A Certificate of Occupancy is basically permission of the town to allow you
rent your apartment to others for money. When a landlord does not have this
piece of paper the apartment is called an illegal apartment. You need a permit
to have an apartment because they must meet all zoning and building codes.
As a landlord how do I get a Certificate of Occupancy?
You can apply at your local town hall. You will fill out the application, pay
a fee and then they will schedule a representative to visit your home and make
sure all of building and zoning laws are being met. If you fail to get the CO,
the agent will give you a list of what you need to do and when they are complete
the rep will come back and check out the codes. You only have to pay the fee
one time. Check with your local town hall and find out exactly what you need
because every state varies.
What if I don't get a Certificate of Occupancy and rent anyway?
What could happen is that a tenant that you rent to can guess most of the time
when an apartment is legal and when it is an illegal. They may rent anyway because
while they are living there they don't care either way but what could
happen is that if they become disgruntled they turn you in to the town. An agent
will make the tenant move out and will fine you for not having the CO. You will
not allowed to rent until you get the CO, however if you do rent again and the
town finds out, they may keep imposing fines until you get the CO.
How can I tell as a tenant what apartments have CO's?
You really can't know for 100 percent unless you ask to see it when you
look at an apartment but a clue is if the apartment is a basement or a semi
basement it is illegal. It is really up to you whether you want to rent or not
but if the Town finds out that the apartment is illegal they will ask you to
leave.
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