Landmarked - exterior alterations without permit?

Forgive me for not knowing exactly how to phrase this questions, and for not knowing what I am even talking about? We are in the process of buying a house in The Bronx. It is a land-marked building, with a removed stoop, an added bathroom extension in the back, and a shed in the yard. No violation has been issued and it is my guess that the present condition of the building front has existed prior to the Lamdmark designation in 1994\. Our lawyer is asking us to make a decision about pushing for funds from the seller to legalize entrance and extension if need be. Any thoughts or experience with this?

kcc414

in Landmarks 9 years and 9 months ago

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kcc414 | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Thanks for all of the replies…I think we tend to be leaning towards not going after any reduction of credit, and generally not worrying too much about it. We certainly don’t want to be naive though. We plan to demolish the shed, and in a perfect world (where we had lots of cash), we would re-build the stoop… …why can’t home buying go down like it looks on HGTV? 🙂

cmu | 9 years and 9 months ago

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That story above is exactly why if I sell my house, it’s AS IN in caps. How would I know when, say, a deck was added & if it’s legal if it’s there when I bought the house (also as-is?)

thetinkerswagon | 9 years and 9 months ago

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ok, now I will come in here again with something more. mind you, I see this from a contractor’s perspective – and a small contractor at that. this is what happen to my neighbor though and this can help you – sort of. he had some questions about the legality of certain changes that had been made to his house as he was going through the purchase. the seller swore they were legal and kept swearing until my neighbor asked them to put that in writing which they did. several years later, the DOB showed up with questions about his deck and some other things – and guess what- they were not legal. the dob made him have the deck and other changes drawn and filed and made legal and he was able to sue the seller for the costs – he won. if the seller is so sure something is legal have them put that in writing. if you feel it is not legal, you have a bargaining chip. I am neither a lawyer nor real estate person; I am only relaying this from stories I have heard. steve

resident2 | 9 years and 9 months ago

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It sounds to me, that you need to find a Real Estate Attorney that routinely represents buyers of Landmark Townhouses.

daveinbedstuy | 9 years and 9 months ago

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If there are no violations, you have no real grounds to push. It?s not clear what has to be ?legalized? since there are no violations. Whatever can of worms you open with LPC ot DOB will be a lengthy process and likely jeopardize your closing. In addition, you haven?t stated what you feel is wrong with the entrance, the addition and the shed.

NeoGrec | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Steve above is correct. Whenever your house was designated part of a landmark district, everything about the exterior AT THAT TIME was grandfathered. LPC will have a photograph on file of your building. Going forward, when you make changes to the exterior, you have two choices: 1\. repair within the context of the exterior at the time of designation, or 2\. restore to the original historic facade. You cannot be compelled to restore the exterior just because you’re in a historic district. So it’s not really accurate to say you have to “legalize” your entrance. You could own the house for 30 years and never restore the stoop. But if YOU decide to undertake work on the exterior, you must abide by one or other of these choices, i.e. you can’t do something in-between. I strongly recommend that you visit the LPC mini-site on nyc.gov to learn more. It’s not entirely easy to navigate but there is a wealth of information there — including a detailed PDF report about the historic district you are in and, within that, there will be a description of your actual house. Steve is also correct about the extension — that’s more likely a DOB issue. If the extension is included in the COO you should be good to go.

thetinkerswagon | 9 years and 9 months ago

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if it has been that way since the designation, it is probably ok in so far as Landmarks is concerned. that does not mean there is not an issue with the DOB for the relocation of the entrance. if it was filed for, it may be legal. the shed and extension may also be legal (you can check on line and see what permits had been pulled over the years on the DOB website). you may not have grounds for asking for a reduction.