Basements and cellars in residential properties of all sizes can NEVER be lawfully rented or occupied unless the conditions meet the minimum requirements for light, air, sanitation and egress, and have received approval by the Department of Buildings (DOB). The high number of dismissals is not surprising based on how the justice system works, said Gerard Deenihan, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Societys Queens office. Of course the tenant loses as well because he must vacate; but the landlord must pay his relocation expenses which are assessed at an amount equal to six times the monthly rent, five days before the tenant vacates the premises. xref Department of Housing Preservation and Development inspectors issued 95 vacate orders for illegal occupancy between March and October of this year. Term, 2005) (emphasis added). A group of Queens officials who have lived in basement apartments themselves said Wednesday that calls to remove such units are not realistic. 21 0 obj July 29, 2020. Click a topic, or press the enter key on a topic, to reveal its answer. Md&8KSwe Qp&kUnaD2JbV{S&lk_*gVZN4[2Up'os* /Font << /F14 25 0 R /F18 29 0 R /F22 33 0 R >> This project was produced with support from the Investigative Reporters & Editors Journalist of Color Investigative Reporting Fellowship. The tenants, many of them immigrants, often reside without a lease as they live in fear of being discovered by authorities. >> ( N E b # x ' Pendstream ZLIjjg}&%Ns834V\-"b^'.!h%vXZ"" @Pb_V;kt.u-AH One prosecutor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the law leads to more dismissals, because the DAs staff have to track down volumes of evidence for every case. Then on March 10, Holness sued Mifsud in Housing Court with the help of a Legal Aid Society lawyer, seeking emergency repairs. If it wasnt obvious basements needed a pathway to legalization before, now were seeing that having no legal protections makes you exponentially more vulnerable during a pandemic like this, said Will Spisak, of Chhaya Community Development Corporation. There are several issues for an owner to to consider prior to renting out an illegal unit, including: There is a penalty, likely a fine, for violating local zoning requirements for building without permits and for unlawfully renting the unit as a separate residence; The owner may be forced to evict the tenant of the illegal unit. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. In the scant instances landlords or property owners do end up in criminal court, state court data shows that punishment is virtually non-existent. This system is really rotten, you know, said Holness. (914) 965-3331 4:30 pm-8:30 am. Stop shoveling, you are in deep enough! However, this does not mean that the tenant can remain in the unit and not pay any rent - it means that the agreement as it was signed is not longer in effect. What this means is that a landlord can bring a holdover case to evict a tenant, even if there is someone living in an illegal basement, but may not in that holdover case seek an award of money damages, such as for unpaid rent or use and occupancy. If a landlord is seeking to evict a tenant in a property where there is someone living in an illegal basement, the best option would be to NOT include any language that requests a money judgment. My husband told me, Norma, lets go, because this is not going to stop. So all we did was get a black bag, a black garbage bag and pick up some important papers and what we could find, said Norma. Their possessions including his food delivery scooter were destroyed. modsquad81. Kavanagh estimates 50,000 households with at least 100,000 people are living in illegal basement apartments across the five boroughs. 0000075357 00000 n But seeking help for everything from dealing with hostile landlords to repairs can lead to homelessness. That being said, if you are a landlord and want to evict a tenant but not sure because you have someone living in an illegal basement, the answer is that you can. (914) 377-6560 8:30 am -4:30 pm. /Names << /Dests 10 0 R>> The landlord recently notified her that her $750 monthly rent will rise by $300, citing rising heat and electricity costs. Shes now suing Mifsud in small claims court for what she alleges was thousands of dollars in lost property. They were there for an arrest.. The court in the same case stated above that " there is no statute prohibiting the collection of rent from an illegal one or two family dwelling." Case law supports my argument. 20 0 obj /Height 346 Eviction Moratorium Exception: Nearly 100 Basement Apartments Hit With Vacate Orders During Pandemic. Menu > Zoom > +, In the View menu, select Zoom. If a landlord tries to evict a tenant based on any of these characteristics, the tenant can use the discrimination as a defense to the eviction. This can include illegally renting housing to guests who stay less than 30 days. For example, to increase text size using: In the menu to the right of the address bar, select and set Zoom level. Mifsud said Stewart threatened and endangered her life, which Stewart denied in the text messages. I packed to move and then COVID came. Everything is dead, he said in the video, looking at his appliances. J90+Y18X[&hZV(CtoNJ|,Y,2jS\\m+L=H:\ Q&xtF&+!O8(*I,U wlR(TI\CPg3$UESk|'l`%FWj[X(UD1]@=[iSgGEH& \W !