Previous owner illegal work

If we discover an interior wall that was put up without a permit, could we theoretically take it down without a permit?

ahnyst.smalls

in General Discussion 2 years and 10 months ago

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andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Listen, the dob will not be your friend if you walk in and tell them you want to make something you did not do right. They will make you draw and file and make it cost $$. read what the others say about this on you other post and for your sake and the sake of your kid’s college educatio, read what cate says. I think i read that there were multiple exits, but the prosecuted a bronx landlord for dividing up an apartment after people died in a fire.

If you REALLY want this house and can live with whatever illegal wall is there without endangering anyone but yourself, go ahead, buy it and keep the wall. If you want the wall gone, don’t tell anyone. Take it down. If you take it down and the dob does not know about it, guess what; it never existed.

If you take it down yourself and there are electric outlets in it, have an electrician disconncet the electric.

dwgriffi | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Just adding to this chat, how about if it’s a wall that creates a bedroom in a cellar? The previous owner of the apartment I just had an offer accepted on, put up walls in the cellar rec/storage room to create two bedrooms. It’s totally against the CofO. Would I need to get the DOB’s permission to take them down? Would I need to if I planned to rent it, or could I just rent it as duplex loft (there are no bedrooms right now apart from the ones in the cellar).

jimhillra | 2 years and 10 months ago

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In answer to the question about the fact that it’s a closet and not a room, assuming it’s an actual closet and not a “storage room” a.k.a. illegal bedroom, removing the wall would be legal if it’s a one- or two-family building. And while I don’t necessarily endorse the DOB’s point of view on this, this is the letter of the law.

And doors has a good point. Make sure there’s no electric in it first.

andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Bmt.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 2 years and 10 months ago

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He played the Vichy French police inspector who, at the end, goes off with Bogart to join the Free French garrison in the French Congo

andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Ok, i was messing when i asked what is casablanca and i know who bogie is. But i have no idea who claude rains is.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 2 years and 10 months ago

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The movie—specifically the role played by Claude Rains, who i I s “shocked, shocked” that gambling is going on in Humphrey Bogart’s club, as he collects his winnings.

andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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what is casablanca?

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 2 years and 10 months ago

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Steve—We pretty much said the same thing, although I said it indirectly, including a reference to Casablanca.

andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Bob, the op might not be as cynical as we are and might not understand the irony in them trying their best to do the right thing; they should be commended.

Op. If this was my house and i knew the wall did not support anything else and did not have 120 volt wire in it, it would have been ripped out and bagged up and put to the curb by 9 am.

Never mind bob. What he is trying to say is that most people today do as much as they can to keep city agencies out of their lives. If you have not come to that yet, the time to start is now: rip the wall down.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 2 years and 10 months ago

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I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that anyone might consider taking down a non-structural closet wall, that’s unknown to the DOB, without informing them and getting a permit. 🙂

ahnyst.smalls | 2 years and 10 months ago

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So this wall was put in to make a storage closet – does that mean we could probably remove it without a permit? It doesn’t change the number of rooms in the house.

jimhillra | 2 years and 10 months ago

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Unfortunately, doors is correct. The DOB does require a permit to remove a wall, regardless of whether or not it was built with a permit.

The only exception I am aware of is that in a one or two-family, it’s allowed to remove a non-load-bearing wall if it does NOT reduce the number of rooms (meaning the removal of a wall dividing a room into two rooms to make those rooms into one). Otherwise, you can remove up to 50% of the wall or 45 sq ft, whichever is less. See RCNY 101-14 and RCNY 44-01.

andriywww1990 | 2 years and 10 months ago

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    string(15) "Andrii Kusevych"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(203055)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(3) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

Might be your best move. If you try to get a permit, they may make you get an architect and draw it and $$$.