streaker's Profile
Author's Posts
November 28, 2008
does anybody know where to find good but cheap windows?
I have a house out in Brooklyn and I need to replace over twenty five windows. My budget is very tight so I want to try to balance quality against price and get something as inexpensive as possible while still good quality. Can anyone please recommend a vendor?
August 31, 2008
Need advice on evicting squatter
My 93 yr old grandmother lives with her daughter in an apt and owns a house nearby. The daughter keeps her cats there but nobody is currently living in the property. Recently she asked some homeless man to go to the house to feed the cats every day. He decided to move his girlfriend and dog and property into the house and refuses now to leave and threatened her and said she should try to spend the time and money to get him evicted through housing court. I called the police and asked them to evict the man since he has no lease, no rent receipt, no mail over thirty days old, no witness testimony and even no keys!!! The police refuse to act however. Amazingly they claim that they (the police) know that he is there over thirty days because "they saw him in front of the house some time ago" I said he was visiting over a month ago perhaps to feed cats but only two weeks earlier seems to have moved in. I told the police also that my mother is not the owner of the property and no longer lives there and that my grandmother never who is sole owner never authorized this man to even go into the property. They claim she is the custodian of the property however and let this guy in and he is there over thirty days and they can do nothing. I begged them to talk to the neighbors who would confirm that he is not there that long and I said that I myself was at the house three weeks before and he was not there. The officer refused to talk to the neighbors and said "maybe he was there and left and returned". Now it is labor day and soon IT WILL be over thirty days due to police inaction. Any advice will be very welcome. Who do you appeal to when the police will not help you with someone breaking the law? They even said they will arrest me for illegal eviction if I lock the guy out!!!!!
June 22, 2008
C of O lost and found at DOB!
This is a follow up of my post below entitled "C of O nightmare". Well I went out and paid a lawyer lot's of money to try to lower the $15,000 in penalties and was about to hire an architect to see if the one family could be converted to a legal two when I decided to go back to the DOB and do some more investigations. I still could not believe that my grandfather and his brother got a C of O change for one house and not for the other half a century ago. I told this story to everyone I could up there and got the general response that if the C of O said one family on the computer and their record room then that was that.
Finally I got a sympathetic ear and a very nice guy working there decided to check the docket book (this is where the applications for C of Os were hand written in decades ago) and what do you think? They found out that yes, the C of O for my grandfathers house had been changed to a two family but never registered properly . If I had not known the exact date that the other house had the C of O changed and guessed that our house had been changed the same day then they never would have unearthed the mistake and I would have been out tens of thousands of dollars in fines and heartache. As it is I spent over a grand on legal fees and lost a few thousands in rent since I kicked the tenant out not wanting to continue to rent an "illegal" apartment. I am relieved but very upset now with the DOB. I feel that they screwed up and were out for my blood and it was unfair. Should I try to get them to refund me my legal costs or let well enough alone? It is interesting that despite explaining the story to a half dozen lawyers and expeditors not one of them thought to tell me to have the docket book checked! It took the sympathetic ear of an employee to uncover the mistake. The lesson is to be persistent and NICE!
June 9, 2008
anyone have any experience using Green Light Expediting?
need a firm for change of C of O and arguing down default penalties hopefully
June 6, 2008
Has anyone had any experience with Fast Architects
They are in Jamaica Queens and I want them to convert a 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.
Author's Comments
I realize I am overreacting to this situation because of financial difficulties and perhaps I sound immature. Ignorance of the law is no excuse of course. If someone can just please direct me to an architect who is experienced and not the most expensive one in the city I would appreciate that. Also, if someone would tell me if I need the services of an expeditor to plead my case before the judge that would be greatly appreciated as well. I know nothing about amending a C of O but I do know that people of similar qualifications can often charge vastly different prices for the same services and in every profession there are competent and incompetent people. I suppose I gave too much detail above when all I am really asking is advice on how to find such a firm or person. Thanks, and sorry if I sounded like a cry baby...
Posted by: streaker at May 30, 2008 10:48 AM in response to C of O nightmare!
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
10:28 you are so wrong. OP thinks the city is being unfair for enforcing the law. Unfair. That's their words. What a load. And if you can't make a post without using vulgar language multiple times please go post on howard stern.com.
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 10:50 AM in response to C of O nightmare!
If you are not doing any construction or renovation work, you might be better off trying to work directly with an expeditor. The expeditor will have a licensed architect do whatever needs to be done by an architect, which in your case sounds minimal. Search the archives for recommended expeditors. I have been working with Gustavo Singares -- 917 273-8962 -- to change my CofO, but i can't speak to whether he has an architect who can do what you need done. This route may be cheaper than working through an architect, but it's still going to cost thousands of dollars.
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 10:58 AM in response to C of O nightmare!
"(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)"
Your grandfathers brother had foresight. Your family has been collecting more in rent for 50 years than they have been paying in taxes. Time to pay the piper.
