Landlord Responsible for Violations Caused by Tenant’s Short-Term Rentals

DOB issued four violation notices to landlord, all involving a tenant’s use of an apartment for transient occupancy. At a hearing, landlord’s agent testified that he knew that the tenant was illegally subletting the apartment for short-term rentals. As a result, landlord refused to renew tenant’s lease and stated that tenant had agreed to move out. Landlord argued that the transient use of one apartment didn’t convert the building into a hotel. The ALJ ruled against landlord and fined it $4,600 for violation of the building’s Certificate of Occupancy, failing to provide required means of egress for a transiently occupied building, failure to provide an automatic sprinkler system in the transient apartment, and failing to provide a fire alarm system in a transiently occupied building.

Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that it didn’t know about tenant’s transient use until the violations were issued. But landlord’s agent had stated that he knew based on other tenant’s complaints. And, even if landlord was unaware of the transient use, it was responsible for violating conditions that occurred on its property. 

Benchmark 10 LP: ECB App. No. 1500900 (10/29/15) [3-pg. doc.]