Puerto Rico Building Permits: Really?

Puerto Rico’s Housing Secretary Fernando Gil, has claimed that half of the housing in the island has been built without permits, this according to an article by Andres Viglucci published in the Miami Herald on February 14, 2018, see here. If half of that claim is correct, then it provides for a damning assessment of […]

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 Unlawful Permits and Unauthorized Use

On April 19, 2017 thru act 19 of 2017, Puerto Rico’s government decided to once again amend its main permits law, titled “Ley para la Reforma del Proceso de Permisos de Puerto Rico”. This time around, substantial amendments were performed on Article 14, regarding parties recourse when a permit is illegal (due to false or […]

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 PR’s Planning Board Says: No Permits Necessary!

Puerto Rico’s Planning Board thru administrative order 2017-07, has waived the requirement of obtaining construction permits at OGPe or Autonomous Municipalities for any reconstruction, repair or to rebuild infrastructure in order to address the basic needs of the people. HOWEVER!!!! The administrative order states various caveats like: Any infrastructure repair project prior to obtaining said […]

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 FEDS look into State’s Permitting Process

The following is a very interesting study performed by the White House and published September 2016, regarding the effects of permitting on construction costs and therefore its impact on affordable housing in the metropolitan areas. It seems the federal govenrment has identified planning, zoning and permittting laws and regularions as one of the main contributors […]

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