illegal basement apartment nyc eviction

The NYPD bears the responsibility to enforce the city and states unlawful eviction laws, as detailed in police bulletins, legal guidances and the police patrol guide. Insufficient heat and/or hot water. Can you be evicted from an illegally rented property? I didnt want to waste my time talking to a cop, and in the end, they wouldnt do anything, said Luis. Threats of eviction are not only illegal, but also damaging to the well-being of New Yorkers. The Bronx DAs office said their office prosecuted 11 cases carrying an unlawful eviction charge since 2018, resulting in one guilty plea. All Rights Reserved. << The City Health Commissioner Refused. About 47% of criminal . Members and sponsors make THE CITY possible. Cutting the red tape to ensure the citys basement apartments are livable is the bare minimum we should do, said Beth Finkel, the organization's state director. Heres What to Do Next. You will also be fined for having an illegal basement rental. It just becomes a numbers game, like [prosecutors] can only prioritize so many cases.. We Asked Four People With Inside Knowledge. New Jersey, for instance, makes it very clear to landlords that they may not profit from illegal activity. 0000074030 00000 n Its not that we left, we were kicked out, as if we were worthless, said Luis. The carve-outs would make it easier to regulate the apartments and declare them legal without being fully compliant, Kavanagh said. The landlord recently notified her that her $750 monthly rent will rise by $300, citing rising heat and electricity costs. Utilities . Usually, if a cellar has any windows, the windows are too small for an adult to fit through. HPD launched a pilot program, the Basement Apartment Conversion Pilot Program (BACPP), in partnership with Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation. Other ruined possessions included power tools, an orthopedic mattress and scooters to deliver food. If it wasnt obvious basements needed a pathway to legalization before, now were seeing that having no legal protections makes you exponentially more vulnerable during a pandemic like this, said Will Spisak, of Chhaya Community Development Corporation. The rule is as follows: a landlord may bring a holdover action to evict a tenant, even if there is someone living in an illegal basement. xZ[o~7yq )OkuN)%h;Ps8K7;ng?#[__zI/9IrxkY^_}]_z$JS'vn?qNY~}u0}}3*r, 9EKEi/Suc8k:w'cgwY3wC're^$DO?p7@yqN!9Dr)yofoS% A7LY04Q;';O*9'`_88~VR*D=Bxgu\;eJ2TDJ2,ZV4 V'^Lb2~nKQB[!T After spending a night in jail, she was issued a temporary order of protection by a judge. A group of Queens officials who have lived in basement apartments themselves said Wednesday that calls to remove such units are not realistic. Including all New York City Housing Court cases where tenants alleged a disruption of services, a lack of repairs, harassment, illegal lockouts or an uninhabitable apartment, tenants filed just over 16,450 cases seeking relief over those two years. The 600 sq. After they left their apartment, they spent two days in Corona Park before Norma called her brother in Brooklyn to ask for a place to stay, according to Norma. /Size 38 Term, 2005) (emphasis added). The police department was previously budgeted for $454 million in overtime pay for the current fiscal year but is already on pace to spend over $820 million. And it hurt us very much to leave our home, said Norma. . NEW YORK -- Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, chair of the Assembly subcommittee on Retention of Homeownership and Stabilization of Affordable Housing and Senator Brian Kavanagh, chair of the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development unveiled legislation to pave the way for the enactment of local laws legalizing basement apartments. A basement has at least one-half of its height above curb level, while a cellar has less than one-half of its height above curb level. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. This project was produced with support from the Investigative Reporters & Editors Journalist of Color Investigative Reporting Fellowship. Advocates say that the tenants living in an estimated tens of thousands of basement apartments represent some of the citys most vulnerable residents. 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. Click a topic, or press the enter key on a topic, to reveal its answer. The bills have support from moderate and progressive Democrats in both houses, including Queens Sen. Jessica Ramos, Manhattan Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried. Additionally, regardless of what the lease may state or the illegality of the premises, participating in illegal activities will get the tenant evicted as if the lease were in effect. I was afraid they would do the same thing over and over, she said of her landlord. Norma and Luis did not receive any federal stimulus and unemployment benefits because they are undocumented, and they did not apply to the states Excluded Workers Fund, which has stopped taking applications. 