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Consulting & Advising for NYC Property Compliance

City5 Consulting is the most trusted real estate consulting source for property owners, developers, and management firms in New York City. We navigate our clients through the complex regulations providing unparalleled clarity while granting them the ability to transact effortlessly and with confidence. Our team strives to continuously elevate the client-consultant experience.

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"Wrongfully Accused, Rightfully Dismissed"

The Challenge

A building owner received a violation from the DOB (Department of Buildings) inspector for not allowing the inspector access to the building. The owner was subsequently issued a violation with a penalty of $2000. He turned to City5 Consulting for help.

City5’s Solution

After reviewing the statute, City5 found that it was the permit holder’s responsibility to grant a DOB inspector access: “It shall be the duty of the permit holder to cause the work to remain accessible and exposed for inspection.” The building owner who was issued the violation, however, was not the permit owner. Rather, the contractor onsite the day of inspection was the permit holder; it was his company that took out the permits to do construction on the building. This being the case, the contractor—not the building owner—should have received the violation. Therefore, the inspector had issued the violation to the wrong party.

The Verdict

On the day of the hearing, City5 was able to establish the inspector’s error in issuing the violation to the owner instead of the contractor. The judge dismissed the violation, and the building owner paid no fines whatsoever.

"Small Start, Big Finish"

The Challenge

An owner who had just recently purchased a building received an overcharge complaint from one his tenants. The tenant was paying $1800 per month, and the last registered rent for the apartment was $800, meaning the new owner was allegedly overcharging his tenant $1000 a month. The owner turned to City5 for guidance.

City5’s Solution

After consulting with their client, City5 learned that the building had been vacant when the new owner had purchased it. After buying the building, the new owner had gone on to do a gut renovation. Based on these massive renovations, City5 advised their client to petition to destabilize the entire building’s rent. Unbeknownst to the owner, the extensive work he had done on the building qualified him to make his case for destabilization based on NY’s substantial rehabilitation exemption. The owner then hired City5 to begin administrative proceedings with the DHCR (Division of Housing and Community Renewal), which as a body is responsible for general supervision, maintenance and development of affordable low and moderate-income housing. City5 requested the DHCR temporarily suspend the overcharge complaint until the court had ruled whether or not the whole building could be destabilized.

The Verdict

After completing and submitting the necessary documents and handling all correspondence with the DHCR, City5 was able to deliver above and beyond for their client. The DHCR ruled that the building qualified to be destabilized, and accordingly the initial overcharge complaint was dismissed. What started as a small endeavor—helping fight a single overcharge complaint—turned into a huge success—destabilizing the entire building.

"Public vs. Private"

The Challenge

A building owner received a sanitation violation for garbage spilling outside their building. According to the inspector who had issued the violation there were “plastic cans in front...containing household waste, overflowing and spilling in the front yard.” Though the penalty was small—$100—it was the principle that mattered.

City5’s Solution

Being well versed in building codes and statutes, City5 knew that the issuing inspector had made an error. The administrative code used by the inspector referred to public places; within this statute public space is mentioned several times. In particular, sidewalks are referred to as designated public space that is to be kept “free from obstruction and nuisances of every kind.” In this case, the garbage was in the front yard. According to the statute, the front yard is not public space, and therefore the alleged garbage spilling into the yard was not obstructing a sidewalk or any other area considered “public space.”

The Verdict

At the ECB hearing, the presiding administrative law judge agreed with City5: the front yard does not qualify as public space. The judge went on to say that backyard as well as front yard space not used by the public were not subject to this sort of violation. Both the fee and violation were dismissed.

"Experts in Investigation"

The Challenge

A building owner called City5 because he needed access to a rent-stabilized apartment. The building had already sent numerous letters to the apartment’s tenant and had received no response. According to the building super, he hadn’t seen the tenant in months. The tenant’s non-responsiveness and apparent absence seemed suspicious, so the building owner hired City5 to conduct a Landlord Tenant Investigation.

City5’s Solution

City5 began by conducting a Tier 1 investigation in order to gather more details about the absentee tenant. From the looks of it, the tenant potentially lived in another residence and did not use the one in question as his primary one. If this were true, the owner would have grounds for terminating the tenant’s rent stabilized lease. The owner then hired City5 to do a Tier 2 Landlord Investigation, a more rigorous course of action that included among other things site visits and reviews of the tenant’s files. City5 was able to verify through several resources that not only was it very likely the tenant had another out of state residence, but also that he was mailing rent checks from this non-New York address. Once finished with their investigation, City5 prepared a full documentary report in which they concluded that it was highly probable that the tenant in question was not using the apartment as his primary residence.

The Verdict

Thanks to City5’s well documented research , the building’s owner was then able to independently verify City5’s findings: the tenant was not using the apartment as a primary residence. With this information, the owner began a proceeding in housing court. In sum, the City5 team used its expertise to establish the essential groundwork for their client’s case.

"In the Know"

The Challenge

City5 received a call from a building owner who had received a violation for working while there was a “stop order” in effect. The cost for such a violation was no small fee— $4800 to be exact.

City5’s Solution

The stop order statute states, “No person with knowledge or notice of stop work order” is allowed to do any work. On the surface it sounds fairly straightforward. City5, however, knew what keywords to focus on: “knowledge and notice.” As is, the statute implies the owner knows about the order’s existence. In this case, the owner had recently purchased the building, and the stop order had been issued before she acquired it. In other words, City5’s client did not know the order was in effect.

The Verdict

City5 made their case and came prepared with necessary documentation: the owner had no knowledge of the stop order that had been put into effect before purchasing the building. The presiding judge determined that the DOB inspector could not prove otherwise. No knowledge or notice: no violation.

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Consulting & Advising for NYC Property Compliance

Violation Services

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Stop Work Order & Vacate Order

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Here are just a few examples of how City5 Consulting coupled their expertise in NYC property compliance with creative problem solving to deliver the best outcomes for their clients.

"Wrongfully Accused, Rightfully Dismissed"

The Challenge

City5’s Solution

The Verdict

"Small Start, Big Finish"

The Challenge

City5’s Solution

The Verdict

"Public vs. Private"

The Challenge

City5’s Solution

The Verdict

"Experts in Investigation"

The Challenge

City5’s Solution

The Verdict

"In the Know"

The Challenge

City5’s Solution

The Verdict

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Stop Work Order
& Vacate Order