Landlord Criminally Liable for Building Violations

August 31, 1995

LVT Number: 9941

The city brought criminal charges against landlord for not correcting building violations. Landlord received a jail sentence after he didn't repair hazardous violations on time. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord was the principal shareholder of the corporation that owned the building since 1985 and knew or should have known of various conditions. These included visible structural cracks in the exterior wall of the building. Neither the estimated cost nor the amount of time needed to do the work made the repairs impossible to perform.

The city brought criminal charges against landlord for not correcting building violations. Landlord received a jail sentence after he didn't repair hazardous violations on time. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord was the principal shareholder of the corporation that owned the building since 1985 and knew or should have known of various conditions. These included visible structural cracks in the exterior wall of the building. Neither the estimated cost nor the amount of time needed to do the work made the repairs impossible to perform. And any economic hardship landlord suffered was self-inflicted by his delay in making the repairs.

People v. 352 Cathedral Equities, Inc., Nabavi: NYLJ, p. 21, col. 1 (8/22/95) (App. T. 1 Dept.; Parness, JP, Miller, JJ)

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