Landlord Falsely Certified that Basement Flooding Was Corrected

DOB issued a violation notice to landlord for falsely certifying that conditions cited in a prior violation had been corrected. The three basement conditions were the accumulation of water in the elevator pit, the absence of a sump pump, and improper ventilation of the machine room. At a hearing, landlord claimed that the elevator company had corrected the conditions before the certification was filed. The ALJ ruled against landlord and fined him $4,800. Landlord appealed and lost. The elevator company hadn't stated that it fixed the listed conditions. It had done other work in the basement after it was flooded by Hurricane Sandy but said that building management wanted to fix the remaining conditions. ECB ruled against landlord, finding that he didn't provide sufficient believable proof that the condition had been cleared before certifying that they were.

Drizin: ECB App. No. 1200679 (9/26/13) [3-pg. doc.]