Guest post by Joel Gilbert
In New York City, property owners are legally required to register all details of their residential buildings each year with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
The goal is to ensure transparency and accountability among building owners, city agencies, and tenants.
Property registration includes providing accurate information about the building’s ownership and its physical characteristics.
Two conspicuous characteristics of any residential building are the number of stories and the number of units. New York State Attorney General Letitia James has lied about them both.
Registration ensures that HPD and other city agencies can quickly contact responsible parties in the event of emergencies, housing code violations, or tenant complaints. Failing to register – or submitting false information – is illegal. False information can invalidate the registration and result in civil penalties.
On Letitia James’s registration page of her apartment building on HPD, she listed the property at 296 Lafayette Blvd in Brooklyn as having only three stories. In fact, it has four.
In New York City, a building with a basement apartment and three additional floors above it is considered a four-story building for the purposes of HPD registration.
To qualify as “a story” a basement unit must have at least half of its height above the ground level.
By contrast, a unit with more with than half of its height below ground level is considered a “cellar.” It does not count as a story.
In sum, if the building’s lowest level meets the definition of a basement, especially if used as an apartment, it must be counted as a story. Misclassifying a basement unit to understate the number of stories is a registration violation and can lead to potential penalties.
The photo of James’s apartment building at 296 Lafayette Avenue clearly shows the bottom unit to be about 60-70% above ground level – making it the first story of a four story building.
In fact, the Certificate of Occupancy for James’s building lists a “cellar” in addition to a “basement” unit, further indicating that James’s basement apartment unit is a “story”, and cannot possibly be considered as an additional cellar.
On Letita James’s registration page on HPD, she goes on to claim that her five-unit apartment building only has four units, even though the building’s Certificate of Occupancy lists five.
There is an incentive for James to lie. Falsely registering a building with HPD as having three stories instead of four stories, and four apartment units instead of five, offers a property owner potential financial and regulatory advantages.
One advantage is avoiding the stricter legal and safety requirements that apply to larger buildings.
In New York City, once a residential building reaches four stories, or five units, it can become subject to additional regulations under the Housing Maintenance Code, Building Code, and sometimes the Multiple Dwelling Law.
These regulations could include mandates to create fire escapes, add sprinklers, install accessibility upgrades under ADA guidelines, require more frequent inspections by HPD, or even require elevator installations, depending on the building’s size and configuration.
In addition to the regulatory burdens, the larger size might lead to higher insurance premiums.
Complying with these requirements can involve significant financial investment, another powerful incentive for a building owner to understate the building’s specifications.
Another incentive for false registration is the avoidance of rent regulation.
In New York City, buildings with six or more units are typically subject to rent stabilization, but even buildings with five units could be subject to regulation if they were previously rent-stabilized or received certain types of public subsidies or tax incentives.
Additional incentives for lying about the dimensions of a building include a possible reduction in property taxes and the avoidance of audits.
All that said, lying on the registration form is short-sighted.
In New York City, providing false information on a building registration filed with HPD is a serious offense with significant legal and financial consequences.
If HPD, the Department of Buildings (DOB), or a court finds out, the owner could face significant penalties.
Potential penalties include thousands of dollars in fines, nullified registrations, and even legal challenges from tenants or city agencies.
It also opens the door to civil litigation and criminal charges, particularly if the falsification leads to injury or neglect of tenant safety.
“No one is above the law,” James assured us while she was hounding Donald Trump. That “no one” must surely include the Attorney General of the State of New York. Given all the “Letitia Files,” is it now time for Letitia James to resign her position as New York Attorney General?
Joel Gilbert, is a Los Angeles-based film producer, and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.
The post Here Are Letitia James’s Two Big Lies in Her Building Registration that Appear to Defraud NYC — Serious Offense with Significant Legal and Financial Consequences appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.