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My mom's house has a finished basement - no kitchen or separate entrance, in fact no locking doors in between this space and the rest of the house - not possible for it to be rented as an apartment. It does have 2 bedrooms, a living room and a full bathroom (tub, sink, toilet). This space is used by immediate family members - namely, mom's kids who either refuse to move out (sister) or keep coming back and forth (brother and I).
Just out of curiosity, would this be considered illegal, even if it's just for family use? Even if it's not an apartment? The house was built in 1912, so I'm guessing that means no C of O.
hello my name is susan viramontes and my address is 5335 s washtenaw chicago ill 60632 and my land lord rent out the basement into apartment and what i dont like about the apartment is that i live on the first floor and all the lights and gas come on my bill even all the the out side light and the garage is on my light bill now i cant afford the light and gas bill i dont know what to do pleases help
Last edited by susan viramontes; 08-29-2014 at 11:09 PM..
Reason: i need help??/
Question: My husband has our children living in our basement with the purpose of renting the kids rooms as a short stay bed and breakfast? The basement looks legal but has only 6' 6" ceiling and is below street level. The youngest child is 15, Would the hotel rooms be made to close? Or would the children be taken from the home?
My very first concern would be whether your children could get out (2 exits) in event of fire, especially if any of your children, their friends, the husband, husband's friends or overnight room rental guests smoke. And it's not good enough to say they're "not allowed to smoke inside" because those rules always get broken, especially for the last smoke of the night in freezing cold winter.
If there's no proper fire escape from basement (2 exits), any social worker or attorney ad litum (on the children's behalf) would, of course, first make the husband stop renting rooms and put the children back upstairs, before they'd remove children from a custody arrangement with the dad.
Last edited by BrightRabbit; 05-23-2015 at 01:42 PM..
full bathroom and kitchen indicates habitable conditions, meaning that someone could live there. there is no reason to have a bathutb, shower, or full kitchen within a storage space, if storage is the true intent of the space. even with the example of a rec room, you are require to put the following note on your certificate of occupancy:
"rec room is not to be intended for sleeping or living purposes."
I know this post is from years ago but I need some help. My landlord is renting an illegal unit for many years for 400.00 a month and i just discoverered black mold throughout the basement and have been to the hospital to check my lungs. They refuse to fix the problem and demand that i do the work. They won't allow city officials such as light company through to do any work. I live in Chicago. What are the laws? Can they be arrested?
Note: I have pictures of everything except the mold but there is a tub, sink, shower, working kitchen, windows permanently painted and gated shut, a seperate bill in my name, seperate plumming and gas routed in here and it only half of a basement. The stairs outside are less than a foot wide of broken cement. The back door is not really easy to break out of in case of a fire and it's below ground level and theres no insulation in the walls and no heat!! I just had a kid and cannot find an apartment! Who do I report them to? They're old fashoned Mexicans from Mexico and dont believe in invesring in any type of property maintenance. Can an inspector prove we are living here if I call them?
No, the landlord will not be arrested. What you can do is report the landlord to the local housing authority. Once you do, be prepared to move within a couple of days since the housing authority will demand that you vacate the illegal unit. The county will likely slap the landlord with a fine.
Last Sunday's NYT real estate section did a whole article on illegal apartments, and the upshot was city's enforcement is a joke.
Yes, the apartment may be illegal but guess what? The DOB must gain entry in order to make that decision. They make two attempts, if they cannot then the complaint/matter is closed.
Believe me when I tell you all over Staten Island you have tons of illegal apartments. Everyone knows about them but little is ever done; that is until something happens then everyone starts pointing fingers.
Can anyone tell me what would be the penalty for having an illegal basement apartment. Mind you, this basement apartment is above ground and has it's own basement.
What happens if you get caught? Do you get fined? Or, are you warned first, and then fined?
I don't know the fines but I've known over the years a lot of people who rent illegal basement apts. My godmother (RIP) rented her basement apt for years in Brooklyn. A lot of homeowners on our block at the time rented basements apt, 2nd floor apartments, or rented rooms to trustworthy working people.
OP, if you pay the utilities and cable for the whole house then there is no reason for separate utilities and cable bills as some people are saying the DOB may check on that. You're free to use your basement as a part of your house by having a bed, bathroom, and tv there. Who's to say if you're renting it or using it yourself? Or allowing a relative or friend to sleep there? You only get in trouble if it can be proved that you're collecting "rent". Have a cash only or money-order policy. NYC is the capital of the underground economy. More revenue in NYC is made via cash-only transactions and money-made-off-the-books than legal paychecks and salaries; that's not including illegal means.
I'm not saying do something wrong or illegal but if you're interested in renting a basement apartment in your house, go for it. It's apparent that you're one of the few middle-class persons left. Middle-class people are getting squeezed inch by inch out of NYC. Meanwhile, the the super-wealthy have cheated poor people out via urban renewal projects which has eliminated affordable housing by all kinds of illegal means including these people using their corporate power and wealth to grease the hands of the right people/city officials who allow them to buy up real estate and move the working-class out of these neighborhoods.
The other plus is that you'll be helping a working class person/couple who is trying to make it to the next level on the socioeconomic ladder. Just make sure you vet the person(s) really well to make sure you don't get some fool in your basement and can't get them out.
Last Sunday's NYT real estate section did a whole article on illegal apartments, and the upshot was city's enforcement is a joke.
Yes, the apartment may be illegal but guess what? The DOB must gain entry in order to make that decision. They make two attempts, if they cannot then the complaint/matter is closed.
Believe me when I tell you all over Staten Island you have tons of illegal apartments. Everyone knows about them but little is ever done; that is until something happens then everyone starts pointing fingers.
Yes, in Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island too believe it or not.
I've known quite few people in the BX but they live in co-ops, apts, or NYCHA. I've never crossed paths with people living in illegal basement apts in the Bronx.
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How will they find out?
