Violation issues and their ensuing penalties are the nightmare of any landlord. Aside from being forced to navigate court hearings and a bureaucratic maze, pushing off a repair, delaying the re-installation of a fixture that was destroyed or deemed inoperable, or neglecting to attend to a structural fallout can mean paying tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
Every year, the DOB meets to discuss proposed increases to the ECB penalty schedule. As you’ve probably heard, this year, quite a lot of penalties will be increasing.
While these increase should have you worried, at least you can be assured that as always Jaffa is here to help you navigate these changes and to break down what exactly you need to know about the latest NYC compliance code changes.
What’s Changing?
There are lots of penalties scheduled to increase this year. Several of them will even double in amount – or more. Here are some you should know about:
• Many Aggravated I default penalties are jumping to $25,000.
• Some new infractions have been introduced, primarily effecting construction equipment.
• The Class 1 infraction 28-304.1 – failure to maintain an elevator or conveying system will see a huge jump for standard penalty, increasing from $1,000 to $12,500.
Believe it or not, some fines are actually decreasing. The most significant reduction that will affect you as a landlord is the Class 1 infractions for failing to install luminous egress/photo-luminescent exit path markings in a high rise building. While maximum amounts aren’t changing, first-timers and Aggravated I offenders will see a nearly 50% decrease in fine amounts.
You can check out the full DOB Penalty Schedule for 2018 here.
But regardless if the particular penalty you find yourself facing has increased or decreased, you never want to pay full price anyway. When it comes to how you handle a violation and/or penalty, there are many options besides just writing the check. Check out our next blog, for ways to reduce or eliminate your penalty.
And if you’re still worried about the penalty increases coming your way? Don’t! Jack Jaffa & Associates can help ensure that you’re always following the NYC compliance code, so you can hopefully avoid them all together.