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C of O violation?

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C of O violation?

Postby hirschma » Fri Jun 06, 2003 12:30 pm

A gentleman from the Department of Buildings showed up a couple of days ago. He rang my doorbell, asked if was a business or resident. I answered "resident", and he left.

Later, I found a violation notice affixed to the front door of the building. The handwriting was mostly illegible, but I got the following:

* The building is in violation of provision 27-215,

* It mentioned something about not having a C of O for one or more units (Certificate of Occupancy, I gather)

* The building has both a commercial and several residential units.

My question: do commercial spaces need a C of O, or is this definitely about the residential units? Moreover, if there are no CO's on the residential units, what rights do the tenants have, if any, and what risks do they face? Or is this just something that will go away, and doesn't affect me one way or the other?

I've been paying rent here for 18 months, if that information helps with anything.

jonathan
hirschma
 

Re: C of O violation?

Postby jot0n0 » Fri Jun 06, 2003 3:15 pm

Sounds like your LL did an illegal apartment conversion and now he got caught when you said you are living there when the building inspector dropped by. Technically, LL cannot collect rent on your illegal apt until a proper C of O is obtained, if possible. If LL is unable to obtain a C of O, he would need to restore premises back to the way it was before the conversion and that means evicting the tenant. This question comes up often on this bulletin board and you might want click below links for past discussion.

http://www.tenant.net/.WWW/ubbgraphics/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000484

http://www.tenant.net/.WWW/ubbgraphics/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000148

http://www.tenant.net/.WWW/ubbgraphics/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000141
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Re: C of O violation?

Postby joliett » Sun Jun 08, 2003 11:36 pm

Correct...

Here is the NYC Building Code text for 27-215 that the inspector served you with.

Just scroll down to the 27-215 article...

NYC Building Code
Joel Teicher, P.E.
www.TenantEngineer.com
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Re: C of O violation?

Postby hirschma » Tue Jun 17, 2003 10:05 am

Follow-on question:

Can this apply to commercial spaces, or only to residential?

The reason why I ask is that the Landlord made some changes to the ground-floor storefront. It is not clear to me what unit(s) are violating.

If this only applies to residential, then there is no doubt.

jonathan
hirschma
 

Re: C of O violation?

Postby jot0n0 » Wed Jun 18, 2003 7:51 am

I not 100% certain, but I would think the C of O can apply to both situation, either a zoned commerical space used for residential purposes and residental space used for commerical purposes. Spaces used contrary to what’s stated on the C of O would be considered illegal.
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Re: C of O violation?

Postby ig0234 » Sun Jun 29, 2003 1:09 pm

If a landlord is in violation of the C of O, NONE of the tenants need to pay rent!
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Re: C of O violation?

Postby too trusting » Mon Jun 30, 2003 10:16 am

Is this in Staten Island because my ex-LL has done the same thing, this would mean she finally got caught and they're doing something about it.
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