I live in CA and my sister lives in MA. I have poor credit and negative income for the last two year’s tax returns as an independant contractor. She has great credit and pay stubs. We want to apply for a loan in order to purchase a used car from a private party. The car will be driven by me in CA. If she were to apply for the loan in her name only, we were told that the car has to be registered in the state that the owner lives in. Is there a way for her to established residency (P.O. Box , etc) in CA to avoid having to apply as a co-borrower? If we do that, I’m scared that we’ll be rejected based on my history. Thanks.

I’ve asked this but will try to supply correct info (from previous answers I obviously didn’t):

Last May we purchased a 1985 house in MA, in known need of repairs.
We hired an inspector (not a friend), who we believe did a good job though didn’t find everything. He’s human we don’t expect him to be totally familiar with all 1985 building codes, or to be perfect.

Before purchase we paid for title check, etc (not a cheap house, weren’t trying to ‘save a little’ by risking such things). We did not ask at that time if the house had an occupancy permit. Since it is MA state law, we assumed so (as did the mortgage company).

After purchase we hired a gen’l contractor to do all needed repairs (and more). He got permits, etc.

We recently started process to convert to a conventional mortgage. The bank assessor verified all req’d work was complete, including verifying with bldg inspector office there were no open permits (probably via phone not in writing).

Construction office of mortgage co (not a MA company) asked for an occupancy permit but bldg dept said those are only granted for new construction and aren’t updated. So mortgage co wanted something in writing stating that. When asking bldg dept for this I suspect I asked it incorrectly. I probably said “something to show we don’t need an occupancy permit to live here” (which by law we do). I should have said “something to show we don’t need an UPDATED occupancy permit to live here” (which is what the mort co actually wants). Bldg dept clerk said “makes no sense, I’ll just fax original occupancy permit”.

She then discovered there is no occupancy permit – original building permit was still open. Req’d inspections not done. There were papers “in back of file” which were missed earlier (when bank assessor asked for open-permits and when contractor got new permits). Bldg dept had sent notices in 88, 90 and 91 notifying owners of being in violaton of MA state law (bldg dept gave us copies of all these records), so they were aware of it until then, but then let it drop.

I was told I am now in violation of MA state law, so paid the initial fee to get everything started to resolve this – basically inspections and complying with 85 codes. I actually WOULD like to ensure the house is safe.
NOW I am worried costly code violations will be found. We had a friend come who was an electrican in 85, who showed us some violations (ex: wires go across boards not along in basement). Gen’l contractor also believes the deck is probably in violation (though not familiar with 85 codes).

Our budget is way over already, I fear costly repairs will be required.
I’m trying to understand things BEFORE being told this since our mortgage is on hold and I want to resolve this quickly. NOTE: On hold because bldg dept wont write ANY letter until matter resolved now.
The bldg inspectors office now acts irritated with me, though I don’t see what I’ve done wrong. How was I to know there was no occupancy permit when it is their office that supplies this information, and they incorrectly stated there were no open permits?

Obviously they don’t care if I get my mortgage, but they won’t now give me what is needed. The mortgage co assigned this to someone else – who verified MA state law doesn’t do updated occupancy permits – and now says we only need something stating all recent permits are closed (they are!). Office says I should have them. But all I have are the original permits. Genl contractor says that is the procedure – notify office when work is complete, they can choose to come inspect (everything requiring permits was outside – floors and kitchen cabinets don’t require it). They probably stamp as complete, but nothing is sent to him. If there are problems, then he is notified.

My fears are partly based on the bldg dept appearing irritated with me. Maybe I’ve heard too many horror stories of problems a bldg inspector can cause by being extremely picky. My friends are warning me this could be costly.
Honestly I have NOT been at all nasty to bldg dept, making a big deal out of this. I agreed I’d do everything necessary and paid the initial fee with no complaints.
My initial feeling of “people make mistakes, no big deal” has changed since I fear costly expenses. Hopefully I’m wrong.

So as I see it, which might be totally untrue or not matter (thus this question) … there were MA laws broken by both the original owner (living here without getting an occupancy permit and ignoring notices they were in violation of MA state law). Also (maybe) by town bldg dept (from the docs I see the MA law states additional permits cant be given without the occupancy permit). Though I wouldn’t want to attempt to try to hold the town responsible.
So am I now responsible to bring this house up to code? If it is costly should I get a lawyer to make the original owners responsible?

Not sure it matters – original owners were both state pol

while waching tv programes from England when they show the kitchen they have a stove which is called an auger, it has two round things on it.

We bought a 25 year old house in May in MA. We had a general contractor do some work (roof, windows, siding, floors, kitchen cabinets). He got 2 permits for that work which he says are "closed".
In the process of converting our mortgage, the building dept just realized the original owners never completed all their inspections on their building permit (1985), and there is no occupancy permit for this house. They did do some (foundation / insulation / frame / plumbing).

Bldg dept found documents "in the back of the file". These show the original owners had gotten 3 letters telling them they were in violation of MA state law (1988, 90, 91). The dept must have forgotten about it, since with no occupancy permit our contractor shouldn’t have been able to get permits.

