No Operating Permit for Park

I am working through due diligence on a park I have in contract - the owner states they do not have any permits or business licenses for the park. I imagine all I would have to do is file with the city to obtain an operating permit? Is there any problems I could run into if I close on the park and then try to get this?

Also, the city indicates there is no certificate of occupancy on file either. The person I talked to said they tried looking for it in the past, but couldn’t locate it. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

Figure this out before closing, not after. No exceptions. If you can’t, then walk.

Look into whether this park is grandfathered (non-conforming) which could explain a lot of this. Get the city’s input too. If they don’t see a permit they should be able to explain why they haven’t shut them down. Ask lots of questions and you should be able to figure it out.

Good luck!

Thanks, @jhutson, I spoke to someone at the city yesterday and when I asked her if this park was legal, she really didn’t have an answer for me. She sounded confused and said that there was no issues with the park. I’m wondering if this park has been operating without a permit for some time now. In that case, would the city issue some sort of operating permit if they didn’t have issues with it? She did say the park was zoned for MHP use.

Also, the city emailed me and said they do not issue operating permits. I know there are other park owners in town, so I’m trying to figure out what protects me in the event that someone wanted to shut the park down someday.

Makes sense. Many cities do not require a Park permit or certificates of occupancy. Their zoning ordinances should stipulate what’s required. Make sure the park is in compliance with city and county requirements, get it all on paper as much as possible so that you’re comfortable. Check with the city for any code violations too.

You need a Certificate of Zoning. That will force them to take a position. They will have to state if it is legal, legal non-conforming (grandfathered ) or illegal.