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Hazardous

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Hazardous

Postby zemauricio » Mon Dec 01, 2008 3:02 pm

I live on the top floor of a building with a store front. My landlord is gut-renovating the store and the first floor right under me. In the process, allegedly accidentally a wood column was removed. Now I would assume (and according to my landlord) that the building has an unstable structure, therefore unsafe to live. Do I have the right to some kind of buyout? Could such renovation take place while I was still living there?
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Postby lofter1 » Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:05 am

Has the Department of Buildings issued a violation or a Vacate Order?

Or is this something stated only by your Landlord?

And is your unit the only residential unit in the building?
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Hazardous

Postby zemauricio » Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:35 am

Thanks for answering. No, the Department of Buildings wasn't notified yet. This is a statement by my landlord. My unit is not the only residential on the building. The first floor is residential as well.
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Postby TenantNet » Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:48 am

You don't necessarily have a right to a buyout. You might expect a quick death though.

First, you don't say if the column was load-bearing or not. You're not clear if there are more than two floors to the building (you're on the top floor, but the store is right beneath you). And first floor gut renovations do not necessarily call for removal of columns.

Does the owner have - and has he posted - DOB Building permits? Does the work conform to what is stated on the permits? You can go to DOB and look at the plans. You can check the DOB database online and find out who the engineer/architect is.

If the situation is indeed hazardous, you could be facing collapse, and injury. The DOB would issue a vacate order. That's not what you want, but better than death.
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Postby concord » Sat Dec 06, 2008 4:24 pm

If a Vacate Order is issued and the tenant is ordered to vacate while the structural repairs are made then, is the landlord obligated to hold the first available unit in the building for that tenant to occupy and at the same rental that he paid prior to the vacating?
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