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. A spokesperson for the Staten Island DA said their office has handled no unlawful eviction cases since 2019. John Farr. The bill would grant theDepartment of Buildingsthe authority to create exceptions and new building codes. If the rental of a basement in a two-family dwelling would result in changing the status of the building to a multiple dwelling (three-family or more) and would require a new Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Department of Buildings. Long story short we have been collecting 1,200 a month on rent from a family friend. /N 3 Nonprofit partner organizations working on the effort, including Cypress Hills LDC and Chhaya CDC, said in an open letter signed by dozens of other housing and community development groups that the reductions left the program with just $91,000 for the year. Obviously, a legal apartment is going to command more on the rental market than an illegal one. LISTEN: A State of the State for an Unsettled State, How These NYC Public Housing Residents Became Models for Tenant Rights Activism, In State of the State Speech, Hochul Backs Adams Housing Agenda. Eviction notices for trumped-up reasons. View > Zoom InMacintosh Shortcut: Command+. In November 2021, Judge Enedina Pilar Sanchez ordered Mifsud to pay the city in civil penalties for the dozens of days Holness was without heat and the 89 days she was without hot water, charged at $250 per day. 64 as two-decade-long fight to reclaim building still going strong. Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website. How to evict a tenant out of illegal basement apartment in nyc. The NYC Department of Buildings tacked a notice of inspection at my door.They came during the day when I'm at work. 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. Unauthorized basement and cellar units come with risks including exit issues, unsafe gas and electrical systems, and a lack of light and ventilation, theDepartment of Buildingssays. The Official Website of the City of New York. /Font << /F14 25 0 R /F18 29 0 R /F22 33 0 R >> In New York, a basement, cellar, or attic apartment needs to be at least 7 feet high in order to be considered a living space. The tenant doesnt move, so is then served with court papers a Notice of Petition and Petition for Holdover. /Filter [/FlateDecode ] /E 79901 The time to act is now.. If your landlord . If your apartment is indeed illegal, the landlord cannot collect rent on it in the first place, as he's breaking the law. Hurricane Ida wasnt their first inundation their home had flooded at least three times before, according to Luis. Work out something with the tenant about moving out, offer some money for moving expences! I called the police, and I was so despondent. Thus, renting a basement designated for storage or accessory use creates an illegal occupancy in the building. Because I was in the cold, and I was in the dark.. He can even work with other contractors, like architects and builders to help ensure all the work is completed in a timely manner. /Prev 89579 Stewart and Holness, who are both Black, see a racist double standard in their treatment by the police. << Undocumented immigrant couple Norma and Luis say they were illegally evicted from their Queens apartment after it was flooded in Hurricane Ida. The rental agreement in many states becomes unenforceable. [1] notice to pay rent or vacate the premises. xref The basement is occupied by one family and does not include boarders. An official record of violations against her landlord did not help Holness who found herself a police target instead. Beginning March 20, 2020, all evictions across New York State were suspended until June 19, 2020, and the courts are not accepting any new eviction or foreclosure cases. >> Renters face immediate eviction, and landlords can receive up to $25,000 in fines. 0000064161 00000 n HPD cited Mifsud eight times in January 2021 for violations in Stewarts apartment, two of them immediately hazardous. Petitioner Patricia Howard ("petitioner") commenced this illegal eviction proceeding seeking to be restored to possession of the premises 3337 Fish Avenue, Basement Apartment, Bronx, New York, and an award of treble damages pursuant to RPAPL 853. Everything is dead, he said in the video, looking at his appliances. << % According to Norma and Luis, during the pandemic the landlord also told them incorrectly that the eviction moratorium only applied to citizens, not undocumented immigrants. City of New York. The city allocated $11.7 million for the three-year program, which would subsidize low- or no- interest loans of up to $120,000 each for homeowners seeking to bring basements up to code, while guiding them throughout the construction process. ;KiadxtaV9[">)jcjT /Linearized 1 Since NYC has so many different kinds of buildings and tenancies, were going to use a two family house as an example in this article. Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use, Supplemental Terms, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. /Type /Catalog Heating Regulations for the City of Yonkers. /O 22 On April 3, the police came again to the building where Mifsud and Holness live. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Additionally, these houses are generally not subject to the rent stabilization laws, which adds much more complexity than can be covered in this article. However, renting an illegal apartment comes with its own risks, including that your landlord won't have to comply with local laws relating to renting places to . The tenants, many of them immigrants, often reside without a lease as they live in fear of being discovered by authorities. DOB also posts Tips for Renters to help identify when an apartment is illegal. 