Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 09, 2019

Uh, oh! Here comes trouble!!

brace yourselves, Brad, Toni, and TJ

Who ratted on them?

I knew a family who lived in a two-story home that had an “Illegal Kitchen” upstairs. ✨

Stand up for your rights. Don’t let her in.

Some how I think when Mom and Dad arrive this is going to be a really interesting dinner conversation.

Sounds like a job for Al.

He got an entire extra house built without a foundation, and no trouble from the local building inspectors.

No. No. Building permits is one of the top 10 unfunny things for cartoons. Avoid it and have Bev actually be looking for Pru. They belong together: both thin, both with jet black hair, both with black lipstick, and both in search of eye brows. This pair could be hotter than Prince Harry and Countess Meghan.

Crisis averted.

Bummer. Someone called. Wonder who? Actually, they don’t have to let her in. However, I believe she will make a notation on the property about suspicion of unpermitted renovation on the property so when the house goes on the market, it will be red-flagged. For mine, an old gas furnace closet was emptied when a new combo unit was installed on the roof so we covered up the hall access and opened up space from our existing closet which was adjacent to the old furnace closet to expand the closet. We sold the house and they never noticed that the furnace closet was “missing.” Nice to have no issues with it. No permits.

Wait until she see the kid!

Bev? You’re Edna’s sister, right?

Okay, who’s the rat. Permit inspectors only come when someone squeals on you, and sometimes not even then.

Wondering if the bedroom has a window-or a closet. No “two ways out of the room” can violate local fire code. No closet may just keep them from calling it a bedroom if/when they decide to sell.

…Who?

Ruh-rohhh… looks like it’s “hit the fan,” huh?

Oh – oh. It’s really Hetty from NCIS…

.

Thankfully, no one is wearing capes.

California so they must be that aggressive. In Hawaii, we just say “sold as is.” Nope, wouldn’t let her in.

And how did Bev from building permits even find out that they were remodeling? They didn’t build an addition, they just repurposed the laundry room.

Who tattled

Maybe she’s selling tickets to their annual fundraiser?

Is it my imagination, or does Bev actually look like grown-up Shannon from the future?

I was actually expecting Jonah to show up. This is a potentially bad surprise. Hopefully the fact they got nothing currently going on remodeling-wise will be in their favor.

It’s not like they’ve built a meth lab. No prison time involved at any rate.

WUH oh!! This ain’t gonna go well.

How’d that “ask forgiveness” thing go again?

Didn’t see THAT coming.

OUCH!!!!

Mordock’s #2 yesterday WINS

In Albania, when I saw a giant pile of rubble it was explained that they don’t need building permits, so sometimes the homes just collapse and fall down. Yes, I did see other piles.

The smell of sawdust and paint better have a yellow permit tag on the property with it. BTDT. Humorless bastids..

Well done to those who called it.

Building permits aren’t usually required unless you’re in a state with property taxes. If the addition/renovation causes the value of the taxable structure to increase, then, of course, big brother can be very intrusive.

am I the only one who having a hard time thinking that 2 firefighters would not know that permits would be needed

I’ve only got an inspection when I installed a fireplace insert coal stove. I didn’t want insurance saying they wouldn’t pay for a fire caused by it because it wasn’t inspected. Other things like rewiring the basement, I didn’t bother. I actually found a nasty mistake from the previous owners and had my cousin the electrician come in to fix it. Some idiot had put the neutral wire on the hot side before the main breaker!!! Good thing I decided to rewire or I would never have spotted this insanity.

Ruh, roh!

Question is, who snitched?

oh oh! what is Frau Farbissina doing there?

Dr. Evil must’ve sent her.

No permit needed if you don’t break through an exterior wall! And she can’t come in without permission. Oh. And how would she know that they did anything?

whoops

Yep just like in F is for Family…and reality

Maybe Bev also sells Avon on the side? But I don’t think so!!! How does the government always find you out?

Damn it TJ!!!! Just like your dinner, you are late on the permits!

Ooops, hope you don’t live in a place like my town, which could order you to tear the expansion down if they’re feeling snippy.

Kudos to all who called the “knock on the door” right. As usual, as with my Monsters of the Midway prediction ((SOOOOOOOB, but we coming next year, with a new kicker, I hope) my bet was wrong. Another reason I dont’ gamble! Hilarity will ensue.

