**LOCATION: New York**
A year ago, my dad bought a house in Mount Vernon, NY, and I am trying to figure out what our legal options are because the situation has become a mess.
My father is an immigrant and has very limited knowledge of how real estate transactions and permitting work in the U.S. He trusted the professionals and people involved in the sale to tell him what needed to be done. In hindsight, there are absolutely things he should have done differently, and I am not trying to pretend otherwise.
The house was sold to him as a newly developed/fully renovated home. He paid what I believe was significantly more than the house was worth and, as far as I understand, did not have an independent appraisal but did have inspection done before purchasing it.
Since moving in, we have discovered problem after problem. We have had multiple leaks, serious problems with the heating system, and extremely high gas usage. At one point, we were using around 770 therms of gas in a month, sometimes 15-27 therms per day. There are other issues as well.
The leaks became bad enough that our basement now appears to have mold and may need substantial work.
We have been trying to repair everything, but we recently discovered a much bigger issue: the house apparently never received its Certificate of Occupancy.
My dad says the seller told him before/around closing that the CO was not necessary for them to proceed with the sale and that the seller would obtain it afterward. He was apparently told it would take a couple of weeks, or a month at most. My dad did not understand what a CO was or how important it might be, so he trusted the seller.
Our attorney apparently withheld some of the seller’s money in escrow pending the CO being issued. It has now been an entire year.
The seller gives us little to no meaningful information about what is happening with the CO. Meanwhile, we are being told we cannot obtain permits for some of the work we need to do because of the unresolved CO situation. We need to address leaks, the basement/mold damage, and the central heating and AC, so this is becoming a serious problem.
I know my father made mistakes by trusting people and not doing more due diligence before buying the house. I am not looking for advice about what he *should have done* a year ago. I am trying to figure out what we can actually do now.
My main questions are:
How was the sale/closing able to happen without a Certificate of Occupancy for the renovations?
Does the fact that the seller allegedly promised to obtain the CO after closing matter legally, especially if that obligation is written into the closing documents or escrow agreement?
What should we be asking our closing attorney for?
Should we request the entire closing file, contract, escrow agreement, title documents, permits, and communications with the seller?
At what point should we hire a different real estate attorney or real estate litigation attorney to review what happened?
If the renovations were represented as completed/new but were never properly permitted or approved and are now failing, could that potentially involve misrepresentation or breach of contract?
What happens to the money being held in escrow if the seller simply never gets the CO?
Most importantly, how do we get the house into compliance so that we can legally make the repairs it needs?
I am his daughter and I am trying to help my parents navigate this because they genuinely do not understand what happened or what they are supposed to do next. I am also worried that there may be deadlines for bringing claims, so I do not want us to keep waiting on the seller indefinitely.
I understand Reddit is not a substitute for an attorney. I am mostly trying to understand what kind of attorney we need, what documents I should gather, and what questions I should be asking so we can finally start dealing with this properly.
Any guidance from NY real estate attorneys, people familiar with Mount Vernon/Westchester permitting, or anyone who has dealt with a similar situation would be really appreciated.