Since they say we are now in violation of MA state law, I paid the fee and we’ll get all the inspections.

Now I’m worried there will be costly code violations!
The general contractor (and others) have noticed things that were done ‘differently’. It looks like the owners might have really done alot of the work themselves. Knowing someone that had been an electrician, he’s pointed out some things that wouldn’t pass 85 code.

For example wiring in the basement goes across beams not along them. Also the general said the deck is too high and code will require a railing. These were all from the original owners (previous owners only here 3 years, and all they did was install a sump pump and french drains).
These things dont seem DANGEROUS so I dont want to pay to fix them. But I’m afraid they’ll find these and other things and it will be costly to fix everything. We already went way over our budget for repairs! The inspector we hired didn’t notice the plywood under all the sideing was rotted (due to original incorrect installation of tyvek / siding / gutters).

So legally, am I responsible for anything they find that hadn’t been done to code? I don’t understand why the building dept is acting irritated with me – I didn’t do anything, and I’m trying to now resolve the problem. It seems like it was their errors that got me into this mess.

In case things get expensive, is there any way the original owners are responsible for this? Or are we just stuck paying to fix anything they did wrong?

NOTE 1: Before anyone says "it’s your responsibility to ensure a house has an occupancy permit". How would we have done this? The bldg dept WAS asked if there were open permits and they said no.

NOTE 2: We did hire someone to inspect the property prior to purchase. They found many things, but not all. We realized there was a lot of damage to be repaired. We didn’t know the wiring wasn’t done to code or the deck was too high.

NOTE 3: There are no problems YET, but I want to be somewhat prepared and know what to do. This has already caused me to lost my mortgage rate lock, and delay our mortgage conversion. I’ll need to resolve this quickly to get the mortgage settled.

I realize there is risk when you buy a house. I thought we’d already paid for that with the new siding and fixing tons of rot.
But when other people actually violated the law, do we need to pay for that too?

Thanks for any information
We did do the inspection.

Legally the house required an occupancy permit for 25 years. The bldg dept was aware of this (from notices) but ignored it.
They were asked for open permits and incorrectly stated there were none.
Now I must legally do what original owner had to.
The question WAS asked (open permits) and bldg inspection office missed the info "in back of file".
Who else would we ask?
It is in writing (the "no open permits") only in the bank-assessors report. I could ask if they got it in writing, but I doubt it. Most likely a phone call.

And really – who do you know who has ever asked to get in writing "no open permits" prior to the purchase of a home.
Nothing was done "on the cheap". We’ve put 95k into the house already. We didn’t try to save money with a cheap inspection prior to purchase. The house was in need of repairs and wanted to TRY to know what we were getting into. Fully accepted responsibility for the missed rot, etc. An inspector is bound to miss something – and this required ripping off siding to discover.

But being responsible for others having broken the law, seems unfair.
We have every intention of obeying the law (unlike original owners who were state police officers).
Any violations will be fixed – I just fear the price of these. Our budget is already way over.

I am working as an electrician in a contracting company.

I live near Boston – technically in the Merrimack Valley/Essex County.

Do you know of places around here (I’ll drive a ways if it’s worth it) that I can get good, down-home southern food?

I’m not talking about Cajun or Creole or BBQ. I’m talking Chicken and Dumplings, Chicken Fried Chicken, Biscuits and Gravy, Corn Pudding, Hash Brown Casserole, southern-style green beans, etc.

I know about Cracker Barrel, and so far they are my favorite restaurant around here, but still… their chicken isn’t actually cooked with their dumplins, and the CBs up here don’t make their gravy right – too much flour, not enough sausage… And please don’t say my kitchen. I do cook a lot of stuff myself, but there is something extra delicious about not having to cook.

So… where else up here can a southern gal get comfort food?

We have replaced the heating elements and thermostat on a electric water heater for ouw home.It doesn’t seem to be heating the water at all.There is power going through all the things we replaced.We checked that .What else could be wrong?…Or does it take like 12 hours for the start up tank of water to get up to temperature maybe?

YES, IT’S TRUE, GAS IS SEVEN DOLLARS A GALLON IN ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT, WHY AREN’T THE OIL COMPANIES REPORTING RECORD PROFITS IN ENGLAND IF GAS IS ALMOST TWICE AS MUCH AS IT IS COMPARED TO THE US?

BECAUSE, OF THAT , 70% IS FUEL TAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO ALMOST IS TAX IMPOSED BY THEIR GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!!! TAX MONEY THAT IS USED TO FUND ROAD IMPROVEMENTS AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS THAT HELP THEIR CITIZENS. NOT THE RAW PROFITS THAT OIL COMPANIES MAKE IN THE US, WHICH IS USED TO PAY FOR OIL EXECUTIVE’S MISTRESSES AND VACATION HOMES IN ASPEN.

SO NEXT TIME A NEO-CON TELLS YOU THAT YOU SHOULD BE LUCKY YOU DON’T PAY , SLAP THE IGNORANT B1TCH AND TELL HIM/HER WHAT THE REAL DEAL IS.