Landlord Fined $1,250 for Failing to Maintain Boiler

DOB issued a violation notice to landlord in 2018 for failing to maintain a building's boiler. DOB's inspector noted that the boiler had missing insulation, a missing spill switch, and an incorrect flue gauge. DOB later issued another violation notice based on landlord's failure to certify that the violation had been corrected. Landlord had agreed to comply by April 1, 2019. It filed a certificate with DOB on Dec. 17, 2019, and that certificate was disapproved on Dec. 26, 2019. Landlord argued that it was working to correct the underlying conditions. While the ALJ believed this, she found that this was no defense and didn't warrant reduction of the penalty. Landlord was fined $1,250.

Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that the conditions were corrected on July 9, 2019, and that penalty should have been reduced. But even if ECB were to consider this additional information, landlord didn't file the Certificate of Correction until December 2019, which was after the first scheduled hearing date of Nov. 21, 2019. So the ALJ correctly imposed the standard penalty for the violation.

DOB v. Friendship House Inc.: ECB App. No. 2000569 (7/16/20) [2-pg. doc.]