Sagging Floor

DOB issued a violation notice to landlord for not maintaining a building in a safe condition. The notice stated that there was a three-inch sag in the wooden floor of one apartment. Landlord claimed that the law cited in the violation notice didn't specifically make the sagging floor a condition that was a violation. The ALJ ruled against landlord and fined it $350. Landlord appealed and lost. The law in question states that ''All buildings and all parts thereof shall be maintained in a safe condition.'' While another part of the same section of the law discussed, but didn't define, ''good working order,'' that part of the law referred to service equipment. Although no specific provision of law bars the existence of a sagging floor, landlord didn't show that this wasn't an unsafe condition.

200 Claremont Ave. HDFC: ECB App. No. 32439 (10/27/99) [2-pg. doc.]