Condo's building vs owner responsibilities

Anything within the walls of your condo is your responsibility. You are liable for window guards. However, water pressure which is part of the overall building plumbing and stairs which I presume is in the common area is probably the buildings responsibility.

window guards are the responsibility of the building, based on nyc law, whether a rental or condo/coop.

water pressure is on the building. the window guards and lock, if coming from the unit, are on you.

Window guards are the responsibility of the building, not the owner!.

this is a condo, where each owner is the owner of their unit. there's no "building" in a sense of ownership as there is with coops/rentals. the common mechanicals and spaces are the only things that can be considered "building wide"

Window guards are considered common.
In fact building mgmt in all residential bulidings in NYC is required to survey all apts to insure that if young children reside, window guards are installed. Building managemaent installs said window guards if indicated.

The landlord is responsible for window guards. You have to send a notice every January to your tenants about the window guards, which they must complete and return to you. If you don't install the window guards and send the notice, you will be liable under the NYC Health Code. You can probably find a copy of the notice online at the DOHMH website, or call 311. You should be careful about having the window guards conform to DOHMH standards because not every installer knows them. If they are installed incorrectly, you will pay a big fine. You'll also pay a big fine if you don't install them at all.

ab_11218,

Window guards are paid by the Condo owner"S". It is part of condo common expenditure, not by individual owners.

Thanks everyone. It seems like the only gray area is the window guards. The rest is clear.

I suggest that you call the Health Department or 311 to find out the answer to your question about window guards. Many landlords end up at the DOH tribunal and pay fines because they were unaware of their responsibilities.

They might try rotating the kitchen sink water valve if that is the only problem tap.

If you have a window in the shower, and a young child in the apartment, can we assume that window too needs bars?

hfscomm1.

gross.

Since OP still seems to think window guards are a gray area, I have done what s/he should and could have done and found a link to the law.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/downloads/pdf/Local-law-57.pdf

I spent a few seconds of my time doing this so that a child of OP's tenant doesn't end up face-down in a courtyard. It's amazing the lengths to which some people will go to avoid responsibility and avoid paying a few bucks. In this case, however, a child or animal could end up dead while OP is still thinking about that "gray area."

Like it or not, OP, you're on the hook for the window guards.

I'm reading this for the first time, and I agree with GG's tone here - pretty shocking even that the OP/owner didn't call the management company himself. Regardless if the problem belongs to the building or the owner, the owner should be taking the lead to resolve it.

I should say I was meaningfully reading this for the first time.

This brings up a question: can an owner, in anticipation of having to pay out money for window guards advertise a higher rent for potential customers with children (or a lower rent for customers without children)?

No: Fair Housing Act.

The answer to that discriminatory question is "no." And I say again, it's amazing the lengths to which some people will go to avoid paying a few bucks. If a landlord ended up before a judge at the health tribunal with a story like this, he or she could be fined $1,000 for each window guard legally required and not installed (or installed not in accordance with DOHMH regulations). It's a lot cheaper to install the window guards.

Back in the day, when my dear old father owned much rental property throughout NYC, window guards were not a legal issue. But he would say, if you can't afford something little like that, you shouldn't be in the game.

And don't forget the window guard notice that has to go out to the tenant in January. If you don't believe me, just do a search for it online

>This brings up a question: can an owner, in anticipation of having to pay out money for window guards advertise a higher rent for potential customers with children (or a lower rent for customers without children)?

All this over a 1x $50 expense?