The HPD and Landmark/Historic Building
I recently bought a 3-family landmarked brownstone in an historic district of Brooklyn that has some minor HPD violations from the previous owner. I have fixed those violations and would like to bring an inspector into the property to have them cleared. The problem is, of course, that subsequent to receiving the few violations I…
I recently bought a 3-family landmarked brownstone in an historic district of Brooklyn that has some minor HPD violations from the previous owner. I have fixed those violations and would like to bring an inspector into the property to have them cleared. The problem is, of course, that subsequent to receiving the few violations I mentioned, the old owners also built a bathroom and kitchenette illegally on one of the floors (this has not yet ben sited). Furthermore, I’d like to put up some walls in the hallway to seperate the duplex apartment from the rest, and to enclose the bathroom in the hallway on the 3rd floor.
Questions:
When the HPD comes to remove the old violations, will they want to search the rest of my property?
If so, will they cite a bathroom and kitchenette that was installed without a permit or archetectural drawings?
If I build the walls in the hallway, will they make me take them down?
If so, how does the HPD have the right to come into my house and tell me what I can and cannot do? I haven’t touched the exterior of the building, the kitchenette and bathroom are in my owner duplex, and the walls in the hallway won’t block fire exits or egress.
Should I try to cover up the bathroom and kitchenette and wait to put up the walls in the hallway until after the inspection? I am inclined to do this, but am concerned that the HPD will make return inspections. Oh, the old owners also build additional closets in the parlor. Will those be an issue?
What should I do?
Thank you.
Sorry I was a jerk for suggesting following the law
Please feel free to break the law if it suits your personal situation
I’m a landlord and my advice is to only show the DOB the corrected violations. As long as the inspector doesn’t go to other parts of the house where violations may exist, he can’t site you for them. He probably won’t ask to inspect the rest of house and you can always tell him that your wife is sleeping or something like in case he’s really snoopy.
Also, since the “illegal” bathroom was already built, how in the world would the HPD know it was built illegally? They don’t have a bathroom count or an original floorplan of your house to go by. As long as the bathroom isn’t in the basement or somewhere it clearly shouldn’t be, don’t sweat it.
Recently, many posters commenting on this site, like some of the ones above, have begun sounding a lot like the jerks that post on Curbed. It’s too bad. This site was better before the bored, frusterated, real estate agents showed up.
Without passing any judgement, I would just say
the rules are in place for good reason… if there’s ever a fire in your home it could endanger
your life as well as the lives of the firemen to have illegal rooms and walls in place.
A little bit of aggravation at first, to set right all the violations, will give you much peace of mind in the future.
Afterall, we all want your experience in your new home to be a happy and safe situation for you and your family! 🙂
We’ve had some recent experience with HPD – and it was kind of a mixed bag. We had some outstanding violations from the 80’s (prior owner) that needed to be cleared up, which were isolated in one unit. the inspector was pushy, and we mistakenly let him into the other units. He flagged a number of other issues (almost all minor, like incorrect wattage bulb in the hallway, no posting of DOB signage, etc.) The second inspector breezed in and out, and everything got resolved. We also called the office, and the guy there muttered something about overzealous inspectors and wiped some of the violations out.
Most of these things are there for a good reason, but may not make complete sense when ownership or occupancy patterns change. I’d say get rid of the illegal bath, since it was probably poorly installed and might be damaging things.
It’s nice to know the Moral Police are here with us, isn’t it?
Okay, I’ll pay for the sins of the past owner and gut half my floor just to pass the inspection. Wouldn’t want to be too full of myself, would I by trying to save some money as a new homeowner? Shame on me for not knowing that the work they did wasn’t legal — even though it did not show up in the current list of violations.
I guess the law applies to everyone else, but not to you. It must be great to have such a high opinion of yourself.
I was in a similar situation, when we did the inspection we only showed them the areas of the house that had the violation. Not only did they not ask to see the rest of the house but they started chatting me up about being a DIY in a friendly manner. I didn’t get the feeling that they cared one bit about what was going on in the rest of the house. But maybe i just got a nice inspector. Good Luck.
Obviously you should remove the illegal rooms prior to the inspection. Do you wish this community to sanction your illegal activity?