Landlord Fined for Tenants' Short-Term Rentals of Apartments

DOB issued violation notices to landlord for converting apartments in a multiple dwelling to transient use. Landlord objected, and argued that tenants used their apartments for transient rentals without landlord's knowledge. ECB ruled against landlord and imposed civil penalties. Landlord then filed an Article 78 court appeal, claiming that ECB's decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. NYC Admin. Code Section 28-210.3 prohibits owners of a multiple dwelling classified for permanent use to permit the use or occupancy of dwelling units for other than permanent residence purposes. Landlord didn't preserve its claim that it had no knowledge of tenants' actions for appeal, and the court had no discretionary authority to reach the issue. The penalty wasn't excessive and was consistent with NYC Admin. Code Section 28-202.1 and 1 RCNY 102-01(g)(1) because landlord didn't correct the violations within 38 days of the violation notice.

Pamela Equities Corp. v. ECB: Index No. 9091-162661/15, 2019 NY Slip Op 03140 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 4/25/19; Sweeny, JP, Manzanet-Daniels, Tom, Kapnick, Moulton, JJ)