Duplex condo with full bath on cellar floor

Thanks all for your thoughts… we’ll see.

munzabusway

in General Discussion 9 years and 10 months ago

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munzabusway | 9 years and 10 months ago

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Hi all – Just found out that a condominium that we are in contract for may have a violation. The original offering plan shows a half bath on the cellar floor, but the unit now has a full bath. This does not seem to have been filed with the DOB. We are now trying to figure out what all this means – how big a violation is this? What are our options at this point? Has anyone encountered this situation before? Any thoughts, advice will be most helpful.

agdipierro

in General Discussion 9 years and 10 months ago

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Have the seller remediate the non-compliant condition by removing the shower/bath

munzabusway | 9 years and 10 months ago

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@edkopel – so it sounds like you are confirming that a 3 piece bath in a cellar is illegal?

munzabusway | 9 years and 10 months ago

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One thing that I heard today in talking with a building manager is that a 3/4th bathroom – with shower, but no tub – may be legal

rastermon | 9 years and 10 months ago

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I would start by asking for documentation that the work was done with permits since it contradicts what’s in the offering plan. If it wasn’t, maybe negotiate a price reduction for taking it as is. As long as it doesn’t interfere with your bank loan you should be fine. Even if somehow the DOB found out and issued a violation for work without a permit, I think you would be able to escape without a fine as long as you promised to correct it.

munzabusway | 9 years and 10 months ago

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@rastermon – thank you for your response. Without a 2nd bath (shower or tub) this unit will not work for us. We would not have gone into contract. So if the DOB asks us to remove the tub, it will be a problem 🙁 If a shower is permissible that would be great. But otherwise, it’s major issue for us. Now that we are in contract, not sure what our options are here….

resident2 | 9 years and 10 months ago

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This is a common scenario, but no you cannot legalize it. But that said it should have been disclosed by the Broker &/or seller up front.
It is not a “violation” if it has not been reported and recorded as such, who is going to invite an inspector in at this point? and legally you cannot sleep in your cellar (lower level) either, even though you see many listings, listing rooms &/or spaces as bedrooms

munzabusway | 9 years and 10 months ago

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@resident2 – thank you… it has been a bit of a shock to us. We just stumbled upon this. This was not disclosed to us by the broker or seller. Although, in fairness to the seller, it seems as though they bought the unit this way and were not responsible for the addition of the bath tub.

munzabusway | 9 years and 10 months ago

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we like the home a lot. but not sure we want to buy something were we can be fined by the DOB and asked to remove the tub.

orrsuz | 9 years and 10 months ago

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I would be very hesitant to buy any property that had illegal construction even if you think the DoB have no reason to know\care about it. We bought a new condo with roof rights from a sponsor who agreed to build a roof deck in the contract but they did not file the deck. We only realised when we came to sell our unit and other owners tried to leverage the un-permitted work to gain roof rights themselves.

cmu | 9 years and 10 months ago

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I wouldn;t worry about it, jeez, the level of ‘illegal’ construction in this boro is quite high. If you’re not planning to renovate, who’s going to know?…enjoy the bath. Obviously somebody installed it without proper permits, so if you have to do any work on the unit, maybe the board will turn an equally blind eye.

This is why I’ll never sell my brownstone!

daveinbedstuy | 9 years and 10 months ago

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I agree with emu. No violation exists so no problem with a mortgage and n o one is ever going to report it. Most homes in Brooklyn have unpermitted work.