Working without Permit

A long inquiry about permitting in NYC….
A 3 story house near me in BedStuy was bought buy an LLC. They have done a full gut along with excavating the cellar and building a huge 4 story cinderblock extension 20′ out from the back of the house. They have no permits. BIS shows that there are multiple complaints and a Full Stop Work Order although it is not posted on the building. They continue to work. I am curious if anyone knows how this works? Why does the developer not care? Can you pay someone off in the DOB? Who will buy a house with this history? Why would anyone get permits if you can defy the system with no apparent repercussions?

sticksandstones

in General Discussion 6 years and 8 months ago

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Inigo | 6 years and 8 months ago

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sticksandstones you story is off. who did you call at the DOB? If you had called the below because of the legal implications they would have sent somebody right away.

Brooklyn Borough Office

Ira Gluckman, R.A., Borough Commissioner
Kazimir Vilenchik, P.E., Deputy Borough Commissioner
Reda Shehata, R.A., Deputy Borough Commissioner
Bernalyn Jones Clarke, Borough Director

Borough Commissioner: (718) 802-3677 and (718) 802-3676
Borough Director: (718) 802-3635
Customer Service: (718) 802-3675

Guest User | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Maybe you’re intending to comment on the other 311 thread currently running, that’s about the problem with anonymous 311 harassment. tThis thread is about trying to help someone who has legitmate concerns with a neighbor’s construction project.

Guest User | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Maybe you’re intending to comment on the other 311 thread currently running, that’s about the problem with anonymous 311 harassment. tThis thread is about trying to help someone who has legitmate concerns with a neighbor’s construction project.

Inigo | 6 years and 8 months ago

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it’s a fact and no nobody should lie but the system is built to allow revenge, bullying and harassment because you’re not accountable even if you call on your neighbor 3 times with unsubstantiated complains. I can make about 1000 complains on you in the next 3 years. you will not be able to be protected agaisnt that. the NYPD won’t even file a report on your behalf .

Guest User | 6 years and 8 months ago

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> @Samuel
> people lie all the time to 311
that’s a separate, though related, problem. for someone to suggest to this poster, who has legitimate complaints that could be reported in such a way to ensure a “priority 1” response, the he/she should lie to 311 would only be supporting the behavior you’re complaining about. do whatever you want, but if you’re going to complain about folks lying to 311 don’t turn around and suggest that lying to 311 is a good idea.

Guest User | 6 years and 8 months ago

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> @Samuel
> people lie all the time to 311
that’s a separate, though related, problem. for someone to suggest to this poster, who has legitimate complaints that could be reported in such a way to ensure a “priority 1” response, the he/she should lie to 311 would only be supporting the behavior you’re complaining about. do whatever you want, but if you’re going to complain about folks lying to 311 don’t turn around and suggest that lying to 311 is a good idea.

Inigo | 6 years and 8 months ago

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people lie all the time to 311. the system allows liars to make false complains all the time. that’s the problem. i can call on you every day for the next 6 months for different fake complains and they will send a team to investigate.

Guest User | 6 years and 8 months ago

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there are lots of different priority 1 complaints that could be made (https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/pdf/complaint_category.pdf) including “work contrary to a stop work order” which would get you where you need to be without sacrificing honest reporting.

Guest User | 6 years and 8 months ago

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there are lots of different priority 1 complaints that could be made (https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/pdf/complaint_category.pdf) including “work contrary to a stop work order” which would get you where you need to be without sacrificing honest reporting.

2345bcde | 6 years and 8 months ago

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If you say they are building without a permit it will be marked as a priority 2 complaint and the building department will respond within 50 days. You have to make it a priority 1 complaint if you want a quick response. If you wait 50 days for them to come you are way to late for anything to happen. As soon as they build the addition there is no getting it taken down. You need to call immediately and make sure it is a priority 1 complaint. If it isn’t or you wait you’re in trouble.

Guest User | 6 years and 8 months ago

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> @2345bcde
> doing gas piping
please don’t lie to 311. unless you have reason to believe they’re actually doing gas work, don’t claim that they are. based on your description you should be able to make legitimate complaints, escalated and repeated as needed.

Guest User | 6 years and 8 months ago

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> @2345bcde
> doing gas piping
please don’t lie to 311. unless you have reason to believe they’re actually doing gas work, don’t claim that they are. based on your description you should be able to make legitimate complaints, escalated and repeated as needed.

slopefarm | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Among other things, LLCs in the RE world are pretty judgment-proof. The LLC owns the property and the mortgage, so equity is limited, and the real money is outside the LLC and not easy to get at should someone sue and get a verdict against the LLC, for whatever reason.

namahs | 6 years and 8 months ago

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I do notice a trend of more 2-3 family houses being bought in my area under an LLC. What is the benefit of this? easier to get loan or because less risk for renovation?

sticksandstones | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Wow- that is a pretty grim assessment of things but it seems to be exactly what is going on near me.

2345bcde | 6 years and 8 months ago

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I have and am still dealing with the exact same situation. You need to call 311 immediately and say that the builder is excavating and doing gas piping. This complaint will trigger the dob to come out the next day ( A regular complaint has the dob coming out within 50 days ). This will be posted to the dob website tipping off the builder. The builder monitors the dob site and will most likely refuse to answer the door when the dob shows up and the dob will try one more time ( the next day ) & close the complaint. The dob told me when I went to speak to them in person that I would have to take the builder to civil court myself to remove the illegal structure ( are you really going to sue a LLC – it’s a lost cause they’ll just go out of business) and if my building is damaged I will not be able to recoup any money ( again the LLC will go out of business ). I suggest trying to be there when the dob shows up, call the fire department or the police. Another option is try to call de Blasios on WNYC and ask him why this is allowed to happen and there is nothing you can do and why the dob posts when they are coming to inspect and why after 2 attempts the complaint is simply closed. Developers are being allowed to do whatever they want. The guy next to me built a 4 story fire trap and has stopped because of my calling and has listed the building for sale ( with a stop work order and vacate order in place ). There needs to be something done about this, because this is being allowed to happen all over Brooklyn. I have lived, financially and emotionally invested in my neighborhood and have to deal with some guy who decided he could come in throw out people who lived in the neighborhood for years build whatever they want and to hell with the people who live there. As homeowners we need to go to community board meeting and make sure the mayor knows we know what’s going on.

mysideofstuy | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Here’s what you can do, just say that you would need DOB to come by as soon as you can, because you are a home owner with children. I am not sure if you have children, but they will come. This worked for me when a developer, who was working on dismantling a an existing building, the brick walls collapsed into my back yard. I complained that my children played back there. DOB came and took a look at the job and probably found other violations, they stoped the work immediately. Anything is worth a try,I hope this helps.

namahs | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Definitely agree with @mysideofstuy , the issue is how do people make DOB show up? is it just saying keywords when making a complaint?

sticksandstones | 6 years and 8 months ago

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Thanks for the replies- I guess this might be a situation of friends in the right places. An expeditor that is friends with Eric Adams… (jk)? I am just trying to figure out how this racket is run: Get a SWO, keep working and never answer the door, somehow resolve the SWO (not sure how this would work since they doubled the size of the house without a single permit). Sell the house and make 500k. Then dissolve the LLC?