0000063002 00000 n Kavanagh said he expects a floor vote on the legislation before the session ends on June 2. A pilot program launched in East New York in 2019 to legalize basement apartments in the Brooklyn neighborhood has only enrolled eight of 8,000 eligible homeowners, in part due to city budget cuts . Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use, Supplemental Terms, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. HPD launched a pilot program, the Basement Apartment Conversion Pilot Program (BACPP), in partnership with Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation. You can report past illegal conversion or alteration of a commercial space. Report past illegal conversion of a manufacturing space. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. A third category of rent stabilized apartments covers buildings with three or . More than 7,000 nurses returned to work Thursday morning after reaching a tentative agreement for better staffing ratios. I think its absolutely abysmal, said City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan (D-Queens), who co-founded the housing legal services provider Communities Resist. Stop shoveling, you are in deep enough! A household may qualify based on current income or calendar year 2020 income that is at or below 80 percent AMI. Youre offline. /O 22 Keep in mind that the tenant must vacate illegal properties, and if he/she refuses to then the landlord must pay for eviction proceedings as well. 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. To report a residential rental less than 30 days, go to the Housing Used for Short-Term Rental (Vacation Rentals or Illegal Home-Sharing) page. The Manhattan DAs office noted it has prosecuted 20 such cases since 2019, and four remain open. 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. Can a Landlord Collect Rent for an Illegal Apartment? The laws are different in different states. Because his case was pending in criminal court, Stewart lost a high paying job offer as an appliance mechanic, according to him and an email reviewed by THE CITY. If you would like to know more about landlord-tenant issues, or need help with a case, contact the Law Office of Richard Kistnen, (718) 738-2324, or email [emailprotected]. 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. Before his November arrest, according to text messages provided to THE CITY, Stewart confronted someone using a number that appears to belong to Mifsud about the lack of heat in his apartment, which he shared with his wife, mother-in-law and four children. Usually, if a cellar has any windows, the windows are too small for an adult to fit through. You can report people living in commercial space. Vanie Mangal in the home her mother owns . 0000001370 00000 n In the scant instances landlords or property owners do end up in criminal court, state court data shows that punishment is virtually non-existent. And its hard to interpret it as any other way, except that its a way of getting around the eviction moratorium.. 37 0 obj Tenants-rights advocates have spent years urging the city to legalize basement apartments. The C of O is an actual certificate issued by the Department of Buildings that identifies what the property can be used for. endobj Its goal: to work with property owners to legalize 40 basement apartments in one- to three-family homes. Even as a pandemic eviction moratorium shields many New Yorkers, the citys housing agency has ejected scores of tenants from basement apartments and other unauthorized dwellings, records show. You can report a past illegal residential building conversion or alteration. Evicting tenants without getting a judges order in Housing Court first is a crime in New York, and not an uncommon one. If you are the renter [] Deenihan, the Legal Aid lawyer, noted his office had seen a dramatic increase in landlords alleging assaults when tenants called the police. Im not getting no help from the cops she added. No defendant arrested in 2020 or 2021 has been convicted of unlawfully evicting a tenant when that charge was the top charge listed, according to the court data. You can opt out at any time. City officials ordered an apartment vacated on Hoyt Street in Brooklyn. If your apartment is indeed illegal, the landlord cannot collect rent on it in the first place, as he's breaking the law. The city estimates there are roughly 50,000 illegal basement apartments in New York City. 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. According to him, police alleged he hit Mifsud in November 2020 and kicked her down the stairs in December. A police department spokesperson said the department had recorded just nine arrests for unlawful evictions in that period. 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. Instructors at Fordham University Threaten to Strike, Rising Groundwater Threatens New York City Researchers to Study How Much, Solitary at Rikers: People Go Crazy in There, LISTEN: The History of Rikers from Those Who Were There, NYC Asylum Seekers Returning to Port Authority for Help, The Future of Gas Stoves in New York: What to Know Ahead of a Ban, NYPDs Track Record on Overtime Spending Casts Doubt on Budget Claims, Fiscal Discipline: Libraries, Schools Would Absorb Cuts in Adams Preliminary Budget, Nurses End Strike, Reach Tentative Agreements with Montefiore and Mount Sinai Hospitals. View > Text Size > Largest, In the View menu, select Zoom In. 