Landlord Made Reasonable Efforts to Keep Sidewalk Clean

DOS issued a violation notice to landlord for having a dirty sidewalk. The notice stated that the DOS inspector saw papers, napkins, and cardboard on the sidewalk at 8:55 a.m. Landlord claimed that the super cleaned three times a day and that he found no garbage at 9:30 a.m. that day. The ALJ ruled against landlord and fined him $100. Landlord appealed and won. The ALJ misunderstood landlord and incorrectly found that landlord had no regular cleaning schedule. Landlord had first cleaned the sidewalk at 8 a.m. on the violation date, and no large amount of debris was found. Landlord's testimony showed that he used reasonable efforts to keep the area in front of the building clean. The fine was revoked.

Baumgarten: ECB App. No. 1001039 (4/28/11) [2-pg. doc.]