C of O for an addition?
We are looking at a house (Landmark Dist) that has a 1-story extension built many years ago. When I checked the C of O (issued in late ’50s), it seems like it was never amended to include the addition. The addition is part of the ground floor rental unit. Is it illegal to rent the…
We are looking at a house (Landmark Dist) that has a 1-story extension built many years ago. When I checked the C of O (issued in late ’50s), it seems like it was never amended to include the addition. The addition is part of the ground floor rental unit. Is it illegal to rent the space without a C of O? Is it a violation to have an addition without a C of O?
If anyone can help clarify the implications of this it would be very helpful. Thanks!
What Smokychimp says is true. That is, unless someone makes a 311 complaint. Then DOB can be very persistent to the point of getting an access warrant to inspect the premises.
To generalize a bit, the Dept of Buildings is not really in the business of tracking down old construction and whether it was legal or not. Plenty of times there are projects that are filed which show older non-compliant work.
They focus instead on whether the proposed, active work is compliant with code.
As a first step, did you pull the records from the Dept of Buildings or did you look online? Records showing up online on your property prior to 1980 may not be complete, so you can’t necessarily assume from looking online that this is an illegal extension.
Secondly, is the apartment in question a legal apartment according to the C of O that you do have? Set aside the issue of what degree of the extension it occupies — does the C of O indicate a full class A apartment on the floor where this apartment should be? If so then your rental should be valid.