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Board grants tenant's jurisdiction request in Cortland Avenue remodeling dispute, pauses eviction timeline
Summary
The board found city notification procedures inadequate for a tenant at 235 Cortland Ave and granted a jurisdiction request, giving the tenant five days to file a formal appeal and staying eviction while the matter proceeds.
The Board of Appeals on Jan. 9 granted a jurisdiction request from tenant Kristen Fogarty challenging a DBI permit for interior remodeling at 235 Cortland Avenue, finding that the city’s processes did not, in this instance, ensure the tenant could file a timely appeal.
Fogarty told the board she learned of the permits only after a notice to temporarily vacate arrived, which she said left insufficient time to appeal. Counsel for the permit holder, Alexander Volkov, said the proper forum for many landlord–tenant disputes is the Rent Board and defended DBI’s procedures. DBI and the city attorney clarified that DBI does not routinely notify tenants for this type of interior work and that landlords carry the notification obligation under the rent ordinance.
The board concluded that, in this instance, the lack of effective tenant notification caused the late filing and granted the request; Fogarty was given five days to file an appeal and the board chair said staff would contact her to ensure she receives notice. The granting stays the temporary eviction while the appeal is filed and scheduled.
