North Hempstead homeowners whose certificates of occupancy were revoked in scandal can obtain new ones

North Hempstead Town homeowners who obtained certificates of occupancy issued “in error” as part of a buildings department scandal in the early 2000s can now obtain the permits, which are required to sell their homes, on a limited basis.

Councilman Ed Scott said in an interview last week the limited permits represent a measure of justice for homeowners who were unaware their homes had been built out of town code and had their original certificates of occupancy revoked.

"You can make an agreement with the building department on how you want to pay this ... [fee] back," Scott said Wednesday. "We finally got, in my eyes, the best relief for my constituents that could've happened."

The town board voted 7-0 last Tuesday to allow residents to obtain the permits even if they owe “outstanding permit fees.” Homeowners would then have to pay the remainder of the fees upon the sale of their homes.

The measures come after the town in July offered a 35% fee discount for new permits.

Those discounts, as well as the limited permits, are meant to remedy an issue that surfaced in the early 2000s, officials have said, when some residents purchased homes that had been built larger than town code allows.

Bringing the affected properties into compliance requires homeowners to obtain new certificates, and corresponding fees could costs thousands of dollars.

The town refrained from a full discount because some people had already paid the fees.

Scott said homeowners also can now apply for variances with the town's Board of Zoning Appeals to obtain new certificates of occupancy.

Twenty-one residents, most who live in Roslyn Country Club, do not have active certificates of occupancy, Town Attorney Richard Nicolello told Newsday by email Thursday. About 40 affected homeowners previously paid their fees to obtain new certificates of occupancy.

In 2007, several building department employees were arrested after a 16-month probe into corruption allegations at the department. During that investigation, North Hempstead stopped construction or revoked permits for 30 homes, Newsday previously reported.

In 2008, Jennifer Schrader, of Roslyn Heights, received a letter from the town stating the certificate of occupancy for the home she and her husband purchased a few years earlier had been issued "in error." She told Newsday in July she did not feel she should pay any fees.

Schrader said in an interview Thursday she had applied for a variance to obtain a new certificate of occupancy. If the variance is not granted, she said, she plans to apply for the temporary permit.

"Even if I don't get granted a variance, which I'm hoping I will, I don't have to pay this fine until I sell my house, which could be 50 years from now," Schrader said. "I don't ever have to sell the house. Or, 20 years from now, this might all be irrelevant."

Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena in an emailed statement Wednesday framed the limited permits as the end of the saga. She said North Hempstead could now “close this chapter permanently.”

“This problem was created in the building department 20 years ago and has been the source of a lot of frustration for some of our residents,” DeSena said. “I’m just glad that we could finally offer some relief to these stranded homeowners.”

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.