DOB Stop Work Order in condo building -- who's responsible?

An individual unit in our new-ish condo building did work without a permit, and the DOB issued a violation and stop work order. The violation stated the apartment number in the description, but the violation was issued to the developer of the building since I guess that’s the only name they had on file. None of us can seem to figure out who is responsible for clearing the violation. The unit owner was told by the DOB inspector that he’s not responsible because the name listed on the violation was for the developer. But the developer wouldn’t have gotten a copy of the violation since it was just posted on the front door of the building, and in any case no longer has any skin in the game or motivation to fix the violation. For what its worth, the violation type is listed as Construction. We’re not sure if the unit owner is responsible for resolving this, or if the entire condo building needs to take this on, since a stop work order means no one else in the building can pull a permit or do any other work. Does anyone have experience here?

binbong

in Dept. of Buildings (DOB) 8 years and 1 month ago

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alterboy | 8 years and 1 month ago

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The Department of Buildings will keep the Stop Work Order against the property until it is resolved. Contesting the SWO is likely a waste of time as the inspector may not have known the individual Block & Lot for each unit but knows that the work was in violation. The unit owner is responsible to correct this SWO but the condo board must get involved — as it affects everyone in the building — to make sure that it is done correctly. A licensed professional — either an architect or an engineer — must be hired and an expediter working with them or paid by the unit owner must get started on preparing and filing the paperwork to remove the violation.

eileengray | 8 years and 1 month ago

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Forget an expediter. The developer needs to contest the violation (incorrecly filed
against the wrong party) and the condo board should take action against the owner who incurred the violation.

binbong | 8 years and 1 month ago

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Right, that makes sense that the developer is not responsible simply because the DOB records are out of date. That said, the violation is listed on the DOB site for the building (even though in the wording of the violation, the apartment number is listed). The violation doesn’t appear to be assigned to the individual unit, even though they’re a separate tax lot. Does that mean it falls on the Board to resolve the issue (since the violation is for the block/lot number of the entire building… which was later parceled out to smaller lots as a condo)? Even if the Board needs to rectify the violation and then sue the apartment owner for costs, its unclear based on the violation as it stands who is responsible for working with the DOB to correct the violation (the entire building or the individual unit). Any help making sense of this is appreciated.

resident2 | 8 years and 1 month ago

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The unit owner that caused the situation is ultimately responsible, but he is obviously an irresponsible jerk and is grasping at straws by listening to a City employee that does not know that area of the law.
The Condo board will have to file a law suite against the unit owner, if he does not take responsibility for this.
Violations/stop work orders are against the property, in this case an individual unit. Not a prior owner (developer) because the City computer system is out of date.
If you have a professional management company managing your building, they should be able to guide you in this and hire the right attorney to get this resolved.

CarmenR | 8 years and 1 month ago

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You guys should hire an expeditor to help with this.