Landlord Fined $62,500 for Short-Term Rentals at Residential Building

DOB issued four violation notices to landlord based on illegal conversion of dwelling units from permanent residences to transient use. At a hearing, DOB's inspector testified that he interviewed four occupants who confirmed they had booked transient rentals of five to 13 days through Airbnb. The ALJ didn't believe landlord's testimony that the short-term rentals had ceased. Landlord was fined $62,500 for conversion of a Class "A" multiple dwelling to transient use, lack of automatic sprinkler system, failure to provide the required means of egress for every floor and failure to provide a fire alarm system for transient use. The fines included per diem penalties for 45 days.

Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that she didn't get a fair hearing because she didn't speak sufficient English but had turned down the ALJ's offer of a translator. DOB also provided sufficient proof of the violations through its inspector's testimony. 

DOB v. Betty King Corp.: ECB App No. 1800575 (7/12/18) [8-pg. doc.]