Basement Apartment in Single Family

If you have a one family house; you cannot rent out your garden (basement) floor as a separate apartment. That said in order to make it a legal 2nd apartment in a frame house you would now need to install a sprinkler system and a whole lot of other fire and building code upgrades to the whole house, it may well be one of those situations that would be best rented out as an Air BnB (roommate) if you need the income. Because the cost of creating a legal two family will not be compensated by the rent and the additional Real Estate tax reassessment….. architects may tell you it can be done, contractors may tell it can be done… no matter the ceiling height and other issues… but look at the time & money investment and as I said the RE Tax kicker!

resident2

in General Discussion 9 years and 1 month ago

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brooklyninsulation | 9 years and 2 months ago

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Hi all –

Thanks in advance for any thoughts here.

My husband and I have an offer in on a wood frame single family home and would eventually like to rent out the garden level, which the DOB classifies as a basement (or BASE to be specific) on the Certificate of Occupancy. The unit currently has a kitchen and a bathroom as well as its own entrance under the stoop and out to the backyard.

Based on what I have been reading on nyc.gov, it is legal for owners of Single Family classified homes to rent out their basements. It is not, interestingly, legal for two family and above to do the same. So, contrary to what I had anticipated, we actually should NOT amend our CO if we want to go for a basement rental.

I need to get back in the apartment, but feel fairly confident that the ceilings meet the 7′ minimum as specified by the DOB and I am optimistic about the 50% above curb level specification, but less sure. I know I’m not the person who should be determining this anyway, but I’m just giving some detail on what I am seeing. More importantly (and really at the heart of m y question here), the DOB has called this unit a basement and not a cellar.

Can I simply take their language at face value and rent out the unit without further complication? Or do we need to get a HMC surveyor in there to be absolutely sure and possibly deal with any issues like firewalls, etc.?

It is probably notable that someone filed two complaints about an illegal basement conversion in the early 1990s and they were both dismissed.

There are a lot of answers all over the place on the internet, most of them with terribly bad advice when weighed against what the DOB actually says about basement rentals being legal in Single Families versus Two Families. My hope is to lean on the resident experts here on Brownstoner in terms of what you have seen or done and general approach with the DOB in this kind of situation.

Thank you again!

JK

PS: This is nyc.gov’s handy pamphlet on this issue: http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/hpd/downloads/pdf/PreservationSvcsBrochure_BasementCellar-new.pdf

BobMarvin | 9 years and 2 months ago

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AFAIK it’s legal to have an apartment in a basement, as opposed to a caller, but if you do that in a one family house, wouldn’t that make it an illegal two family?.

brooklyninsulation | 9 years and 2 months ago

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That’s what I would have thought as well. But it looks to me like the basement is some sort of an exception in a one family, based on that NYC online pamphlet. If the apartment were anywhere else, you’d need to amend the CO. But by amending the CO in this instance, the basement apartment actually becomes illegal. It’s weird, but it does seem pretty clear.

shahnandersen

in General Discussion 9 years and 2 months ago

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1) If this is a wood frame single family house, it most likely does not have a CO, but rather a FISA use designation which is what DOB uses to determine permitted use.

2) The pamphlet is not confusing. It says that you can rent the basement in a legal two family house if the basement is all (or part) of the second unit. You cannot ADD a basement rental to a house with two existing units, making it a three family.

3) But if you make any changes to the basement such as adding a kitchen or a bath or changing the egress, you will need to file an alteration permit including architectural plans with DOB.

brooklyninsulation | 9 years and 2 months ago

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Thanks bobjbkin.

1) There is a CO. It is for a single family. It states three stories and one basement.

2) Totally. But this would be a basement rental on its own in a single family, so I’m not sure this is applicable. I’m not really confused about what the pamphlet says; I think it is quite clear. My question relates more to taking the DOB at their word on the CO that it is a legal basement and not a cellar.

3) There is already a kitchen and a bath, so we wouldn’t need to add anything for this space.

chemosphere | 9 years and 2 months ago

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This brochure IS confusing. Here’s the key passage:

May the basement of a one- or two- family dwelling be lawfully occupied?
Yes, but only by members of the family or families occupying the dwelling and only if the following conditions are met: etc.

