The New York City Loft Board handles the legal conversion of lofts for residential use from their former use as commercial or manufacturing buildings. The Multiple Dwelling Law (MDL) or the Loft Law created the new building classification in New York called the IMD or interim multiple dwellings and established the framework necessary for the conversion of these buildings into safe residential zones. The landlords were forced to bring their buildings up to par with the standards of the NYC Building Code for residential occupancy, allowing for the legalization of their buildings. The New York City Loft Board is tasked to ensure that the legalization process of IMDs are completed properly.
The Loft Board
The Loft Board keeps track of the progress of these conversions and mediate between tenants and landlords over renovation plans several types of disputes that can arise between these parties during the process of conversion/legalization.
They prosecute landlords who don’t:
- Meet the deadlines for legalization
- Register their building with the loft board annually
- Maintain the housing standards minimum
- Follow or observe the Loft Law or the Loft Board rules
The Loft Law
The Loft Law states the rights and obligations of all IMD tenants and landlords. One of the rights of an IMD tenant is the right to sell improvements made to the unit occupied and the right to sell their interest in the IMD unit. The Loft Law also imposes obligations on IMD tenants like the provision for an owner to access their IMD unit for the purposes of conducting work, repairs and inspections.
Owner Access for Work, Repairs and Inspections
The following are pointers on owner access on the IMD unit for legalization purposes:
- The Loft Law requires tenants to allow owners access to the unit to complete work necessary for the legalization of the unit subject to notice of timing and scope of work.
- Upon appropriate notification, tenants are required to allow inspections and surveys of the IMD unit, as may be required to complete the legalization process.
- When the IMD occupant denies necessary access, the owner of the unit may go to the Loft Board and request/obtain an order directing the tenant to provide access.
- After an order from the Loft Board has been executed if the tenant still fails to provide necessary access to the owner, this constitutes grounds for eviction and court proceedings for such.
Sale of Improvements
The following are some pointers regarding the sale of improvements of an IMD unit:
- Improvements are fixtures installed or alterations made by the tenant of the unit (defined in § 2-07(a) of the Loft Board Rules (for example, flooring, partitions, kitchens and bathrooms).
- A tenant under a covered IMD unit who has decided to move out of the unit has the option to sell the improvements firstly to the owner, who has right of first refusal, or to the prospective new tenant.
- The improvements can only be sold once. If there has already been a sale of improvements, there can be no more sale of improvements done.
- If the owner chooses to purchase the unit’s improvements, then he must notify the board of such sale through a form that is available with the Loft Board. Failure to inform the Board of the sale may result in fines and/or penalties.