Here's my experience.
I was building a new house and my plans were rejected by the City for dozens of reasons. Feeling overwhelmed I searched for someone to help me through the process. I contacted Dennis at Bay Area Permits and arranged a meeting. He had me meet him at Starbucks which I though a bit odd going over architectural drawings in the middle of a bustling coffee shop. He needed a $3,000.00 retainer to get started to help me resolve my permit issues. I tried to hand-deliver the check later that night and found that the Business Address was just a mail drop in Los Gatos. So I mailed the check. We had a follow up meeting and Dennis said he would get started. I have no idea what he did other that he mentioned he needed to access "archives" at the county etc. After that, Dennis was extremely hard to get ahold of. Many calls were not returned, emails not replied to etc. After Months went by Dennis told me he was sick. In the mean time I had resolved most of the issues myself. The main thing I wanted Dennis to resolve was to prove to the City that a house had existed on the lot before as that would save me $17,600.00 in permit fees. We had another meeting where he gave me a Sketch of a home from the 60's? in an area where my lot is. This was supposed to prove to the City that a house previously existed on my lot? I figured the City would laugh at me and they did (chuckled) and said the sketch did not prove anything to them.
Desperate and a fish out of water regarding records searching I figured I would take a day off work and try to figure it out myself. I went to Santa Clara County (on Hedding and First St) with the APN number. The receptionist suggested I try the tax assessor as they would have records of previously paid taxes on my parcel. The Tax Assessor told me the parcel number had been changed and I should check with the building Dept. The building Department cross referenced the new APN to the old APN, found the original permit from the 1950's and the demolition permit from the 1990's when the house was torn down. My total time at the County from arriving at the facility to driving away was 34 minutes.
Armed with these documents, the City waived the $17,600.00 fee from my building permit.
I followed up with Dennis and he stood firm that the sketch he gave me should have been good enough. From my point of view I am a novice, if I could solve this issue so quickly myself then why did he have so much trouble?
Dennis mentioned that he would get me some money back but I never heard back from him. I called and left a voice mail asking about my refund, he never replied to my voice mail. This was roughly a year ago.
I'll give Bay Area Permits 2 starts instead of 1 star because Dennis seemed nice on a personal level. read more