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. On April 3, the police came again to the building where Mifsud and Holness live. In another, a landlord allegedly cut the power and water to a tenant in a bid to evict them. After Holness was released from jail, in early April, the locks to her apartment were removed, she testified in Housing Court. When does heat turn on in nyc apartments? #vuU7d |l KJ?e8w!t,w2gDf27{Sf%6tb:Q]J@GuMEbl0k7; Y[qVR@ {&'+qL9ibGa8JEjg#1Md7hL jZnd:CzIoLnYx^5g& 6K@`1lb-aXX87mQV` ? An SRO unit is one or two rooms and either lacks a complete kitchen and/or bathroom or shares them with other units. 2022 All Rights Reserved. Undocumented immigrant couple Norma and Luis say they were illegally evicted from their Queens apartment after it was flooded in Hurricane Ida. After both arrests, he was released from jail and issued two temporary orders of protection, which limited his contact with Mifsud. 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. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. In New York City, a claim can be made up to $10,000. 2022 NY Slip Op 51210(U) [77 Misc 3d 1214(A)] Decided on September 9, 2022 Civil Court Of The City Of New York, Queens County Sanchez, J. 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. 1. As is often the case, a tenant is renting the second floor apartment, while the landlord lives in the first floor apartment. 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. Renters face immediate eviction, and landlords can receive up to $25,000 in fines. 11-17-2010, 06:05 PM. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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. Unlawful eviction is a Class A misdemeanor, putting it on par with other misdemeanors like sexual misconduct or petit larceny. You don't have permissions to view these records. /MediaBox [0 0 612 792] /Font << /F14 25 0 R /F18 29 0 R /F22 33 0 R >> You can report past conversion or alteration of amanufacturing building altered now being used as residential or commercial space. 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. /Width 348 >> The NYC Department of Buildings tacked a notice of inspection at my door.They came during the day when I'm at work. I didnt want to waste my time talking to a cop, and in the end, they wouldnt do anything, said Luis. Eviction When an apartment is found to be illegal, you will have to vacate the premises or face eviction. Basements and cellars differ in their amount of height above curb level. Getting in and out Basement apartments must have multiple means of egress in case one entrance is blocked by fire, for example. Illegal conversion is when an existing residential or commercial building has beenaltered or modified to create an additional room, space, or unit without first getting approval from the New York City Department of Buildings. One big thing youll find here in NYC, especially in Queens and Brooklyn, are people living in illegal basements. The question is, however, can a tenant be evicted if someone is living in an illegal basement? When he opened the backyard door, dirty water cascaded into their apartment like a waterfall, according to him and multiple photos and videos provided to THE CITY. /Length 2165 THE CITY was unable to reach the landlord of their unit after multiple requests. 1. /XObject << /Im13 24 0 R >> Tenants are turfed out of their homes by private landlords without any reason. But an eviction moratorium keeps them from being kicked out. Utilities . According to criminal charges, the police alleged Holness kicked Mifsud down the stairs. As New York City Cleans Up From Ida Landlords Won T Be Fined For Illegal Basement Apartments Abc7. A tenant in an illegal apartment may be entitled to relocation expenses if the landlord attempts to About 47% of criminal summons issued in 2021 by the NYPD for unlawful eviction were dismissed, while 44% are still pending. Lets also not forget an important fact in our example: there is someone living in an illegal basement. The only regulatory solutions the city has is to inspect, issue violations and vacate, Kavanagh said. Heres What to Do Next. Even when these conditions are met, the landlord must take the tenant to court, win, and . Norma and Luis did not call the police to report an alleged lockout, they said, after seeing what happened to a neighbor who tried. Carol Holness alleges her former landlord threw her belongings in the trash while trying to evict her from her Rockaways home. << /Contents 23 0 R >> Norma and Luis said he called them crazy for asking for a long pause, and ordered them to leave. Obviously, a legal apartment is going to command more on the rental market than an illegal one. Boarding houses and rooming houses are SROs. Even if you live in a 2 family with an illegal apartment, and you call DOB on it, they can evict you even if you're not living in the illegal apartment, since the basement apartment would be . << Some states are very strict with landlords who rent illegal apartments to tenants. You may not have a free ride to stay without paying, but you may have the right to recoup at least some of your losses. Comptroller Brad Lander Proposes New Approach to Provide Resident Rights and Protections for NYC Basement Apartments August 30, 2022 Modeled on NY's Loft Law, this regulatory framework would require immediate basic safety interventions, protect tenants, & offer resources to building owners Proposal is part of a longer-term path toward legalization } !1AQa"q2#BR$3br Eviction notices for trumped-up reasons. But this time, they arrested Holness. Perhaps it is a fire hazard or there is no inside plumbing. This type of activity violates zoning regulations. 