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I know a family who illegally converted a basement into a dwelling. I am quite concerned about their health and know them personally. I do wish to complain against this illegal conversion but dont want them to know its me as it may cause severe bruise in our friendship. Can you please let me know how to let the authorities know it or atleast give them a warning about this while my name and address remains anonymous?
If you are a true friend and you are acting purely out of concern for their health you should express your concerns to them directly.
A friend would not turn a friend in for a code violation.
We must resist the impulse to try to control our friends behavior.Communite our concerns,yes but convert or control,no.Converting or controlling is not friendship.
I know a family who illegally converted a basement into a dwelling. I am quite concerned about their health and know them personally. I do wish to complain against this illegal conversion but dont want them to know its me as it may cause severe bruise in our friendship. Can you please let me know how to let the authorities know it or atleast give them a warning about this while my name and address remains anonymous?
Any help is highly appreciated!
call 311 and submit an anonymous complaint.
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
I know a family who illegally converted a basement into a dwelling. I am quite concerned about their health and know them personally. I do wish to complain against this illegal conversion but dont want them to know its me as it may cause severe bruise in our friendship. Can you please let me know how to let the authorities know it or atleast give them a warning about this while my name and address remains anonymous?
Any help is highly appreciated!
Moderator cut: Not necessary My take, for what it's worth is: It's none of your businees, keep your mouth shut. Maybe there should not be any ordinance about basement conversions. What happened to 'your home is your castle'? What goes on in your home is not the governments business, and sadly should not be the business of anyone who is not a true friend. To betray a friend over some foolish regulation is just unforgivable. Moderators read these posts, so I can't say what a lowlife should know the thoughts of others are.
Last edited by bmwguydc; 03-27-2010 at 12:33 AM..
Reason: Not necessary
An illegal apartment is illegal for a reason. The city building codes are not arbitrary laws. There are many reasons why a basement (even more so a cellar) is dangerous to live in. Here is one huge reason: carbon monoxide poisoning. Cellars are structures which are more than 50% below surface level, that means they are huge repositories for carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is orderless and very deadly. If a tenant in an illegal apartment becomes ill due to the apartment, the landlord is liable. If the tenant dies, which is likely with carbon monoxide, the landlord will be charged with manslaughter. This is one reason why cellar apartments can never be made legal. Basements apartments (which are more than 50% above surface level) can be made legal with many modifications. Another point to think about is that if a fire were to start in the basement, which is highly likely since none of the gas, plumbing, or electrical has been inspected by a code inspector nor has it been installed by a utility company, then the tenants in the legal units can sue the landlord. AND the landlord's insurance contract will be invalid because of the fraud he committed when he described his building to the insurance company (he definitely did not tell them about the illegal unit). Further, there is a case to be made that the landlord has been paying inappropriate property taxes, as he has been paying on a 4 unit building, instead of a 5 (for example). This is tax fraud. Then if there is a mortgage on the building, the lender is not going to be happy to find out that the building has been modified such that it has an illegal unit, thus voiding any insurance on it. Not having valid insurance is a breach of the mortgage agreement and reason for the lender to seize the property.
All illegal apartments should be reported to the Department of Buildings. You can do that by calling 311. If you can get pictures of the unit or other evidence, do so. Landlords will try every trick to avoid an inspector gaining access to the unit. Locks on doors, never answer notices, etc. At the end of the day, these landlords are putting peoples' lives at risk. The government and the public is pretty upset with Toyota because it made some faulty cars which killed some people. The same goes for these illegal apartments.
All illegal apartments should be remove by their landlords. The funny thing about this is that the landlord will have to get building permits to remove the illegal unit!! Or just do the removal illegally. If they remove the unit without permits, report them. The main reason to report them is that even when the unit has been removed, all of the reverse modifications to the electrical, plumbing, and gas will not have been inspected by an official. Do you want to live in a building where these utilities are not code inspected? A crime is a crime. Just because it is easy to get away with, does not mean it is not a crime. You may be surprised to know that NY has punishment of up to 1 year in prison for illegal apartments. $3000/day fines.
An illegal apartment is illegal for a reason. The city building codes are not arbitrary laws. There are many reasons why a basement (even more so a cellar) is dangerous to live in. Here is one huge reason: carbon monoxide poisoning. Cellars are structures which are more than 50% below surface level, that means they are huge repositories for carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is orderless and very deadly. If a tenant in an illegal apartment becomes ill due to the apartment, the landlord is liable. If the tenant dies, which is likely with carbon monoxide, the landlord will be charged with manslaughter. This is one reason why cellar apartments can never be made legal. Basements apartments (which are more than 50% above surface level) can be made legal with many modifications. Another point to think about is that if a fire were to start in the basement, which is highly likely since none of the gas, plumbing, or electrical has been inspected by a code inspector nor has it been installed by a utility company, then the tenants in the legal units can sue the landlord. AND the landlord's insurance contract will be invalid because of the fraud he committed when he described his building to the insurance company (he definitely did not tell them about the illegal unit). Further, there is a case to be made that the landlord has been paying inappropriate property taxes, as he has been paying on a 4 unit building, instead of a 5 (for example). This is tax fraud. Then if there is a mortgage on the building, the lender is not going to be happy to find out that the building has been modified such that it has an illegal unit, thus voiding any insurance on it. Not having valid insurance is a breach of the mortgage agreement and reason for the lender to seize the property.
All illegal apartments should be reported to the Department of Buildings. You can do that by calling 311. If you can get pictures of the unit or other evidence, do so. Landlords will try every trick to avoid an inspector gaining access to the unit. Locks on doors, never answer notices, etc. At the end of the day, these landlords are putting peoples' lives at risk. The government and the public is pretty upset with Toyota because it made some faulty cars which killed some people. The same goes for these illegal apartments.
All illegal apartments should be remove by their landlords. The funny thing about this is that the landlord will have to get building permits to remove the illegal unit!! Or just do the removal illegally. If they remove the unit without permits, report them. The main reason to report them is that even when the unit has been removed, all of the reverse modifications to the electrical, plumbing, and gas will not have been inspected by an official. Do you want to live in a building where these utilities are not code inspected? A crime is a crime. Just because it is easy to get away with, does not mean it is not a crime. You may be surprised to know that NY has punishment of up to 1 year in prison for illegal apartments. $3000/day fines.
very good post. everything was correct except for the fines. the penalty is not $3,000 dollars a day. The Buildings Department issues a minimum fine starting at $5,000 for working without a permit to create the illegal apartment. ECB court issues their own separate fine as well.
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
will it be that high? i just wanted them to get a warning, thats all. I wanted to do complain, not because I dont like them, its because I like them too much and dont want them to have any problems.
AT the very least your friends should install smoke/fire/CO detectors, double down that. Whenever the DOB smells blood they snowball the violations. Spend the entire day combing through the entire building. They aren't interested in "scaring" your friends a little bit. A heavy burden for simply trying to get by. Like I've said elsewhere to prove someone is living illegally requires proof such as a lease. Having a bed in the basement is not a violation of the NYC Building Code. Possibly a violation would be issued for a full bathroom (take out the tub, install a shower and have an architect file a plan) but issuing a vio. for "living" without legal proof is impossible unless your friends insist on implicating themselves.
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Illegal basement...
