20-y.o. HPD Violations
A few days ago my 3 family co-op (a townhouse in an historic district) got a fat envelope of 20 year old HPD violations. Almost all of them were to be remedied by two days after the envelope was postmarked. Only one violation, citing a somewhat faulty fire escape, is legitimate. Others are absurd: It…
A few days ago my 3 family co-op (a townhouse in an historic district) got a fat envelope of 20 year old HPD violations. Almost all of them were to be remedied by two days after the envelope was postmarked. Only one violation, citing a somewhat faulty fire escape, is legitimate. Others are absurd: It seems that we can have a lock on neither the backyard door’s iron gate nor on the front courtyard’s basement hatch door, for instance. Open House for All at my place, it seems. Apparently the wooden roof deck is a nuisance that must be abated as well. The iron handrail on the front steps is defective — if so, then so are the hadrails on 90% of my neighbors’ homes. Any advice from violations veterans?
Thanks, Vinca. I am venting my aggravation (not at outrage just yet) on this forum , and know to be polite with anyone at HPD, but thanks for the warning. As far as I can tell MANY corners were cut initally when this building was bought by the guy who turned it coop, so maybe the bizarre stuff will go away once I find out more.
The violations are not going away just because you consider them nonsensical.
Visit the HPD borough office and discuss them in person. Bring current documentation for the buidling (even though HPD should be able to access online). Leave your attitude and outrage home, and ask for help understanding and curing the violations. On the basis of your visit, you’ll be able to figure out whether you can remedy the situation on your own, or need to hire a professional.
HPD Division of Code Enforcement, 210 Joralemon St., #806, 718-802-3662
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/pr/violation.shtml
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/owners/aep.shtml
Thanks for all the comments, which are very helpful. But what about the nonsensical violations? Our “cellar gate,” i.e.,under the stoop, door is NOT a common hallway — so why should there be a problem with egress and with having a double-cylinder lock? It’s one of the two doors into our apartment. We have a common door shared by all at the top of the stoop. The same goes for the back iron gate, and for the front yard hatch. {Maybe HPD thinks this is an apartment building,when it’s actually a 3-family coop.) For all I know this building was 5 floor-throughs before it was co-oped in the 70s. We can and should fix the fire escape on the back of the buildingt, but if we take off the gate locks, my apartment is unsafe and there is easy access to the two apartments on the 3-5th floors of the building.
I would recommend getting an expeditor. They can probably get most of the violations dismissed and save you a huge amount of time dealing with the City and the Building Dept, etc. I can recommend one to you:
Professional Expediting
Phil Ferrara – 917-817-6289
Olga Stahurski – 718-938-9440
For full disclosure, that is my brother and sister-in-law, but I have recommended many of my insurance cients to them and have always had a positive response.
Get an expediter or other other experienced agent; will make the process smoother. Most of the time, they just want to make this stuff go away as badly as you do.
Well, maybe not AS badly.
Bessie2 and Greenwoody are referring to HPD’s Violation Reissuance Program:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/owners/violation-reissuance.shtml
In theory, HPD violations can be accessed by either street address or block and lot number through this link: http://167.153.4.71/Hpdonline/Provide_address.aspx
What bessie2 said, you need to check the HPD site http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/home/home.shtml … click on “open violations”
this just happened to me. i got a notice in the mail of a violation from 1998, way before i owned the house and the violation was weirdly worded. of course it was supposed to be fixed within some crazy time period like 2-3 days of when i received it. of course, i wasn’t able to a) decipher what the violation meant in order to get it fixed, b) take care of it in that ridiculous timeframe. so i ignored it and low and behold about 2 weeks later, a surprise inspection from HPD!
the inspector was actually really nice, explained to me what it was (there used to be an illegal apt in my basement. i’d had the kitchen taken out when i bought the place, but apparently that wasn’t enough.) he could see it was just being used as storage so i think he gave me a break. anyway i took care of it the next day, removed any semblance of plumbing/gas line …
they haven’t come back for a second inspection yet, but i imagine its going to be any day now.
You have to go to the HPD website to look up those violations. It’s my understanding that during the period to 12/31/2009, interest and penalties above the original fine will be waived on ECD violations only. If you have an old HPD or Health Department violation, my read is that you still have to pay. Those violations don’t come through the ECB.
To get HPD violations written off I think the process is still arranging and paying for an on site walk through. It used to cost about $350.
I’m curious about the package you received. About a year ago we got something in the mail about 2 or 3 old HPD violations. It didn’t really appear to be from the City and the violations on record were from 1990 or so. We ignored it and have never heard another thing.
BTW, OP, make sure you keep the mailing envelope from your violations. When we received our violations, the postmark was dated AFTER the required cure date.
We went to the DOB Brooklyn Borough Office, 210 Joralemon St., 8th fl., telephone 718-802-3675, to discuss in person. Our notice said we could self-certify the cure(s), but several weeks later a DOB inspector dropped by without notice to view them anyway. You might also want to read:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/downloads/pdf/infoviol.pdf