Grandfathered extension proof

I recently bought a house in BK and met with an expeditor about filing for reno permits with the DOB. He told me the ground floor extension cannot be found on 1912 nor 1929 maps, nor does it come up in his search of the DOB database. My lawyers say they did a basic search and the building had no open permits and since C of O was not a requirement till 1962, my building should be fine. They also said that if there is no record to be found, an architect can issue a certificate of compliance or some such thing. The expeditor says the lawyers are wrong, the C of O became a requirement in 1938 and there must be a record. The architect cannot issue any such certificate and if the DOB deems this extension non-compliant, then they will order me to take it down. The Seller’s agent claimed the extension was built in the 1930’s and is grandfathered in, but showed no record or any proof of this. Has anyone had this type of experience? Is there a database I can search? What steps can I take? I rather not go to the DOB and open this case up to scrutiny, since losing this extension will be a disaster. Any advice is much appreciated!!!

katdov

in About Brooklyn 10 years and 3 months ago

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pigthree | 10 years and 3 months ago

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seems like all agents use this “grandfathered” term. Their goal is to close the deal and there is no accountability for what they say. You should see whats on file for your building at the dob. Check the paper file as well. If there is nothing that proves it wasn’t there, have your plans filed showing it as existing. There are more houses in brooklyn without C of O that house with. …and showing up to dob to see your file will not open any cans of anything

thetinkerswagon | 10 years and 3 months ago

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what maps? the NYPL has a lot of these on line. I just took a look and they have a lot more than sanborn. I would take a look and don’t trust anything anyone tells you until you go back over it yourself. too bad the seller’s agent did not put that in writing.

MyGoodEye | 10 years and 3 months ago

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Many years ago, when I bought my Brownstone, I had a similar issue. There was an old extension that was built, presumably in the late 20s/early 30s, to allow access to the Garden Floor bathroom. It did not appear on the C of O and was a bone of contention for a good while. Eventually, if I recall correctly, my lawyer located aerial photographs from, I believe, the 30s. The extension was visible in the photos and that appeared to have been good enough. This was over 15 years ago now, so my memory of the exact details is fuzzy… …point is, at that time, official aerial photographs that proved the extension was old enough to be “grandfathered in” did the trick, so perhaps that’s something to look into.