-lxT( Getting in and out Basement apartments must have multiple means of egress in case one entrance is blocked by fire, for example. Criminal summonses, meanwhile, are adjudicated by the citys Law Department. /Contents 23 0 R Property owners will be liened any costs incurred by the agency and provide relocation services (which may include temporary housing) to any occupants who receive these services. You can report a rooming house, boarding house, or other Single Room Occupancy (SRO) dwelling that is used as a business, illegally converted, or overcrowded. She doesnt know how shell be able to come up with the extra money, or find a new place. He can even work with other contractors, like architects and builders to help ensure all the work is completed in a timely manner. Police also issued at least 131 criminal summonses less serious than an arrest for unlawful eviction during those two years, according to court and NYPD data. This is a read only version of the page. /H [ 790 304 ] Between Feb. 3 and March 2 2021, Holness filed complaints with the citys 311 system 14 times, records show, reporting that her apartment had no heat, gas, electricity, smoke detector or carbon monoxide monitor. "Occasionally we also see situations where there's an apartment that's entirely in an attic or basement, which is generally illegal," Himmelstein adds. Perhaps it is a fire hazard or there is no inside plumbing. 1004. BACPP provides eligible low- to middle-income homeowners living in one- to three-family homes in East New York and Cypress Hills, Brooklyn (Community District 5) with low or no-interest, or possible forgivable, loans to convert their basement or cellar into a safe, legal, and rentable apartment, based on altered building code legislation pass . HPD will re-inspect the premises on the enforcement date to verify the illegal basement or cellar apartment is vacant and properly sealed. /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB Kavanagh said he expects a floor vote on the legislation before the session ends on June 2. Between April and October 2021, HPD sued Mifsud five times in Housing Court, seeking building access for HPD repair crews and court orders directing Mifsud to provide heat, hot water and electricity, as well as civil penalties, according to petitions. Because it was possible that they wouldnt help us, they would say we were renting illegally so we cant do anything, thats why I said we are not going to call, said Luis. 0000059225 00000 n The police appear more likely to issue an arrest when additional crimes are alleged, case files suggest. /O 22 Report past illegal conversion of a commercial space. Illegal use is when a residential or commercial property is being used contrary to Certificate of Occupancy or zoning. But ultimately, they did not file a housing court case. w !1AQaq"2B #3Rbr So all my furniture, what I have personal belongings, nothing, I get nothing. The basement is occupied by one family and does not include boarders. Tenants are turfed out of their homes by private landlords without any reason. He'll eventually be successful, but it will take a good amount of time and cost him a significant amount of money in fines/possible renovations. Those arrests and summonses, however, represent a tiny fraction of times tenants allege they are locked out or intentionally left without heat or hot water. Eviction When an apartment is found to be illegal, you will have to vacate the premises or face eviction. Mayor Eric Adams, Comptroller Brad Lander, the Regional Plan Association and the Pratt Center for Community Development are also behind the legislation. Even as a pandemic eviction moratorium shields many New Yorkers, the city's housing agency has ejected scores of tenants from basement apartments and other unauthorized dwellings, records show. /Outlines 14 0 R Norma and Luis said he called them crazy for asking for a long pause, and ordered them to leave. O&]@Gt.+`4otm*V{ v0h9[8BX77rQXga0B~#ZnMs+ 1xwdc8):hv_GK7]K?!z|.k9|Jfg-1|b Ydendstream In a Brooklyn case, on two occasions a landlord allegedly entered a tenants apartment, hit the tenant, took the keys and threw the tenant down the outside apartment steps. At first, the landlord seemed receptive to helping them but later changed his mind. Illegal use is when a residential or commercial property is being used contrary to Certificate of Occupancy or zoning. Doctor Urged NYCHA Arsenic Tests After Patients Death. You should be contacting an attorney to follow the proper eviction proceedings and save yourself a criminal charge in the process. Holness kept calling the police, and officers wrote up two incident slips on March 21 noting her reports of harassment and illegal eviction. Get updates on important news and legislation from this Committee. 37 0 obj To recap our example, we have a two family house where the tenant lives month to month with no lease on the second floor; the landlord lives on the first floor; and there is someone living in the basement which is not designated for dwelling purposes. Petitioner alleged that on or about February 12, 2021, respondent landlord Aletha Grant . The tenant may be able to win in other ways. %PDF-1.4 Holnesss arrest was the third time in five months that officers in the 101st Precinct arrested one of Mifsuds tenants. Norma said they piled as many of their possessions as they could on their soaked furniture before rushing out. I think its absolutely abysmal, said City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan (D-Queens), who co-founded the housing legal services provider Communities Resist. Illegal apartments from analteredbasement, cellar, or attic. Tenants-rights advocates have spent years urging the city to legalize basement apartments. Im still staying at the shelter, trying to get permanent housing. Occupants of illegal basement and cellar apartments may be ordered by the City to vacate or leave any illegal basement or cellar apartment. Report an SRO illegally converted, overcrowded, or used as business. 0000074030 00000 n Youre offline. You need a Notice to Vacate ASAP! For housing advocates, the scant number of arrests confirms what theyve long observed that the police do not treat unlawful eviction as a crime, preferring to let tenants and landlords duke it out in Housing Court. /Parent 18 0 R Nine days later, a judge ordered Mifsud to fix the most immediately hazardous code violations within 24 hours. << Even if they said it wasnt criminal, I was still believing there was something that they could do. 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