Insufficient Proof of Illegal Basement SRO Units

DOB issued a violation notice to landlord for maintaining two illegal SRO units in the building basement. The certificate of occupancy allowed seven apartments, including one basement apartment. The DOB inspector stated that he saw three locked rooms in the basement and met the tenant of one of the rooms. Landlord claimed that the tenant rented the three rooms as one apartment. The ALJ ruled against landlord and fined her $9,500. Landlord appealed, claiming that the ALJ misunderstood the hearing testimony, because the ALJ found that someone else was renting a second room in the basement.
ECB ruled for landlord and revoked the fine. The inspector testified that he saw a bathroom, kitchen, and three rooms with locks in the basement. The tenant told the inspector that he occupied one room. Landlord said that tenant lived in the basement and sometimes tenant's mother lived with tenant. Landlord said that the rooms had locks on the doors for security reasons. The door locks didn't, by themselves, create separate SRO units. There was no proof that the second room that the inspector saw was occupied by anyone living separately from tenant. Ultimately, there was no proof that the cellar rooms were designed and arranged as separate SRO units.

Balraj: ECB App. No. 42727 (5/29/08) [3-pg. doc.]