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your own permit record

How many permits under your license never got closed?

Somebody else can apply for it and never call for the final. The city's file still names your company as the contractor.

Not built yet. It can only read a permit file the city publishes. If yours publishes none, it cannot help you.

One name, one city fileSample
PulledPermitAddressExpiredStatus
2021EP-1184024412 CEDAR HOLLOW RDFeb 2022Expired
2021MP-140755118 BREVARD STJun 2022No final
2022EP-041915908 SUMTER AVEJan 2023Expired
2022PP-06230827 KILN YARD CTApr 2023Expired
2022MP-1186403319 WREN FIELD LNSep 2023No final
2023EP-20774417 QUARRY BEND CTFeb 2024Expired
2023EP-2331906100 SADDLEBACK DRMay 2024No final
2023PP-24901551 FOUNDRY LOOPAug 2024Expired
2024MP-0631182200 LAUREL FORK DRMar 2025Expired
2024EP-09720577 GALLOWAY RUNJul 2025Expired
2024PP-155230840 TANNERY ROWOct 2025No final
2025EP-119006640 HALSEY ROWJan 2026Expired
2025MP-1728841205 OLD MILL RDApr 2026No final
2026EP-030144415 BRIAR HOLLOW STJun 2026Expired
2026EP-04490792 STONEBRIDGE CTJul 2026Expired

and 26 more

Still open under one name, oldest pulled 202141

Open permits under one company name

Sample rows, for a company that does not exist. Expired is the city's word. No final is ours: past expiry, no final inspection filed.

Collier County clerkno title insurance while a permit stays open
20 business daysMecklenburg's clock to a Notice of Violation
No license numberAustin publishes none, so we match on company name
01holder of record

Your name is on it, whoever applied.

i actually apply for very few permits, if I do work for a homeowner I always give them two prices, one for me getting permit, and one for them to get it, they always choose to save money and get the permit their self, I am listed as the EC, they are the applicant, they call for inspection, meet inspector, ect. I never see the building dept, or inspector.

forums.mikeholt.com, "Speaking of permits..or avoiding them"

Somebody else applied for it, and the record still says you.

02when it surfaces

Find out before the title company does.

  1. A title search stops.

    "When there is an open permit, title insurance cannot be obtained after a title search due to the lack of a clear title caused by an open permit. The person or contractor who applies for the permit is responsible for closing the permit."

    Collier County Clerk of the Circuit Court, "The job is not finished until the permit is closed"

  2. A new permit, refused or waved through.

    Two building officials in the same thread: "We can and will deny a new permit if there is an expired permit. That being said, discretion is required." And: "Not when I worked there in the early 90’s. Can’t deny a new permit because of an outstanding/expired permit here. One may have nothing to do with the other."

    thebuildingcodeforum.com, "Expired permits cause complication"

  3. A letter from the city, on a clock.

    Mecklenburg County code enforcement "is also contacting contractors with expired permits to inform them of the need resolve these permits." If no action is taken within 20 business days, a Notice of Violation issues.

    code.mecknc.gov, expired permits page

  4. Your license.

    North Carolina’s board treats unmet permit and inspection obligations as "evidence of incompetence or misconduct in the use of license from the Board." In New York City it takes a violation first: a Master or Special Electrician license "will not be issued or renewed if the applicant owes penalties."

    21 NCAC 50.0402 as quoted by Mecklenburg County; NYC DOB service notice on Local Law 47 of 2016

Or it surfaces the week a closing is scheduled, from a stranger on the phone.

03the method

Where the count comes from

  1. 01

    The city's own permit table

    The same public record a title company reads at closing.

    City of Austin issued construction permits, data.austintexas.gov. Named and linked per city.

  2. 02

    Matched on this name

    Austin's permit records publish no license number, so we match on company name. A DBA or a misspelling lands in the same bucket.

    The contractor company name field, as the city publishes it.

  3. 03

    Checked against final inspection

    Permits the city marks Expired, plus permits past expiry with no final inspection recorded. No city counts that second group for you.

    The city's status string, printed unedited beside each row.

04the watch

Today's check is free. The watch is $79.

Sample

  • Clean-license record, kept current
  • Austin · 63 permits · all FINAL
  • Fort Worth · 12 permits · all FINAL
  • Charlotte · 6 permits · all FINAL
  • Worklist for anything still open: permit · address · reinstatement path · fee · deadline

Sample rows. A search only helps the month you remember to run it, so we run it and write when a row changes.

05what free covers

The free path stops at the city line.

A service that closes one permit starts at $750 (ClosePermits.com, read 2026-08-19). A year of watching the whole license is $948.

In one city you can do this yourself. Austin publishes an open API; Mecklenburg staffs an Expired Permit Technician.

$79 buys the cities where you cannot, on a rolling clock, with the reinstatement route and fee for each open permit.

06objections

Three things you are thinking

That is not mine.
Sometimes it is not: a DBA, or a homeowner who listed you as the EC. Strike those rows, then read the rest the way the title company will.
Nothing has happened in five years.
One official denies a new permit over an expired one; another says he cannot. You cannot tell which city you are standing in until it matters.
I can do this myself for free.
In Austin or Mecklenburg, today, you can. The watch covers the cities with no dashboard, and the months nobody runs the search.

Control of when you find out.

$79 a month if it ships

Against $750 to close one permit through a service.