All Forum Posts by: Davendra Bhagwandin

Hi Mary 
 As a broker in The Bronx and a licensed expeditor who's work on resolving municipal violations for investors this is the advice I would give.

On passing your next inspection and proper way to decommissioning the illegal unit:
It depends on the exact nature of the violating condition, what exactly was seen & recorded. 
Was this determination made solely from the inspection?                                                                                                                                         Also if the violating conditions/violations are on record regarding the illegal unit and which entities have issued them.
When dealing with a gas line in NYC a licensed plumber is needed to ensure the work is done to code.

Is it necessary to decommission?
Yes if the insurance turned you down for an illegal unit and that has been documented.
Being found in violation of occupancy/use and an illegal unit can result in multiple violations from DOB, ECB and HPD all stemming from the same underlying violating condition. 

Would future insurances I inquire always see a history of a failed inspection?
To my knowledge no. It is not like car insurance where it follows you if you were to change insurance companies. Though fixing the violation of course would put you in the right.

All in all it is a fixable but tedious issue

If you'd like some help in coming up with a gameplan/ navigating the process feel free to reach out to me.

Building off of the previous reply from Kevin,

yes it's the home was built prior to 1938 generally a CO is not required and you can get a Letter of No Objection (LNO) from the Department of buildings though it may take some time to have that produced (Can take months)

Important to note that here in NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) has final say about the classification of a building and it's Occupancy.

Do you need either a CO or LNO to be generated if one does not exist and there's no formal DOB classification?

In my experience no (2-4 Family transactions).

The Occupancy can be supported by it's current and legal use, number of meters in conjunction with Department of finance (DOF)classification and housing preservation and developments (HPD) classification.

Source:

In early 2021 I was selling agent on two investment properties in the Bronx and Staten Island where this was an issue on a flip out. It was resolved by using the supporting classification.

It won't work every time but it's important to know that it can.