Unpermitted work undermines collateral value, distorts appraisals, and creates post-close repurchase exposure. Get the full permit record before you fund. Know what was built, what was permitted, and what risk is hiding in the property.
An appraiser may count a garage conversion or room addition that never pulled a permit. Your LTV is wrong before ink dries.
Secondary market investors repurchase loans when unpermitted work is discovered. Pre-funding due diligence is your defense.
Open permits attached to the property can cloud title, affect insurability, and impair your ability to foreclose cleanly.
Where permit history changes underwriting decisions and repurchase exposure.
When an appraisal flags an addition, a room count discrepancy, or an unusual renovation — pull the permit history before your underwriter issues a condition. Confirm what was built and whether it was permitted.
Valuations on HELOC renewals rely on the property being what records say it is. Unpermitted additions that inflated the original appraisal become a collateral exposure problem at refinance.
Clearing REO assets requires clean title and a marketable property. Open permits and unpermitted work create disposition delays and impair sale proceeds. Know what you're selling before you price it.
Before converting a construction loan to a permanent mortgage, verify that the scope of work matches what was permitted. Confirm finals were issued and no open inspection items remain.
When a secondary market investor demands repurchase on a loan citing unpermitted work, the permit record is your evidence file. Proactive portfolio audits catch exposure before repurchase demands arrive.
The same Chicago property used in our sample report — with an open permit highlighted as a collateral flag.
Lender flag: Open electrical permit (2022) was never finaled. Rear addition not on permit record — appraisal should not include this square footage. Recommend underwriter condition: permit resolution or adjusted appraised value before funding.
We query each city's official permit system directly. No third-party aggregators. The record you get is the same one the building department pulls.
Outside these metros? We research manually — see FAQ below.
Order on a loan-by-loan basis or set up a volume account for your underwriting team.
No — permit reports are a due diligence tool, not a TRID or RESPA compliance document. They inform your underwriting decision but don't replace a title commitment, appraisal, or any required disclosure. Think of it as the permit-specific component of your property review, separate from your compliance stack.
Standard orders are 3–5 business days. Rush orders are delivered within 24 hours for our live-integration metros. Turnaround starts after order confirmation. We'll email you same business day to confirm your order is queued.
Basic ($29) delivers a structured permit history report — every permit ever filed, open/expired permit flags, inspection history, contractor names and license numbers, and source citations. Premium ($79) adds the original stamped permit PDFs pulled directly from city records — the same documents your compliance team or an auditor would require in the loan file.
A 4506-T is a tax transcript — it tells you about income. An appraisal tells you what an appraiser valued the property at. Neither gives you the actual building permit record. Our reports pull directly from the city's building department database — so you see what was permitted, what wasn't, and what open enforcement items exist. It answers the question a 4506-T and appraisal can't: was this property built and renovated legally?
We still take the order. For jurisdictions outside our live integrations, we research manually — pulling records directly from the building department. Turnaround is longer (typically 5–10 business days). Just submit the address and we'll tell you what's available and at what cost before invoicing.
Yes. Portfolio lenders ordering 10+ reports/month qualify for volume pricing and direct API access. Fill out the form below or email hello@permitreport.ai with your monthly volume estimate and primary metros. We'll put together a per-report rate and integration spec.
Tell us about your lending operation and we'll follow up within 1 business day — whether you need a single report or a portfolio integration.