Sell a House With Code Violations in Colorado Springs, CO

Code enforcement in Colorado Springs starts with a complaint or a drive-by: weeds and trash in a Southeast yard, an inoperable vehicle on the Westside, a collapsed fence, a house in Knob Hill with a tarp on the roof two years after the hail, a basement apartment that was never permitted. The City's Neighborhood Services division sends a notice of violation with a deadline. Miss it and the City can abate the problem itself, bill the cost plus a 25 percent administrative surcharge, and certify the amount to the El Paso County Treasurer as a lien collected with the property taxes. Fines and municipal court summonses can follow. Owners who cannot afford the fix watch the file grow.

Colorado Springs Cash Buyers buys houses with open code cases, abatement liens and unpermitted additions across Colorado Springs and El Paso County. We buy as-is, take over the violation, and settle any recorded assessments at closing from the price. This page explains how the City's process works, what the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department requires for unpermitted work, how a sale proceeds with a case open, and what it means for your net.

A violation of the City's property maintenance, zoning or nuisance codes begins with a notice and an order to correct within a set period. If the owner does not comply, the City may issue a summons to municipal court, or in nuisance cases hire a contractor to abate the condition. The abatement cost plus the 25 percent surcharge becomes a special assessment under the municipal code, is appealable to the Municipal Court referee, and if unpaid is certified to the County Treasurer and collected like taxes, with the same priority. Outside the city limits, in Security-Widefield, Falcon or Cimarron Hills, El Paso County Code Enforcement runs a similar process.

Permits in Colorado Springs and most of El Paso County run through the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department. A finished basement, a converted garage, a deck, an electrical panel swap or a water heater done without a permit is not a violation until someone notices, but a buyer's lender and insurer notice, and the City notices when a complaint brings an inspector. Bringing work into compliance after the fact means a permit, inspections, and sometimes opening walls. A financed buyer will usually walk away or demand it be done before closing. We price the cost of legalizing or removing the work into our offer and handle it after we own the house.

A code case does not prevent a transfer of title. Recorded assessments and liens are paid from the sale proceeds; open notices transfer with the property to the new owner, who becomes responsible for compliance. We notify Neighborhood Services that the property is under contract and that the buyer will take over the correction, which often earns a pause on further enforcement. Municipal court summonses issued to you personally are a separate matter; closing usually resolves them because the condition is corrected or the responsibility has passed, but your attorney should confirm how a pending summons is closed out.

Dangerous building notices on fire-damaged or long-vacant houses. Roofs still covered with tarps years after a denied hail claim. Rubbish, overgrowth and inoperable vehicles on properties owned by someone who moved or died. Unpermitted basement units in the older neighborhoods near Downtown and the Old North End. Zoning complaints about RVs, fences and outbuildings. Illegal occupancy of a detached garage in Stratmoor. Each has a cost to cure, and each has a value once cured; our offer reflects both.

Nothing out of pocket. We pay the customary closing costs and there is no commission. The title company pays the mortgage, any certified abatement assessments, delinquent taxes and recorded fines from the price, and wires you the rest. The offer is lower than a retail price for a compliant house because the correction cost and the risk are ours; the honest comparison is with the cost and time of fixing everything yourself, then listing for roughly two months in the current market.

Send the address and copies of the notices, or just the case number. We visit within a day or two, look at the violations and the rest of the house, and give you a written offer within 24 hours. If you accept, the title company pulls the City and County records, and a closing can follow in about a week. The case becomes ours to close.

We buy houses in Colorado Springs for any reason, any condition, or any challenge

Every link below is a page written for that situation in Colorado Springs and El Paso County.