Forum: C of O
May 30, 2008
C of O nightmare!
My grandfather and his brother bought two identical houses in the 1940s and they were always as long as I can remember (I was born in 1962) occupied by two families, ours upstairs and the other in the apt downstairs. We always paid taxes as a two family house. So everything was fine for sixty years until my grandmother who is 92 years old and getting to be a bad judge of character lately rented the apartment downstairs to bad tenants who refused to pay rent and damaged the apartment and called the building dept. and everyone else they could think of to create trouble. Anyhow, the building dept. discovered that the C of O on the house was for one family (It seems that my grandfathers brother changed the C of O on his identical next door house in the 1950s but for some reason my grandfather did not) and they sent my grandmother violation notices for illegal construction etc... She was recovering from a broken hip when the letters arrived so she missed the court dates and now the violations have climbed into potentially $15,000 worth of fines. I am her grandson and finally became aware of the issue and have started the process of seeing what can be done... I went to an architect who started to tell me that he "might" be able to halve the fine but that he would need to redo the blueprints and assuming the downstairs apartment is up to code he will "only" charge me between a low of $8,500 to a high of $15,000 to do the job. I was not happy with him and did not understand much of what he was saying. I may be naive but I feel it is very unfair of the city to hit my grandmother with such huge expenses for something pre-existing for over half a century. She has a hard enough time paying her taxes from the little money she gets. I don't know how we will raise the money for all this. Anyhow, does anyone at least know a competent and honest architect in Brooklyn who can solve this problem economically? Do I need a facilitator or will an architect be able to do everything? Sorry if I am still in the learning phase but I am very confused and inexperienced about all this.
May 29, 2008
Buyin a brownstone with no CO
I'm considering the purchase of a brownstone in Bed-Stuy with no CO (has been in one family since the 1920s), which has been used as both a four and a three family in recent years. I hope to live in it and rent the remaining units (either 2 or 3) - but I want to do it right. Has anyone done something similar- what will I need to do to get a CO (do I need one), what does that entail, and are there any good resources or books I should pick up?
Thanks.
May 23, 2008
Certificate of Harassment Question
We filed for a certificate of no harassment about 3 months ago, had the inspection about 2 months ago, and just yesterday received a form from HPD called an affadavit of no future harassment. The letter states that once this is completed and returned we will receive our certificate. Has anyone else who has gone through this process (hello Brownstoner) received this form? I am confused as to why they would need such a form since the house is vacant except for us and the plan is to convert it to a 2 family. There is noone to harass.
Any insights?
Thanks.
May 16, 2008
necessary to change from 4-family to 3-family?
I have a brownstone with four separate units and a 4-family C of O.
If two units are combined into one dwelling, is it necessary to change the C of O to 3-family?