I can’t believe they did the bonehead move of renovating without a permit.

This is REALLY gonna be good if Mr. Grey gets involved…

Would someone save me from having to search back through? What did they do to Shannon’s room? I thought it was just paint.

no electrical changes, no plumbing changes, no permits needed.

Okay, Everybody Just Calm the H3ll, down here, and put on your “innocent faces.”

Now, hear the lady out. And:

1) Invite her to dinner while the matter is discussed. And Pray that Her Religion doesn’t prevent her from eating Stuffed Swine Meat.

2) If She brings up the subject of “No Permits, No Money greasing City hands and No Permission,” just Look Shocked, Weep, and say:

“Oh My GOD! We had absolutely NO idea that we had to get permits and pay hard earned money BEFORE We hammered a nail to a piece of wood!” Then start crying uncontrollably.

3) Get Old Smiley to use his sickening “charm” on the lady and say: “We are so sorry that We didn’t know about the City requirements before making any home renovation, and We are just SICKEN by what We did! But, let Us make it up to you! We know of a Man that put up an entire house WITHOUT any City permits! And we have reason to believe that he’s holding two young men there prisoner and making one young man TORMENT and TORTURE the other! If you HURRY, You can put a STOP to it before it’s too late! His Name is Al Gray and here’s his address!”

4) After She hurries off, pack your bags and LEAVE. Don’t worry about housing. Irma and Al Spacious home WILL be available cheap after they’re hauled off to the Hoosegow. ;)

From “building permits?” Is that like being from “jaywalking tickets?” It is a serious situation awkwardly presented.

And Speaking of Al Gray, what if Al didn’t get permits to build the Gulag, and the entire structure is in violation of city code and MUST come down? THAT, would be short-lived Good News for Gunther.

But, If that’s true, what if Al Gray also didn’t get any permits from the City to Renovate the Warehouse that would eventually become the Fuse, and Bev finds out about THAT? And now it too, must come down??

I NEED COFFEE. Anyone care to join Me in a free cup?

ruh roh

Screwed.

Odd how she just shows up like that. I suppose the “They never needed permits” talking point might just get debunked. We’ll see.

[4}

Apparently someone ratted out our lovebirds. But… how likely is that in reality? I cannot really imagine such a thing happening in Pitt…. unless like Mordy suggested, perhaps Ann Eiffel did this…. but that does not seem likely in reality. Who could have done this?

From my “degree” in HGTV (this means I watch the damn channel a lot….. mostly because my wife likes the shows a lot… and I like being with my wife a lot), I have seen probably at least 30 episodes of various shows (mostly in California, like the setting for the fictional town of Pitt) where a house that is being remodeled has a room or two or three or even a whole addition that is “non-permitted”. This typically is in a house where the prior owners did this work without permits and until the ownership of the structures changed hands, no one cared much. Very clearly a lot of these “non-permitted remodels” had been active being used for a few decades.

* * *

So, what is in store if the worst-case scenario outcome occurs?!?! 1) The inspector will force our lovebirds to dismantle their work, 2) Shannon’s bedroom will be no more (and Shannon would be very sad and cry), 3) the lovebirds would have to use their hard-earned savings to pay for repairs and perhaps a fine, and 4) the DeGroot parents would potentially receive a fine.

You don’t need a building permit to remodel a room. Only to build new additional structures.

But how/who notified the permits section? If all work done by people living in the home, how could the city even find out? IMPO this is nothing more than a silly plot device to lengthen this story arc

This is where the Fourth Amendment might come in handy.

Ha! Who called it yesterday?

This is especially embarrassing since Brad is a first responder. Surely he has gone on calls due to faulty wiring, trips and falls on stairways (due to improper construction), fires, and more, all which could have been prevented by proper construction (and inspections) for a fraction of the cost of a day in the hospital.

The fines will clean our their savings and Brad and Toni will move in with his parents. They’ll be just like all the other millennials living off the Bank of Mom and Dad. TJ on the other hand, is F***ed.

Actually our local inspector’s name is Carol. And other than hair color, Bev is pretty close.

So. How did she know there were renovations? The work was INSIDE the house where it could not be seen. Who ratted on them?

“Glad to see you. Please make an appointment so we can better talk with whatever you’d like to talk about. But not now.”