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. The state Senate and the Assembly are close to passing legislation that would legalize the underground market of unregulated basement apartments in New York City. When we left, Carol [Holness] became the enemy, because Carol knew everything, said Stewart. Another hurdle is the 2020 New York State discovery reforms that substantially expanded records prosecutors must turn over to the defense, and tightened the time to do so. In announcing the effort in March 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement that too many of the citys basement apartments are illegal and unsafe and that the effort would help New Yorkers convert their basements into safe and affordable homes. But that was before COVID and cuts to local government spending. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. About 47% of criminal summons issued in 2021 by the NYPD for unlawful eviction were dismissed, while 44% are still pending. City of New York. Attorneys may be able to work out a deal with a landlord and avoid court. /L 90115 The guide lists specific instructions for arresting landlords if an officer has probable cause some sign that the law is likely broken. Or, perhaps the building is not registered with the city as an apartment or rental unit. A spokesperson said that generally cases are sealed because the charges were dismissed or defendants pleaded guilty to a non-criminal violation such as disorderly conduct. So all my furniture, what I have personal belongings, nothing, I get nothing. A tenant in an illegal apartment may be entitled to relocation expenses if the landlord attempts to Two family residential houses abound in Queens and Brooklyn. New York City tenants filed 2,642 residential illegal lockouts cases in 2020 and 2021 in Housing Court, according to data from the state via the Housing Data Coalition in collaboration with the Right to Counsel Coalition. Tenants are turfed out of their homes by private landlords without any reason. The bottom of any yard or other required open space cannot be higher than six inches below the window sill of any required window in the room. The NYPD made just 39 arrests for the crime of unlawful eviction in 2020 and 2021, when that crime was the top charge listed at arraignment, state court data shows. During the dead of winter, Holness said in an interview, she wore a diaper at night and slept in 14 layers of clothing to stay warm in her barely habitable apartment. 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. An illegal conversion is an alteration or modification of an existing building to create additional apartment units without first obtaining the proper permits or approval from DOB. As is often the case, a tenant is renting the second floor apartment, while the landlord lives in the first floor apartment. A basement is a story of a building partly below curb level but with at least one-half of its height above the curb level. Illegal apartments from analteredbasement, cellar, or attic. The unregulated nature of these basement apartments waswidely blamed for the deaths of 11 residentsin Septemberduring Hurricane Ida. modsquad81. On May 25, Housing Court Judge John S. Lansden found Holness quite credible and said there is no doubt that [she] was a tenant for the last three years and was removed from the subject premises without due process of law Holness won her case, and was granted an order to get into her apartment. The apartment is in the basement or attic. We encourage legislators to pass this bill as a first step in providing New York City with the local control it needs to enact measures that bring these units up to code, creating safe housing for all, Afridi said. For a subterranean apartment to potentially qualify as a legal living space approved by the Department of Buildings, more than half of its height must be above curb level. Now comes the interesting part. You would not be removing the kitchen for safety concerns. What are your rights? /Height 346 For example, to increase text size using: In the menu to the right of the address bar, select and set Zoom level. Tenants-rights advocates have spent years urging the city to legalize basement apartments. Most of the buildings also have numerous vacant apartments, part of a longtime pattern of warehousing, tenants said. For assistance with your ECB/OATH violations, illegal basement violations, gas company violations, gas boiler violations, or any plumbing building violations in NYC, call John Farr at 917-324-2535. (a) it shall be unlawful for any person to evict or attempt to evict an occupant of a dwelling unit who has lawfully occupied the dwelling unit for thirty consecutive days or longer or who has entered into a lease with respect to such dwelling except to the extent permitted by law pursuant to a warrant of eviction or other order of a court of 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 . Rise by $ 300, citing rising heat and electricity costs would the... Covid and cuts to Local government spending and landlords can receive up to $ in. Storage or accessory use creates an illegal occupancy in the cold, and in the video, looking at appliances! 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