Updated at: 08/26/2009 9:12 AM
By: Renee Passal

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Halfway Finished House

Four years ago, Tom Bischoff started building his dream home on Horseshoe Lake in Grand Rapids.

Before he began construction, he brought his design plans to the city of Grand Rapids building official office. There, he was told his land was designated as part of the county.

So Bischoff said he picked up his plans, and brought them one block over to the Itasca County offices. He was issued a permit on June 27, 2005.

He and a friend put up the outside of the log home and finished part of the inside. Then Bischoff went south to Florida for the winter.

Bischoff returned in the spring of 2006, and started finishing the house. Then, he found a stop work order on his door, from the city of Grand Rapids.

He said he brought his permit to the Building official Ryan Whiting, who told him the permit was issued in error.

"He said the land was annexed three years ago, but nobody knew," Bischoff said.

But the county said it did know.  An employee figured out that Bischoff's permit was issued in error right away after it was signed. In court documents, the employee said she tried calling Bischoff twice....calls he said he never received.

Bischoff tried to get a permit through the city, but he said they refused to give him one.

"They're whole hang up is it's not up to city code," Bischoff said. The county is not required to enforce the state building code, but the city is. Bischoff said to make his house ready to pass city inspection, he'd have to put at least $60,000 into it.

He served the county and city a lawsuit in 2007, alleging negligence.

Judge Lois Lang dismissed the negligence counts, ruling that the annexation was public record, so Bischoff could have known about it, and that the issuing of the permit in error was not considered a malicious act. In essence, it was an accident.

Bischoff is angry that no one has been held accountable for the mistake.

"I'm so fed up about the house, I might even bulldoze it. I don't even like coming out here anymore," he said.

The judge is still going to make a ruling on if the city must issue Bischoff a permit.

The county and city declined to comment for this story.