Brooklyn Townhouse C of O

Husband and I want to put an offer in for a townhouse in Bed Stuy but we’re a bit confused and our lawyer is traveling this week so hoping someone has some advice for us. The broker listing says the property is a legal two family but it’s currently used as a single family. The DOB classification is B3-Two Family but the disclaimer is that that’s the tax classification, may not be the legal use. When the current owners purchased it in 2004, they did extensive renovations to the interior. I don’t know if they added in bathrooms or kitchens or if they just gutted parts of it and replaced the finishes, flooring etc. I believe it was an SRO back then and a mess but I honestly don’t know. We can’t find permits for any work done since they owned the house and there is currently no C of O for the property causing us to assume the work they did wasn’t legal, there wasn’t an inspection done at the end and therefore no C of O was issued. Am I right to assume this or am I missing something here? We’re considering purchasing the property to rent out the upstairs unit and use the parlor floor and garden level as an owners duplex and in the future maybe make changes that will require permits. We don’t want to have to pay or deal with the current owner’s mistakes down the line.

hannah24

in Building Code 11 years ago

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vthatcher | 11 years ago

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Have you looked on department of buildings site and are their plans filled for any work that shows the # of units? Are you seeking a mortgage on the property and concerned about the actual occupancy and loan limits that come with the classification of the building? The only reason I am asking is because if it has one kitchen, the loan would have to be structured as a single family transaction. How its taxed will have no bearing on the highest and best use of the building. Vanessa Thatcher Senior Loan Officer NMLS# 41404

http://brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/vanessathatcher

hannah24 | 11 years ago

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I found out the conversion occurred in 1954\. Our lawyer did a title search and could not find a C of O. The DOB says I can go to BK Municipal Building and pull the property folder to see if there is a C of O. I’m not concerned about the need to file a permit to put up this temporary wall to divide the units, but down the line if we want to do a larger project that does require permits I don’t want to be stuck with the previous owner’s mistakes.

shahnandersen

in Building Code 11 years ago

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No. Not if the conversion was done before 1938 which is extremely likely. Have you checked the building’s iCard? That should show you how it was classified in the pre-CofO days. Icards are now viewable on line. See http://permitspace.blogspot.com/2009/09/hpd-i-cards-available-online.html for instructions how to find yours on the HPD site.

hannah24 | 11 years ago

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Based on further research, it seems that a B3-2 Family Dwelling is a previous Single Family property converted to a 2 Family. If that was the case, wouldn’t there still be a C of O around 2004 or after when the family purchased the property?

Augustiner | 11 years ago

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Resident2 is right. If it ever was a SRO and is not a SRO now, it would have a C of O.

resident2 | 11 years ago

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Some people think that because it was previously rented out to a bunch of shares that clearly did not live as one family unit, take of their housekeeping etc., and maybe they put locks on their “rooms” because they did not trust their roommates etc. that it was an SRO!! And it did not show well when they bought it etc…. It was clearly not a legal SRO in 2004 and became a two family since, or it would have a new C of O dated for some time since 2004. It looks like it is a legal 2 family and you have the benefit of using it as a two family as you like, because without the C of O to say which floors where apartment 1 and which were apartment 2 you can use it as you like… Good Luck!

hannah24 | 11 years ago

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Thanks for the reply. I checked the DOB site, it’s not an SRO and on the HPD site it says Class A units-2 so does that mean it’s a legal two family? I understand not all buildings have a C of O but it seems weird that if in 2004 you changed from an SRO to a 2-family and underwent extensive renovations there wouldn’t be a current C of O?

resident2 | 11 years ago

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Check the DOB web site: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/home/home.shtml On the left hand side if the SRO line says YES, then it is still an SRO Not all buildings have a C of O, if there is one, the most recent C or O is what the current legal use is. If it pre-dates C of O’s with a legal use as a ….. it will show up on the HPD site what that use is. It is really only this generation of renovators that have been getting permits for everything, and also keep in mind that some of the records are coming up not conforming due to the City records now getting computerized but not always correctly. Also bare in mind technically you are supposed to get a permit just to change out a new toilet for example. So you will never be able to buy a historic house that all the prior owners have gotten permits for everything they did and if you do the Real Estate taxes will be so high you probably would not want to buy it! Also once a permit has been signed off, closed etc. it will not always show up on the computerized records, depending on how old it is. If you find no C of O on the buildings Department web site, check www.NYC.GOV/HPD HPD is not just for multiple dwellings, on the top line it lists how many class A units, how many Class B units etc. As well as the HPD violations, that are not the same as Buildings and ECB violations. This is why working with an experienced Brownstone buyers agent really works. There are not that many really good experienced ones around any more, but one is Kathryn Lilly, Realty on the Greene. She may not always tell you what you want to hear but she is a straight shooter and knows this stuff inside out. She taught me all the above and a whole lot more.