Bay Ridge

Council hears testimony on illegal home conversions bill

Housing Committee focuses on crooked landlords

November 1, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
In August, the Dept. of Buildings ordered this two-family Dyker Heights home evacuated after local officials said inspectors found more than 30 people living there. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas
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A bill introduced by Councilmember Vincent Gentile to crack down on illegal home conversions was the subject of a City Council hearing on Monday as lawmakers sought to come up with remedies for the escalating housing problem.

The council’s Housing and Buildings Committee, chaired by Councilmember Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush) held a public hearing on Gentile’s bill.

Illegal home conversions take place when a property owner subdivides a single-family or two-family home into multiple units, in some cases as small as a single room, and rents them out to tenants.

The bill, which Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst) introduced in June, would establish a system in which a fine of $15,000 for each illegal unit would be imposed on the owner of a building with three or more illegally converted units.

“These measures serve as strong deterrents,” Gentile said at a press conference announcing the legislation.

Gentile introduced the bill with Borough President Eric Adams. Under the city charter, borough presidents can introduce City Council legislation. Williams and Councilmember Daniel Grodenchik (D-Bayside) are also sponsoring the bill.

The bill calls for fines imposed by the city’s Environmental Control Board to automatically create liens on properties that, if unpaid, could be included in a lien sale.

Under the proposed legislation, the category of aggravated illegal conversions would be added to the list of offenses for which a vacate order could be issued due to hazardous conditions.

The legislation would also allow inspectors from the Department of Buildings (DOB) to obtain a warrant from the city’s Corporation Counsel to enter a suspected building.

Adams submitted written testimony to the Housing and Buildings Committee in which he pointed out the dangers of illegal home conversions.

“These property owners are creating unlivable cubicles illegally inside homes, turning dwellings intended for only one to three families into dangerous, cramped flop houses for dozens of people,” Adams testified. “Often the wiring and plumbing in these structures is inadequate to the task, as the property was never intended to house so many people. Almost always, there is a lack of proper ingress and egress. The building conversions are always done without permits, so there is no way to check on the quality of any of this work before greedy owners start raking in the cash renting out these dangerous and barely habitable spaces for as much as $500 a month.”

The problem goes beyond the illegal homes themselves, according to Adams.

“These units are also immediately dangerous to the neighborhood as well. With improper and over-taxed electrical systems, they are prone to fire, creating a dangerous situation not only for those residing in the building, but also for innocent homeowners and occupants in surrounding buildings. When a fire breaks out in one of these homes, there is a significant potential for that fire to spread to adjoining homes, endangering the lives of neighbors,” he testified.

The Brooklyn Housing Preservation Alliance, a Dyker Heights-based group that was one of the first to sound the alarm over illegal home conversions, endorsed the bill months ago. Members also attended Monday’s hearing.

Prior to the hearing, Alliance founder Bob Cassara called on members to attend the session in large numbers. “We need a strong presence to show the committee we support this bill. We’ve worked too hard and too long to have it fail in a committee hearing,” he wrote in an email to members.

In recent months, Gentile’s bill has picked up the support of key groups in Brooklyn.

Warren Chan, leader of the Asian Community United Society, announced his endorsement of the legislation. Chan said that the people renting these units are often immigrants.

“It is time for our community to stand up and send a message to these bad landlords that are profiting from the housing crisis,” Chan said in a statement.

The bill is working its way through the City Council at a time when there is heightened concern over illegal home conversions.

On Aug. 4, the DOB ordered tenants of a two-family house at 6705 Seventh Ave. in Dyker Heights to vacate the premises after inspectors found 31 people living there. A few days later, the city issued a vacate order on a second house located nearby.

 

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