Building Violations: What Happens when There's No Quick Fix?

Fortunately, in situations where you discover that it's difficult or actually impossible to fix such a violation right away, the city offers some flexibility.

The first thing to note is that there's no such thing as a general "city" violation. You can get fined by the Department of Buildings (DOB), the Environmental Control Board, the Fire Departmentand/or the Department of Sanitation, with only the first two of these listing violations online (both together at the "Building Information System" here — use the BIS web-query function in the right column).

Josh Blackman, CEO of Brownstone Management in Park Slope, Brooklyn, represents the 41-unit co-op at 45 Plaza Street West, near Grand Army Plaza. Last year, the board learned that roots from a tree stump in a sidewalk bed had raised the edge of the flag [i.e., a flat concrete square] and part of the sidewalk was sticking in the air. "It was a physical danger and a financial liability," Blackman notes. "God forbid somebody should trip and fall."

Blackman gave the board some contractor quotes for a complete fix, but the co-op, says board president Kristi Niemeyer, "at that point was not in a financial position to do the whole scenario, and we asked what we could do for a temporary fix." The solution? Blackman had a handyman mix a small batch of concrete and smooth over the sidewalk shards. "It's not perfect," he says, "but it mitigates the tripping hazard."

It was only after this proactive bit of handiwork, says Niemeyer, that someone seeking to either refinance or buy brought the board "some feedback from the city that we had two violations, one of which appeared to be an issue with the sidewalk. We'd never been given any indication that we had any outstanding violations or fines," she says. "We were never notified."

And indeed, the DOB's online records — which can vary from the physical records kept at the DOB itself — show no violations involving the sidewalk around the lot designated "43-45 Plaza Street West & 941-947 Union Street." And in any case, says Niemeyer, "The building next door has been doing all this work lasting more than a year and a half, and even if we could have fixed up that particular piece of sidewalk, it was impossible since the [other building's] bridgework has a stanchion there."

Not So Fine

If you do indeed get an actual building violation you can't address right away, don't panic. Even though it has to be corrected before a new or amended certificate of occupancy can be obtained — and even though a DOB violation will, in the department's words, "ordinarily impair the sale or refinancing of a property since it will appear against the property on a title search" — there's a system in place for dealing with delays.

"The first thing to do is go down and contest it," advises Steve Greenbaum, director of property management at Mark Greenberg Real Estate, who notes that violations each come with a hearing date on them. The violation notice will also list a fine. "You shouldn't just pay it," Greenbaum advises. "You should go down there," he says, "and mitigate the damage."

You do that, he says, "by saying honestly if it's out of your control, or it's an oversight. Or you can plead on the mercy of the court. And the court will usually offer a reduction. So, a $2,500 fine can be reduced substantially — by a half, a third, even down to 300 or 500 bucks." Either a board member, your attorney or managing agent, or an architect can do this, depending on the scope.

Some mitigating factors involve technical errors on the violation ticket itself. "If your building number is 311 and [the violation] is made out to 321, they'll dismiss that right away," says Greenbaum. "We manage 150 Seventh Avenue [at West 19th Street] and we got a violation made out to 150 Seventh Avenue South," at Charles Street in Greenwich Village. "We went down and fought it, and it was dismissed."

Yet an incorrect address, which carries the possibility that your building is being cited for another's problems, is one thing. Don't count on getting a dismissal for a "t" not being crossed or an "i" not being dotted. "Sometimes," says Greenbaum, "a judge will look at [a violation ticket], see that it's obviously your building, and let the violation stand."

And sometimes, even after a judge has dismissed it, an inspector will go to your building specifically to issue a violation. "It's like, ‘Oh, you think you're going to get away with it,'" Greenbaum notes. "The bottom line is: run your buildings violation-free."

Adapted from Habitat April 2008. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>