2 family purchase: do i need a letter of no objection?

I’m a real estate broker and have done several deals with this situation. I was able to get the Letter of No Objection for my clients, the sellers, fairly easily and quickly. I’m sure you could also get it yourself after closing. The process is pretty simple at the DOB. You can get the application on their site on-line. When you apply for the LON you’ll need to bring copies of the two (or 3 if there is a separate meter for the common areas) electric bills and gas bills for each account, for several months. Also bring pictures of the meters, showing that there are multiple units in the building. Lastly bring a few recent tax bills showing the DOF collecting taxes on the property as a two family. Hopefully the sellers will at least be willing to provide you with these things. You usually get an answer within 3 weeks.
If you’re not planning any immediate renovations you should be fine for a few months, until you might need permits to do some work on the place. Best of luck.

adxsjcyvqnzbqp

in Dept. of Buildings (DOB) 5 years and 6 months ago

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Fort_Green_p_nut | 5 years and 6 months ago

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We’re in contract on a 2 family house: garden rental below an owner’s duplex. It’s old so of course there’s no CO. My attorney did a CO search anyway and found that in 1937, it was assessed as a one family dwelling. The current tax classification is 2 family converted from one, and that’s how it shows on BIS, ZOLA and HPD.

My attorney is asking for a letter of no objection, which our seller is refusing to provide. Is my attorney being unnecessarily cautious? What risk do I have if all the city’s websites currently classify the building as a 2 family?

hkapstein | 5 years and 6 months ago

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Don’t mess up your deal over this.

daveinbedstuy | 5 years and 6 months ago

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First time I’ve ever heard of asking for that with what seems like a fairly straightforward situation.

Fort_Green_p_nut | 5 years and 6 months ago

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Thanks your input. This all so new to me!

resident2 | 5 years and 6 months ago

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“all the city’s websites currently classify the building as a 2 family” . Just because some of the City’s websites classify it as a 2 family, does not make it a legal 2 family.
The only department that designates legal use is the DOB. A letter of No Objection is the document instead of a C of O that classifies legal use.
You need a letter of No Objection. You can try to get one yourself. I have not done it myself in quite a few years but the process used to be (for Brooklyn) start at the reception desk on the 8th floor at 210 Joralemon St, ask for the “list ” to get a letter of no objection.
You then go from one City Office to another & another, from Borough Hall in Brooklyn, to Chambers St in Manhattan and back again…. fill out a form, compile all the documents and submit them to the plan examiners room on the 8th Floor; get a receipt of the submission & wait… & wait… go beg (very nicely) and a few days later you get a phone call to come pick it up or letter to say Yes or NO.
If you need to take a tenant to Court, a smart tenant Attorney will ask for it, without it they will claim you have no right to evict the tenant until you have a legal use certificate. I have heard of Insurance companies not paying out on a tenant claim without it, even though it had been insured as a two family.
When you do get it, it is one of those documents that you keep in a safe place. It is a pain to replace.

hkapstein | 5 years and 6 months ago

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If it’s needed in the future you can deal with getting the LNO. Clearly the previous owner did not sweat it. You don’t need the LNO to occupy it, and yes there is some risk but if you’re serious about this place I think it’s pretty minimal. If you back out someone else will buy it and not think twice. However I don’t know all the specifics. If this place was historically used as a retail shop not a residence, then you might have a problem getting the lno you need. But it didn’t sound like that.

redwagon | 5 years and 6 months ago

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It should not fall upon the sellers to obtain the LNO before sale. If you plan to do work on the home, you yourself can obtain the C of O. Many homes predate the C of O designation. If I were the seller I would move along to the next offer frankly.

broker | 5 years and 6 months ago

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I agree with resident2. The only department which designates use is the DOB. I sold a legal 5-family. All of the city websites showed it as a 4-family. The original C/O, pulled by an architect, showed it as a 5 and it was from the 1920’s. Go w/the DOB and not the other websites. There are too many mistakes on them. I sold a house, which all sites said was a 2-family, taxed as a 2 for many years and learned early on it was still a 1. Seller had to remedy the C/O and make it a legal 2 before it closed. Not sure per the rest of what had been stated.

joinelsanchez

in Dept. of Buildings (DOB) 5 years and 6 months ago

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Your lawyer is over lawyering. What’s his/her name so I can avoid them?

hkapstein | 5 years and 6 months ago

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You should check the I-card. If it was a single family in 1938, then you could presumably get an LNO for a 1-family. If you need the rental income to make the deal work, then you need to think about the cost of doing an Alt1 and getting a CofO issued. Or maybe you just keep renting it for a few years and then quietly merge the units. Your lawyer is right to ask for the LNO, and the seller is probably right to refuse. Why should the seller deal with this rather than the new owner? The next bidder may be planning to gut the whole building and get a new CofO anway. You might consider whether this would affect your price. This is the type of thing that comes up, and you could be waiting a long time for the perfect property. If you want a building in good condition with clean docs, expect to spend a little more. In the scheme of things, this problem seems pretty manageable compared to other issues that can exist

resident2 | 5 years and 6 months ago

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If you need it to be a two family in order to get a mortgage; many Banks require a LNO. If the seller is selling it as 2 family, they need to come up with the paperwork to show it is a two family. (LNO or CofO)
All these people saying you can get it later do not know what they are talking about, if it can be gotten, then get it now.
Unfortunately a lot of Historic City records have been lost over the years, so there is no guarantee that the LNO can be obtained in the future. Find out now if it can be obtained by going through the motions now. Or if you want it to be a 2 family allow for the budget to get a new CofO as a two family. Hard costs + soft costs.