Can a Certificate Of Occupancy Violation Prevent Sale, in New York

[dmak1]

Hi,

If an addition to a home does not have a certificate of occupancy and has a building violation(tennis court), can this spoil a potential sale? Any buyer's lawyer would likely advise that the violation be removed before closing however what if the buyer wanted to close immediately, is there a reasonable contract that can be signed, stating that the seller will remove the violation or leave an escrow. Or is it mandatory to have any violation removed before any sale.

[Mr. Knowitall]

You should be able to draft a contract which would allow the sale to proceed, although it is probably better to make it the buyer's responsibility to remedy the problems and to build the cost and delay into the purchase price. No matter how you do it, the biggest hurdle would likely be financing - lenders probably won't approve the buyer's loan until the issues are resolved.