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. /P 0 When an apartment is found to be illegal, you will have to vacate the premises or face eviction. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. It also carries hefty civil penalties, too. The city has at various times tried to create programs to legalize that situation, grant amnesty to property tenants and make sure safety features are in place, Kavanagh explained. 23 0 obj As a result, the second floor tenant has been living in the apartment as a month to month tenant. xref Know that saying, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is"? HPD inspected Holnesss apartment again on March 22 and issued three more immediately hazardous violations, because she again lacked electricity or hot water. The bill (S8783/A9802) allows for . A spokesperson for HPD, Jeremy House, told THE CITY that removing tenants from basement apartments and other illegal dwellings is done as a last resort. Additionally, these houses are generally not subject to the rent stabilization laws, which adds much more complexity than can be covered in this article. 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. Report an SRO illegally converted, overcrowded, or used as business. Its not that we left, we were kicked out, as if we were worthless, said Luis. Report past illegal conversion of a commercial space. 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. Every room must have at least one window. Can you be evicted from an illegally rented property? << Learn more about Digital Accessibility from the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. Report past illegal conversion of a residential space. She also reported that her mailbox was broken and that there was a mice infestation. Another tenant of Mifsud, Christopher Stewart, Holnesss upstairs neighbor, was also charged with misdemeanor assault and 2nd degree harassment after he complained about conditions in his apartment. 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 in February 2019, Intro. Sateesh Nori, attorney-in-charge of the Queens Neighborhood Office of the Legal Aid Society, also said police help was rare. 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. It just becomes a numbers game, like [prosecutors] can only prioritize so many cases.. 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. Its very hard.. So here is the scenario. 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. THE CITY contacted every borough district attorney for information on all cases since January 2020 that include the charge of unlawful eviction. /CropBox [0 0 612 792] Please call 311 for more information on compliance. In our example, we were using a two family residential house in Queens. And it hurt us very much to leave our home, said Norma. Basement Apartment Conversion Pilot Program (BACPP). . /Height 346 Just make sure the rest of the house is in order! Hochul signs carpet, rug recycling bill, Judge orders developer to sell old P.S. To report active/current construction without a permit or against approved plans, go totheBuilding Construction Complaintpage. 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. We Asked Four People With Inside Knowledge. /Name /Im24 She left the rehab facility this past May, during the pandemic, and was homeless. Common browsers are included in this page; mention of a specific browser does not imply endorsement or recommendation. Everything is dead, he said in the video, looking at his appliances. ;KiadxtaV9[">)jcjT << Meanwhile, city attorneys began taking legal action against Mifsud. %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz /Length 232 A group of Queens officials who have lived in basement apartments themselves said Wednesday that calls to remove such units are not realistic. 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. In every instance, the arrests came after those tenants made repeated complaints about building conditions to either Mifsud or HPD. The landlord has brought a holdover case to evict the second floor tenant. The basement is occupied by only members of the family or families occupying the dwelling. (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 /Names << /Dests 10 0 R>> endobj Attorneys may be able to work out a deal with a landlord and avoid court. 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. Tamel Anderson says his landlord locked him out of his Albany basement apartment. I lose everything, said Holness. You need a Notice to Vacate ASAP! 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. This project was produced with support from the Investigative Reporters & Editors Journalist of Color Investigative Reporting Fellowship. 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. 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. To report a residential rental less than 30 days, go to theHousing Used for Short-Term Rental (Vacation Rentals or Illegal Home-Sharing)page. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. 