DOB Denial of Permits for Excessive Violations

By Renee Sosnowski

Two local laws (LL160 of 2017 and LL104 of 2019) regarding denial of new permits have gone into effect.

Local Law of 160 of 2017

Effective March 1, 2021, the Department will deny New Building and Alteration-CO permits in DOB NOW if $25,000 or more in covered arrears is owed to New York City with respect to the property for which the permit is being sought, or the owners of the property together owe $25,000 or more in covered arrears to the City. The covered arrears include:

Unpaid fines, civil penalties, or judgments entered by court of OATH.
Unpaid in past due fees or other charges assessed by the Department of Buildings (DOB).

Owners will have to answer the following two questions in the Owner’s Attestation on Plan/Work (PW1) applications in DOB NOW: Build:

Are $25,000 or more in covered arrears, that are not currently in the appeals process, owed to the City with respect to the property for which the permit is being sought?
Do the owners of the property owe, in aggregate, $25,000 or more in covered arrears to the City?

Owners who answer ‘Yes’ to one or both of the questions will not be allowed to request a permit in DOB NOW: Build for a New Building or Alteration-CO filing unless they certify that one of the exceptions listed in Local Law 160 of 2017 applies.

Local Law 104 of 2019

Effective March 4, 2021, the Department of Buildings will deny applications for initial work permits in the Buildings Information System (BIS) for multiple dwellings with excessive violations on file.

Buildings with the following ratios of violations will be affected:

Buildings with 35 or more dwelling units: Two (2) or more violations per unit.
Buildings with fewer than 35 dwelling units: Three (3) or more violations per unit.

The violations in question include:

Open Hazardous or Immediately Hazardous Housing Maintenance Code Violations: Class B and C Violations issued by the NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) that have not been cleared.
Open Immediately Hazardous or Major Construction Code Violations: Class 1 and 2 OATH Summonses issued by the DOB that have not been certified as corrected.

The permit restriction will apply if the violations were issued on or after January 4, 2020 – the effective date of Local Law 104 of 2019.

Exceptions to permit denial include the following:

The permit is for a dwelling unit that is owned as a condominium or held by a shareholder of a cooperative corporation under a proprietary lease.
The issuance of the permit is necessary to correct an outstanding violation of the Construction Code, the Housing Maintenance Code or any other applicable provisions of law or rule.
The issuance of the permit is necessary to perform work to protect public health and safety.
The permit is for a portion of the property occupied by a tenant who is not an owner of the property or responsible for any existing violations on the property.
The property was the subject of an in rem foreclosure judgment in favor of the City and was transferred by the City to a third party pursuant to Section 11-412.1 of the Administrative Code.
The property is the subject of a court order appointing an administrator pursuant to article 7-a of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law in a case brought by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
The property is the subject of a loan provided by or through HPD or the NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC) for the purpose of rehabilitation that has closed within the preceding five years.
The permit is required in connection with the implementation of an HPD or HDC program.

If you have questions about these changes, or if you need assistance with your projects, please contact Metropolis Group at 212.233.6344.