Attention illegal loft dwellers: You’ve got another chance to go legit under the Loft Law

If you, or someone you know just so happens to be living in an apartment with a killer view of the Manhattan skyline, tons of space and located in one of the more “hip” Brooklyn neighborhoods, with the only downside is that it’s not exactly “legal,” we have some news to share with you. According to DNAinfo, the New York City Loft Board is once again taking applications to help legalize apartments “not previously zoned as living spaces,” for the first time since it closed in March 2014. The city’s “Loft Law,” which passed in 2010 was put in place so that landlords can secure residential certificates of occupancy and for tenants to avoid getting abruptly evicted by asshole landlords who would sell to developers; or from the city, when they find out that a building is unsafe, much like these people in Greenpoint experienced last February.

This new chance for residents living in illegal apartments throughout the city will be open for the next two years. The board is hoping that this time out, residents will start applying early, as the first wave of applicants began slowly at first with only 91 applications a year for the first four years reaching the desk of the loft board according to data DNAinfo received from the DOB.

To officially be eligible for this, your building must have “at least three units” that “were occupied by tenants for 12 consecutive months in 2008 and 2009 and the units remain occupied today.” David Frazer, a tenant lawyer told DNA Info that “tenants can only apply for coverage if they are still occupying the unit — whether they were the ones occupying the unit in the 2008 – 2009 window or not.” If you were not living in the building back then, you’ll have to track down the people who lived there then so you can give the Loft Board proof the building was occupied. Frazer has gone so far as to using private investigators to find people and even had someone testify via Skype.

If you’re tired of living under constant fear of your landlord throwing you out, because hey, who isn’t these days, we suggest you get on this as quick as possible, before your sleeping on top of your stuff at your ex’s apartment, because you don’t want to go back to Idaho.

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