Landlord Fined for Illegal Fourth Apartment

DOB issued violation notices to landlord for work without a permit and for having a fourth apartment in a building with a Certificate of Occupancy that permitted only three apartments. Landlord claimed that when her parents bought the building in 1978, the fourth apartment already existed at the rear of the third floor. The tenants of that apartment had moved out and landlord had filed an application with DOB to restore the third floor to its prior legal condition. She had already removed the kitchen. At the time of a hearing, DOB hadn't signed off on landlord's application. The ALJ imposed a reduced penalty of $2,000. Landlord appealed and lost. There was insufficient proof of a pre-existing condition since various documents showed that the building was listed as a three-family dwelling in 1978. And although tenants had moved out of the illegal apartment by the hearing date, work was still in progress, and the violation hadn't been fully corrected.

Nanadiego: ECB App. No. 1401153 (1/29/15) [3-pg. doc.]