Landlord Fined $12,850 for Transient Use of Apartment

DOB issued six violation notices to landlord, all resulting from DOB's finding of transient use of apartments in a Class "A" multiple dwelling. The ALJ ruled for DOB and fined landlord $12,850 for unlawful conversion of a dwelling unit from a permanent residence, for failing to maintain a premises in a safe and code-compliant manner, for failure to maintain a fire alarm system, for occupancy in a manner contrary to that allowed by DOB records, and for work without a permit to convert a cellar level unit to a Class "A" apartment.

Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that she didn't convert the apartment in question to transient use. While landlord claimed that she didn't know that tenants listed the apartment for transient rental, she didn't explain why her name was listed as one of the hosts in the booking.com listing and raised no valid defense. Landlord admitted that she let a family member live in the cellar but didn't charge rent. This didn't matter. It was undisputed that the C of O authorized no habitable space in the cellar. And landlord didn't deny that the cellar had been converted into an apartment without a permit.

DOB v. Salmon: ECB App. No. 1900101 (5/2/19) [4-pg. doc.]