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Posted by TenantNet on March 22, 1998 at 08:08:23:

In Reply to: rent control, fire 12/31, stairway no permits posted by Mary on March 04, 1998 at 13:47:43:

: My fiancee has been paying rent on a rent-controlled apartment in Yonkers New York, for the past 4 years or so. He took over the apartment when his parents moved to FL. His parents had been leasing the apartment since 1966. The apartment is two two-bedroom apartments connected by an inside stairway. My fiancee's father was given permission in the lease to install the stairway. He hired two guys (firefighters) to build the stairway and there were no building permits obtained. A fire occurred in the 2nd flr. of our apt. two months ago. We had renters insurance. Inspectors told our landlord that the stairway is not up to code. There has been no work done to restore the apt. Landlord tells us stairway cannot be brought to code. He will remove stairway. We will have only one apt.

This is sufficiently complicated that you should seek legal advice. This isn't a succession issue, but services. When they combine two units, it becomes one unit. If permission was given in the lease (which must be from the 1960's) to install the stairway, then it's part of the agreement. The solution would be to fix the stairway to bring it up to code and legal. Force the owner to explain why it supposedly cannot be brought to code. I would think that because it's part of the lease and a permanent addition to the unit, then it's the owner's responsibility to cover the costs, but you should check with a good tenant attorney (and Yonkers might be different than NYC).

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: : My fiancee has been paying rent on a rent-controlled apartment in Yonkers New York, for the past 4 years or so.  He took over the apartment when his parents moved to FL.  His parents had been leasing the apartment since 1966.  The apartment is two two-bedroom apartments connected by an inside stairway.  My fiancee's father was given permission in the lease to install the stairway.  He hired two guys (firefighters) to build the stairway and there were no building permits obtained.  A fire occurred in the 2nd flr. of our apt. two months ago.  We had renters insurance.  Inspectors told our landlord that the stairway is not up to code.  There has been no work done to restore the apt.  Landlord tells us stairway cannot be brought to code. He will remove stairway.  We will have only one apt. 

: This is sufficiently complicated that you should seek legal advice. This isn't a succession issue, but services. When they combine two units, it becomes one unit. If permission was given in the lease (which must be from the 1960's) to install the stairway, then it's part of the agreement. The solution would be to fix the stairway to bring it up to code and legal. Force the owner to explain why it supposedly cannot be brought to code. I would think that because it's part of the lease and a permanent addition to the unit, then it's the owner's responsibility to cover the costs, but you should check with a good tenant attorney (and Yonkers might be different than NYC).



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