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 11:50 AM in response to C of O nightmare!
hi
while I don't have any suggestions - I do hope something works in your favor. I think you guys would have probably been able to get away with the current situation hadn't been for the horrible tenants that have since moved in and caused you heaps of trouble.
you don't want to mess with the DOB in terms of youe building
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 1:15 PM in response to C of O nightmare!
Ignore the bitter jealous renter aholes here.
But the core of their advice is correct - do take care of this and stop focusing on whether it's fair or unfair. It also doesn't sound like you can expect to take care of this cheaply. You will still have plenty of equity in your house despite what you spend on this matter.
I agree with a couple others that the place to start is an Expeditor and they will have architects on staff. Google to find these kinds of firms in NYC, or look in archives here. Good luck.
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 1:53 PM in response to C of O nightmare!
Dear 10:28, this is 6:15. If you take the time to re-read my post, you will see that I offered very helpful advice. I just get annoyed when a homeowner thinks an architect is "incompetent" or "dishonest" because he or she has a better idea of the amount of work involved, and intends to charge accordingly.
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 2:36 PM in response to C of O nightmare!
If the architect wasn't able to clearly inpart info to you as a proposed client, then he or she is not a good architect. You are right to look elsewhere.
Meanwhile, contact your local assemblyman/councilman on your grandmother's behalf. This is the kind of thing that they can often do well. There may be services to which she is entitled. Usually, these offices have "case workers" who at the very least will get some of the fines waived for missing the court dates, etc due to illness.
Good luck!
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 4:25 PM in response to C of O nightmare!
what you need to do is get an expeditor on board right away. they will be able to get those violations reduced dramatically. they will frequently also have architects that they work with on jobs like this where there is no design work involved and you need someone to just draw up the drawings and then sign and seal them. I have worked with greenlight expediting and they are very reliable and comparably inexpensive. there are loads of other expeditors who can help.
if you really want to save money and have time on your hands there are ways. you need to get the existing conditions drawn up. you could get that done by an architecture student looking to earn some money in their summer holidays or something. then you just pay the architect to review, comment, sign and seal. generally that is a $2,000 cost. you can file it yourself if you want to too. its not hard, just a bit time consuming and confusing at the beginning. but an expeditor could well save you enough money on violations to make it worth hiring them for that alone.
Posted by: guest at May 30, 2008 4:53 PM in response to C of O nightmare!
You will need the help of an expediter, as has been suggested already. The difference between legal two families and legal one families is relatively small with regard to code. Might be wise to consult a real estate attorney as well. Shoot us an email if you have trouble finding either and we'll hook you up with some trustworthy folks: info@housebywe.com
Posted by: housebywe at May 30, 2008 8:06 PM in response to C of O nightmare!
It'll cost a minimum of 50k in architect's fees and construction costs to change the C of O, not to mention the fines.
The Building Department is very strict about C of O rules. Everything in your grandmother's house will be inspected and EVERYTHING has to conform to code for the C of O to be changed.
You're in for a much bigger ride than you seem to anticipate. Hiring an architect is just one small part of the process.
Posted by: guest at June 1, 2008 11:05 AM in response to C of O nightmare!
OK - here is the update. I spoke to some officers in New York City and told them the story about the house in Brooklyn and asked their advice . They all said that the reason the officers on the scene would not throw him out was because they don't want to take responsibility and latter get sued and that I should throw his stuff in the street and lock the door and then it would be up to him to prove he belongs there . They even implied that this is what they would do and that I was being kind of a fool for letting myself get pushed around by a homeless guy in my own home like this. I was seriously considering this course of action until I read the rent laws on Google last night and saw the penalty for illegal eviction. Anyhow I decided maybe I would have better luck today calling 911 again and perhaps a different set of cops would see things my way. Sure enough a more understanding pair showed up. Having practice now I told my story more lucidly and seemed to be winning them over. They spoke with the homeless guy and he said he had some lawyers letter proving he lived there (not on him however) and that he tape recorded my mother saying she was renting him the aptment but still could not produce keys, lease, receipt of payment or mail or nada! The cops then asked my why I did not call right after he moved in. I told them I live in NYC and only found out about it two weeks after the fact. They then called their supervisor who came down to the property and reviewed the facts with me and the squatter. At first he said he that he did not know who to believe because the squatter might have been there thirty days and later prove it and I could be lying. I told him that I did not understand a law which gave the benefit of the doubt to a person with no documentation that he belonged in a property over the rights of a property owner. The chief then suggested that I lock him out but I protested that that might subject me to illegal eviction penalties and that I felt it was their duty to get him out. Anyhow, after a back and forth for almost an hour the cops finally convinced the guy to leave or they might have to arrest him. All I know from the whole thing is that nobody seems to know what the law is in this kind of situation and there really ought to be some clearer protocols for the police to deal with such things so that neither tenants or landlords are hurt. I got lucky and talked my way to victory essentially. Now I gotta hope the bum won't come back and throw a Malatov coctail through my window in the middle of the night in revenge.
Posted by: streaker at August 31, 2008 11:02 PM in response to Need advice on evicting squatter