Harrison's Battle With Illegal Apartments Rages On

Harrison Building Inspector Bob FitzSimmons reaches deep into a desk drawer, looking for a yellowed newspaper article he says would be of interest for this story.

It's an article from the early '90s chronicling the town's on-going struggles with illegal apartments. A problem that continues to create headaches for homeowners and town officials 20 years later.

"Nothing has changed," FitzSimmons says. "We chase after them, we will always chase after them, but there's always going to be a property owner willing to take the risk."

Illegal apartments come in a variety of forms; most frequently they occur when a homeowner adds a third apartment onto a two-family home by adding a kitchen and bathroom to a basement or attic. It isn't a problem unique to Harrison, but is one town officials continue to grapple with on a regular basis.

Locally, these apartments are found most frequently in West Harrison, but recently have been popping up in the more affluent areas downtown and in Purchase, a phenomena town officials blame on the recession.

But in West Harrison, where street parking is scarce and space between properties is limited, the problem leads to a bundle of other problems. Overcrowding in the area has been blamed for decreased property values and loss of a "family feel" in some neighborhoods. The issue also creates safety concerns, as a fire or other emergency in an illegal home can put firefighters and police officers in a dangerous position.

"It puts people's lives at risk," said FitzSimmons. "From a safety standpoint it's a nightmare."

The West Harrison Neighborhood Association (WHNA) has been combating illegal apartments for years. In fact, one of the primary goals when the association was founded seven years ago was fighting illegal apartments—a battle that continues to this day.

"We sit as a group of people extremely frustrated with where we are," said Lori Wilson, president of the WHNA. "Seven years later, have we really accomplished a lot in terms of illegal housing? We feel frustrated that no, not enough has been done."

Wilson said she blames town government, which she feels hasn't been proactive in the effort to remove illegal apartments. The WHNA has organized a method for neighbors to report what they believe to be illegal apartments. The addresses are then sent to the building department.

"The flow of information from us is pretty constant, the flow back from town government is sporadic," Wilson said. "They either don't find this issue to be that important to the town or there's too many things on their plate and they can't sustain it."

Town officials paint another picture, saying that they are following up on the reports consistently—so much so that the citations are filling up the court dockets every week. FitzSimmons said that there have been as many as 55 cases called for illegal houses in one court session.

"It eats up a tremendous amount of man-hour time," said FitzSimmons. "It's a substantial problem."

An obstacle with getting rid of illegal apartments in the past, officials say, has been the rate landlords can charge tenants in Harrison. Fines for first-time offenders can range from $1,000 - $1,200 depending on the severity of the code violations. Landlords can typically charge at least that for one month's rent, so if they get away with an illegal apartment for even a few months it would be worth it financially.

"I think that's part of the problem," said Wilson. "The fines aren't enough of a deterrent."

Currently the town finds illegal apartments by sweeping homes that have complaints against them in the evening hours. If an illegal living space is found in a home the homeowner will be summonsed to court and need to bring the building back to code as quickly as possible. FitzSimmons said in the past the town had to follow up with each illegal home, but now homeowners are forced to prove the building is back to code before any fines can be paid. This puts the burden on the homeowner, making it less burdensome for the town.

This also forces the property owner to evict the person living in the illegal apartment who is often unaware their apartment is illegal. Although they don't face charges when the home is found out, tenants are often hastily removed and forced to find a new place within a short period of time.

Although from a legal standpoint the town has no other options, this often creates another victim in the illegal apartment situation.

"For the most part (the tenants) are hardworking people," said FitzSimmons. "It's just all they can afford."

Bernadette Iannucelli was evicted from her home on Dey Street in West Harrison earlier this spring after living there for more than nine months. She actually reported the apartment to the building department herself after she said her landlord turned off her heat and refused to install smoke detectors.

"If you're going to go one way illegal, in my mind you're going to go all the way, and that's what happened," Iannucelli said. "There was no stove, I was boiling pasta and it just fell down."

After the complaint was filed Iannucelli's landlord was cited and she was asked by a town judge to leave her apartment. She said she will stay with friends for a while because her illegal apartment in West Harrison was all she could afford.

"I felt very intimidated because I saw what they were doing," said Iannucelli. "All they're going to get is a slap on the wrist and they go and rent the places again, over and over and over."

In an effort to combat that from happening the town often reserves the right to check homes at any time for a year after finding an illegal dwelling. Officials hope this will deter people from turning around and renting the space again.

"That's always got to be on the back of property owners' minds," said FitzSimmons.

But even with these methods in place, the reports of illegal apartments continue and there doesn't appear to be an end in sight.

"There's always going to be someone who out of the nature of greed will go for it," said FitzSimmons. "I don't know if there's ever going to be an end result."