Two Illegal Apartments Added to Cellar

DOB issued a violation notice to landlord for illegally altering a two-family dwelling. DOB's inspector found that two apartments had been added to the cellar. Landlord claimed that the cellar apartments were accessory to the first-floor apartment. Since a relative and friend occupied the cellar apartments, landlord argued that the first floor and cellar were occupied by one family. The ALJ ruled against landlord and fined him $47,400. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that per-day penalties should be tolled as of May 25, 2011, when his engineer filed plans to legalize the cellar conditions. But landlord didn't obtain a permit to legalize the cellar until July 20, 2011, more than 45 days after the date of the offense. And DOB hadn't signed off on the work within that time frame. The ALJ correctly imposed the maximum amount of per-day penalties.

Townsend: ECB App. No. 1101111 (1/26/12) [3-pg. doc.]