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I received a violation for renovating my basement, it is a $4K fine. I made it into a full studio apt with kitchen, bath, etc.....it has 3 means of egress, 3 full size windows, private entrance and walk-out access to the yard....nicer than most apts. The only catch is that it is a low ceiling, about 6.5 feet.
The most annoying part is that it was the con-edison meter reader who called the city to inspect...so don't ever let them into your building to read the meter....which goes more to my point of never letting anyone into your building unless they have a warrant to do so.
As for the fine, I will never pay it, and plan on never selling my building, so its moot. The threatening letters are entertaining though.
So you'll rather the city rack up more fines and penalties which eventually will lead them to take your building by putting a lien upon it plus taxes?
Instead of being stubborn wouldn't it serve you better to either pay the fine or get a lawyer to fight it?
Firstly, the city is not taking my building for a $4K fine even if they add all the silly penalties they like. They have to go through a whole process to take my building over a small fine...so I am not worried at all. They have bigger fish to fry...and it ain't me.
What serves me better is ensuring none of these people ever enter my building..the only reason they got in that time is because my workers were not paying attention and left the door open. That will never happen again, as the work is complete.
Needless to say, nobody ever enters my building, and if you owned a property you would know why. It is not about "paying the fine"..the problem is the city ALWAYS finds something..so you will ALWAYS be paying ridiculous fines. They are desperate for funds and to make all their buearacratic dept's revenue generators...so you will always have a fine.
The only solution is to never allow them in. They got in once...won't happen again. Nobody, not the city, not inspectors, not the police, not the firedept have the right or ability to enter your home without a warrant..so keep that in mind. I am happy to talk to the police through a window, but that is the closest they will ever come to entering my building.
I received a violation for renovating my basement, it is a $4K fine. I made it into a full studio apt with kitchen, bath, etc.....it has 3 means of egress, 3 full size windows, private entrance and walk-out access to the yard....nicer than most apts. The only catch is that it is a low ceiling, about 6.5 feet.
The most annoying part is that it was the con-edison meter reader who called the city to inspect...so don't ever let them into your building to read the meter....which goes more to my point of never letting anyone into your building unless they have a warrant to do so.
As for the fine, I will never pay it, and plan on never selling my building, so its moot. The threatening letters are entertaining though.
I'm amazed.
For all the talk about vetting tenants as if they were applying for Top Secret Clearance, here you go with an illegal apartment.
Hmmm, I guess the lesson to be learned is that maybe it's the TENANTS who should do the heavy vetting to avoid crooked landlords...they seem to be everywhere.
So what will you do when the tenant goes to court and gets an order allowing the discontinuation of rent payments? Will you allow him to stay rent-free for the time unto infinity that you intend to rent the apartment. Do you think he will find YOUR letters as amusing as you find the ones that the City writes to YOU about your fines? Will you considere such an AWFUL person becasue he hews to the letter of the law to his own advantage?
God, the thought of a 6.5 foot ceiling is depressing. That's 4 inches above my head BAREFOOT. I guess it's easy to change lightbulbs
Did you KNOW about the ceiling requirement before you sunk money into the reno? What possessed you to go this route?
Last edited by Kefir King; 05-08-2012 at 07:55 AM..
Firstly, the city is not taking my building for a $4K fine even if they add all the silly penalties they like. They have to go through a whole process to take my building over a small fine...so I am not worried at all. They have bigger fish to fry...and it ain't me.
What serves me better is ensuring none of these people ever enter my building..the only reason they got in that time is because my workers were not paying attention and left the door open. That will never happen again, as the work is complete.
Needless to say, nobody ever enters my building, and if you owned a property you would know why. It is not about "paying the fine"..the problem is the city ALWAYS finds something..so you will ALWAYS be paying ridiculous fines. They are desperate for funds and to make all their buearacratic dept's revenue generators...so you will always have a fine.
The only solution is to never allow them in. They got in once...won't happen again. Nobody, not the city, not inspectors, not the police, not the firedept have the right or ability to enter your home without a warrant..so keep that in mind. I am happy to talk to the police through a window, but that is the closest they will ever come to entering my building.