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. There are lots of rules, regulations and procedures that need to be followed, especially by landlords, to make sure that a unit that they are renting is in full compliance to rent. The BASE (Basement Apartments Safe for Everyone) campaign is a coalition of community organizations, advocates, tenants, homeowners, and community members who are organizing working-class neighborhoods and communities of color to increase the number of legally-recognized, affordable, and safe basement apartments, as well as other accessory dwelling units ("ADUs") in New York City. Advocates say that the tenants living in an estimated tens of thousands of basement apartments represent some of the citys most vulnerable residents. 0000064161 00000 n While you can be evicted because it is an illegal residence, you cannot be evicted for not meeting the terms of the lease. Criminal court is a huge assembly-line type justice place, where you have hundreds of thousands of cases going through every year on all different levels, said Deenihan. We cant ignore the fact that these illegal apartments exist, Epstein said. Report a commercial space used as a residence. Term, 2005) (emphasis added). The arrest data are revealed in a trove of criminal data New York State released in response to the 2020 George Floyd protests, to increase transparency in the criminal justice system. They called a tenant helpline instead and were connected to the Queens Legal Aid Society, which offered them free legal advice. Learn if an apartment or room is illegal or unsafe. Cellars in one- and two-family homes cannot be lawfully used for sleeping, eating, or primary. There are specific conditions under which a landlord can move a tenant out of his property: 1) If the written lease between a landlord or tenant is up, 2) If a tenant withholds rent from the landlord, or 3) If a tenant has severely violated the lease. Of those who responded, Manhattan . City of New York. Holness withheld her rent in February because of the persistent utility shutoffs, according to evidence she later offered in a Housing Court case she filed against Mifsud. Many two family houses in Queens have a C of O that states the first and second floors may be used for one family dwelling purposes, and the basement or cellar may be used for storage or accessory use. You can report a residential space used as a business. left the program with just $91,000 for the year, 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, Northwest Bronx Leads City in Heat Complaints, No Heat in Your NYC Apartment? A month later, her landlord removed all of her belongings and changed the locks. It was our home. Newark has free . View more property details, sales history and Zestimate data on Zillow. Survey participation is voluntary. Occupants of illegal basement and cellar apartments face potential dangers such as carbon monoxide poisoning, inadequate light and ventilation, and inadequate egress in the event of a fire. Department of Housing Preservation and Development inspectors issued 95 vacate orders for illegal occupancy between March and October of this year. 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. Holness, a home health aide, saw her utilities cut and her locks changed last year in her Far Rockaway apartment, after her neighbor and landlord, Rachel Mifsud, received a foreclosure notice. I was only picking them up outside. >> I packed to move and then COVID came. This is a read only version of the page. 6429 W Hampton Ave Apt 4, Milwaukee, WI 53218-4962 is an apartment unit listed for rent at /mo. The judge directed Mifsud to provide keys. The Bronx DAs office said their office prosecuted 11 cases carrying an unlawful eviction charge since 2018, resulting in one guilty plea. There is a minimum ceiling height of 7 ft. The answer is usually pretty simple. Can landlord evict for no reason? Their possessions including his food delivery scooter were destroyed. I called the police, and I was so despondent. If the property is located in Nassau County, Suffolk County, or outside of New York City, you can sue up to $5,000 in City Courts or $3,000 in Town and Village Courts. Tothebuilding construction Complaintpage early April, the landlord has brought a holdover case to evict the second floor.. Apartment were removed, she testified in Housing Court carpet, rug recycling bill, Judge orders developer Sell... To reach the landlord of their unit after multiple requests go totheBuilding construction Complaintpage one- two-family. A commercial space recorded just nine arrests for unlawful evictions in that period was to..., Judge orders developer to Sell old P.S related to your state landlord removed all of her and. For rent at /mo said the department had recorded just nine arrests for unlawful evictions in period... 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On this website may be considered a lawyer referral Service City attorneys began taking legal action against.. Class a misdemeanor, putting it on par with other units i think its absolutely abysmal, said City Shekar... Former landlord threw her belongings and changed the locks City, a tenant is renting the second apartment. Hurt us very much to leave our home, said Norma landlords T... O is an apartment unit listed for rent at /mo 6429 W Hampton Ave Apt,. Reference the Terms of Service apply of basement apartments in New York City, a can... Use and the Supplemental Terms, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy not be used! 40 basement apartments must have multiple means of egress in case one entrance is blocked by fire for... Apartment vacated on Hoyt Street in Brooklyn floor tenant has been living in an estimated tens of of. Co-Founded the Housing legal services provider Communities Resist 80 percent AMI for more on... 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