In other words, the basement may be occupied by members of the family occupying the dwelling (THE UPPER APARTMENT – this is key). So unless you are going to live in the house and use the basement to house your mother-in-law, you can’t legally rent it out as a separate apartment.

The brochure is really indicating that a family renting out an entire home can also use the basement as part of their living space.

brooklyninsulation | 9 years and 2 months ago

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I see that, too, chemosphere. But above it there is also this passage, dealing specifically with rentals in a one family (not one- or two-family, as in the occupied question):

Can the basement of a one-family dwelling be lawfully rented?
Yes, but only if all of the following conditions are met:

It then goes on to talk about the 50% above curb and 7′ ceiling height rules, among other things (also covered in the occupied question you mention).

I can’t say I am surprised by the semi-contradictory nature of this whole thing.

But do you think I can take the DOB at its word on the CO that it is technically a basement, not a cellar, and therefore at least eligible for rental, assuming the other pieces of the puzzle are handled?

chemosphere | 9 years and 2 months ago

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Eligible for rental *as part of the entire, single unit house*. Not eligible as a separate apartment. Single Family = 1 rental unit, which may include basement space that meets the requirements. Renting it as a separate apartment would be using the house as a 2 family.

chemosphere | 9 years and 2 months ago

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Of course, if the basement of a single family house meets the city requirements, you can hire an architect and file plans to change the C of O to 2 family, etc., usually requiring sprinklers put in, and everything up to code.

shahnandersen

in General Discussion 9 years and 2 months ago

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@chemosphere rereading the pamphlet, I agree that it is confusingCan the basement of a two-family dwelling be lawfully rented?

“No. The rental of a basement in a two-family dwelling would result in changing the status of the building to a multiple dwelling (three-family or more) and would require a new certificate of occupancy. ”

Thus the renting out separately of the basement of a two-family is impermissible (although it can be occupied by one of those families) but it it permissible to rent it out as a separate unit in a house with a one-family CO.

chemosphere | 9 years and 2 months ago

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That makes no sense. It wouldn’t be a one-family! One family means one unit.

shahnandersen

in General Discussion 9 years and 2 months ago

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Not all DOB interpretations make linguistic sense, but the pamphlet is definitive.

chemosphere | 9 years and 2 months ago

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Forget the pamphlet. Find me a listing of a house that is legally one-family that has a legal, second apartment in the basement.

chemosphere | 9 years and 2 months ago

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This agrees with me. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/realestate/masquerading-as-a-two-family-home.html

chemosphere | 9 years and 2 months ago

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from the nytimes: “You might think of your home as a two-family residence, but according to the city, it is not. This creates an immediate problem with your downstairs tenant. “You do not, as you say, own a two-unit house,” said Ron Kaplan, a Manhattan real estate lawyer. “Your rental of the second unit is not legal.”

The arrangement could cause problems with your homeowner’s insurance if the intended use was not properly stated when the house was underwritten and the insurance coverage secured. You might want to consult a lawyer about the risks of an illegal rental, even if the tenant is a friend.”

brooklyninsulation | 9 years and 2 months ago

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Thanks for the article, chemosphere. And for your thoughts, bobjbkln.

Chemosphere, your point is well taken.

I’m going to continue diving into this and will update here if I find out anything definitive.

eileengray | 9 years and 2 months ago

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The existing certificate of occupancy will reference a DOB application that will have plans showing the legal layout of the building. You should try to get a copy of the file from DOB. That said, the fact that the C of O states only Basement and does not indicate “One Family Dwelling” separate from the upper floors seems to be proof that the entire house is one family and there is not a second dwelling unit. In the past (in difficult economic times) many people added an extra dwelling unit and the city was not agressive in pursuing these violations. Today it’s different.

daveinbedstuy | 9 years and 2 months ago

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You have not stated what your C of O states. If it states One Family, you cannot. If there is NO C of O, it’s a different story.

brooklyninsulation | 9 years and 2 months ago

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It states ‘1 Family & 4 Boarders’ – it’s a weird one.