So if there is a break in when you aren't home you don't plan on calling the police to report it after you discover it? we all know by now that you can handle fires all by yourself...
They got in once...won't happen again. Nobody, not the city, not inspectors, not the police, not the firedept have the right or ability to enter your home without a warrant
You know this isn't absolute, right? I mean guess maybe in the case of code violations, they may not be able to enter (beats me, that's nothing I deal with), but if your place is on fire, I'm coming in one way or the other.
And a cop doesn't need a warrant to enter your building if they are in pursuit of someone (or plenty of other exceptions).
Hi -- to help my dad, my sisters and I have taken control of my father's property- & didn't agrue the fact that he had allowed tenants to live in our Illegal basement -- But now taking to account the fines and law suites at hand, We want them to leave -- & wish to make everything right.
Senario:
4 adults and a child + when 1st rented it was only supposed to be 3 adults then w/o letting us know one of the girls got prenant and her bf moved in - the child is 5 yrs old now
Would appreciate your insight in taking the proper steps to do this.--We just want to get this over as soon and as cheap as possible. Any insight will be great
1- We are going to try to negociate with them, but most likely they will accept our offer, I feel we have more to loss then the tenants. Where do I go to find this out?
2-Does a court order, help us since we have been renting the illegal basement? Or a court marshall?
3- What kind of fines are we looking at? amounts? $5K - 10K?
Barring the extreme case where my home is engulfed in flames, or the cops are chasing a mass murder into my building, nobody can access the premises without a warrant. I ain't worried about it. And for the record, the basement is only illegal because I did not get it legalized, not because of egress (there are 3 exits and full size windows on 2 sides)...so it is not a safety issue. Of course, this is the internet and could be entirely made up, but the point is the same.
I have read countless posts regarding building inspectors searching your home. NEWS FLASH: we live in America and we have a Constitution that protects the citizens from illegal searches and seizures (4th Amendment)- although the City of New York thinks they can circumvent the US Constitution.
No matter what an inspector tells you, or threatens you with, you do NOT have to allow them into your home. This nonsense of "let them in if you have nothing to hide" is misleading and manipulative. The majority of the DOB complaints are based on anonymous tips. By DOB policy, an inspector has to follow up on the tip. He/she attempts to make contact with the homeowner to investigate the complaint. They MUST have your consent to search your property. Again, DO NOT let them in! They will tell you that they will get a search warrant if you do not let them in. This is a common tactic used to frighten you. Don't bite. There is not a judge in this City that will sign a search warrant based on an anonymous tip. Plus, these inspectors are lazy and look for the easy approach, which is a consent search. I can not emphasize it enough, DO NOT LET THESE BULLIES IN YOUR HOME!!!! Once they are in, they will look for something/anything to jam you up.
Make sure you advise all residents (family or tenants) never to let any inspector into your home. Inspectors will try to find a way in no matter what. They are like rodents- once you let them in, it will cost you dearly to undo their damage.
After 2 or 3 failed attempts, they will close out the complaint. Search your address on the DOB website. You will be able to track the status of the complaint. Also, feel free to search your neighbors and check out some of the complaints they had. Odds are, if they didn't consent to a search, then the complaint was closed out.
Most complaints the DOB receive are from disgruntled neighbors looking to screw with you. For purposes of obtaining legal search warrants, there is no difference between an anonymous illegal basement complaint or an illegal narcotics grow operation. Can you imagine if police drug units searched every home that people reported drug activity? It simply can't be done. Investigators need LOTS of probable cause (evidence) to get a search warrant to search your home.
Our founders would be sick to their stomach if they invisioned a government invading its citizens privacy.
Protect your 4th Amendment Right and DO NOT LET THEM IN!!!!!!
I have hpd tenants upstairs and i live in the basement I'm the landlord, hpd wants to do a basement inspection. I made a bathroom and have a kitchen, stove and room. My ceilings are high like 20 feet high. What will happen if i let hpd in for an inspection?
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