Brookhaven Landlord Convicted of Criminal Charges

The Town of Brookhaven filed criminal charges against landlord for violating the Town Code by converting a single-family home to multifamily use by alterations performed without required building permits and certificates of occupancy. In addition, no smoke detectors had been installed. The court ruled for the town and imposed sentences. Landlord appealed and lost. Among other things, landlord claimed the town violated her Fourth Amendment rights by repeated warrantless entries into the building but failed to preserve that issue for review by the appeals court. There was no dispute that, at the time the town investigated, landlord was an absentee landlord collecting rents from multiple tenants living in all of the building's bedrooms and at least one ground-floor space that had been converted to a bedroom. The fines imposed weren't unduly harsh or excessive.

People v. Miao: 61 Misc.3d 148(A), 2018 NY Slip Op 51742(U)(App. T. 2 Dept.; 11/29/18; Garguilo, JP, Marano, Tolbert, JJ)