The issue with the building inspector may be more serious if the inspector sees a bed in the new room. Otherwise it could simply be an enclosure for storage or a computer alcove. In many large cities, there is an acute housing shortage, which is one of the contributors to homelessness. Currently there are a lot of apartments where owners are dividing a living room to create another bedroom. Note you don’t have to call it a “bedroom,” which triggers zoning and parking requirement issues. Sometimes an enclosure is created where there is no closing door at the entrance. This is important so that someone who is sleeping in the room can detect a fire before they are trapped. I recall that Shannon’s new room did not have a window. Probably best to have a light sliding curtain at the doorway.

Bev is greedy. Didn’t Mr. Gray already pay her a big enough bribe, for the guest house that he built in a week?

They will deny doing any remodeling and just then Mom and Dad will show up and say there are there to see the remodeling.

Oh, oh. Someone has more trouble than just early parents for supper. Wait… don’t the parents own the house? That makes them the ones responsible for not having a permit.

Ruh roh…

“Good. You got my application for a fast neutron breeder reactor? I was thinking over there near the neighbors. Sounds good?”

oh way to show up after the job is already done

Calling her Earl wasn’t a good opening.

I’m afraid Brad is going to blow it and say something he shouldn’t.

Maybe they did get permits, and Bev is there for the final inspection. (Hey, one can dream…)

Shannon did it. She’s telling everyone she sees about her new room, and supplying many details.

Everybody’s worried about the federal government when it is local that is big Brother.

This is getting (somewhat) closer to my turf, so I’ll weigh in:

Usually, officials don’t just ‘show up’, especially for residential/home renovation projects. Agreed, though, it depends on the municipality, and some can be quite stringent. Sometimes a letter gets mailed to the house (sometimes not).

True, Brad can turn her away in this case – and he may just as well say loudly to her, “Sure! Release the hounds and storm the castle!” The inspector may go away – at first – but the authorities WOULD return, likely in force.

It does usually happen as some have indicated, that someone else has CALLED on them, or an inspector is bored and stakes out certain houses, neighborhoods,places, or hangs around at Home Depot, etc. BUT, this is the Luanniverse, soooo…

Some states / cities just have more restrictions. California does (earthquake design requirements), as does Florida, esp. Miami/Dade County, (for hurricane design requirements). More rural areas are typically not so bad.

While to me, this has ‘plot contrivance’ possibly written on it, this will likely tie back to the ‘forgiveness vs. permission’ theme this week. At worst, a small fine barely equivalent to a slap on the wrist may happen. Could be just ‘Just pay the standard fee’ may be stated. Could also be that Bev sees Shannon’s endearing artwork and says, “OH! You two are firefighters?! Well we can work this out, OK?!” We’ll find out later (and sorry for being wordy here)…

“What a Revoltin’ Development This Is.” — Chester A. Riley — “Life of Riley” TV Series.

Soooo… who told?

Karma!

Frank somehow avoided doing the perp walk when the business establishment that he owns was used as the venue for conducting a fraudulent operation that cheated over a hundred women out of hundreds of dollars each. In fact, I don’t think anyone even questioned him about it. Today, his luck runs out.

I think it would be fun if the parents figured out what as going on and got the permit for them. They called the inspector to see the finished work. Kids always think their parents don’t know what’s going on (and sometimes they don’t!).

Same prissy look as Bernice. Maybe she is Bernice Senior?

tomorrow: does TJ pass inspection?

I’ll laugh if her last name is Hills!

“Permission: Implausible”

“What The DING DONG…?”

“Crank Call”

Say no thank you. Get a warrant.

I doubt that a permit is needed to remodel a bedroom.

Wow. This ought to be interesting. Maybe they’ll send child services over next!

cue the ominous music

Uh-oh. Bev does not look like the kind of inspector that can be bought, either. This could be doubly-serious for municipal employees like Brad and Toni! Let’s hope no more than doing the paperwork, and maybe a small fine, are required for the DeGroot infraction….

Let’s hope she’s a real Bernice, who carries around a ten-pound rule book! Infraction, infraction, infraction! Brad and Toni, you are about to be expelled from Pitts!

Time for Uncle Al to show his own mechanical ability and grease a couple of palms.

Wait…what? This is the USA.