Non-conforming basement bedrooms (no egress)

[Michael M.]

I'm looking at a SFR in NW Aurora, Colorado in Adams County, just a few blocks east of Denver. It is a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house roughly 1600 SF. Two of the bedrooms are downstairs. They have closets but do not have egress windows.

Can this house legally be listed on the MLS as a 4 bedroom? Can it be advertised and rented as a 4 bedroom? What kind of liability is involved?

[Jon Holdman]

Lots of houses in our area like that.  I see them listed as "non-conforming bedrooms".   When I was looking at student housing in Greeley I saw lots of properties like that, too.  I even discussed it with the city building department.  The inspector said they were grandfathered in vs. newer codes.  And that he got calls every year from upset parents who's kids had rented one of these.  He told them the were legal and could not be forced to change, nor was it justification to break a lease.

Where you will absolutely hit an issue is with section 8.  Basement bedrooms that do not have proper egress based on the latest codes are not counted toward the number of bedrooms.

All that said, I don't like this sort of property at all.  The liability is just too big for me.  Converting these to have proper egress may not be too difficult.  I've done it in my residence.  There are local companies that specialize in doing this job.  Having enough space to dig a properly sized window well can be the tricky part.