, you have the the permit check also. So, like, this is the solution. So if you, you know, purchased a home that’s maybe a little older, and maybe the third or fourth or fifth owner, I mean, you may want to just give Janyce a call and have her just double check and make sure that you got How

ATTILIO: 
about, more importantly, when you’re in the home buying process, yeah, give Janyce a call. Janyce, we’re coming to the end of the show, but real quick, what are the three, the three hot points, and what are the difference with this permit check versus somebody just going online and looking at public records? Woody, Woody. How do you helping them? Okay? So, yeah. So first of

JANYCE: 
all, permit check does cost more money, but it includes

ATTILIO: 
it’s worth it report with photo, yes,

JANYCE: 
it concludes marked up plans, if there are any Yes, and these are based on an on site inspection where the house gets compared to the city’s records. Yes. So those are the three points.

ADRIENNE: 
So you’re physically walking through and double checking,

ATTILIO: 
comparing Yes, measure and measure and measuring. Because I think here’s what be my suggestion you realtors out there give Janice a call, because I would say, like, you should even make it right now, it’s very competitive for the market homes are sitting and to give buyers more peace of mind going into it, I would have the seller pay for a permit, check up front and put that in the miscellaneous docs, so that people can look at it right away and go, you know, what’s you know? Because here’s the deal. If you did that, would you would, are you disclosing at a high level, because you’re an expert, and you’re checking everything against it, as opposed to, well, I think, you know, I think that fit bathroom back there is legal. What you think? Oh yeah, we get how many times I talked to owners? Oh yeah, I bought it like that. You know, I have four kitchens. It’s all legal. I don’t think so. I could be wrong, but I don’t know if they being residential homes with four full kitchen. No. So anyway, give Janice a call. Janice, what’s a good phone number for you? Before we wrap it up, what’s a phone number?

JANYCE: 
Okay, so 808-206-7107,

ATTILIO: 
is the office number Excellent. 206-710-7206, 7107.

ADRIENNE: 
Janyce Myrland, Dream House Drafting and permit. Check

ATTILIO: 
realtors out there cover your ukule because they’re using your photos. So if I was one of those owners, I could probably rope you into it all. So you might want to, you might want to give Janyce a call if you like, hey, wait a minute. Come this place. Get nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms and four kitchens. Have Janyce come check it out. Monster

ADRIENNE: 
home. Thank you, Janyce, Aloha, aloha.

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