"Illegal" basements should be legal as long as proper notice is given that the space is not up to code.

"Window in the basement apartment"...yep and it must be the size sufficient for a person to crawl out of, and a good idea. (I thought fire extinguishers on every floor was a long standing requirement in Jersey City or is that only for 4+ apartments?)




And for all the "blame the tenant" types. THe law is written to say that a LANDLORD is responsible for the legal status of the tenant. No, the guy living in the hole is not responsible for knowing Jersey City rent regulations, only the man illegally taking his money.

On the $800 Million suit for unlawful death...good idea. THat way settlement might be reached at the level requiring the loss of ALL of the slumlords properties. Bravo!


Simply put, when a man provides a dangerous illegal place for another to live and person dies as a result, the landlord is a murderer.

Does Stancampiano get an employee discount when he advertises the illegal apartment in the Journal?

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What do you want from me? All my apartments have current green cards, I even yell at the tenants not to block the stairwell & fire escape with crap. I don't want a death on my conscience. I also put fire extinguishers in the hallway on every floor, even though that is not required, it's just common sense.

If you want some gas on the fire (is that a poor choice of words?), I'll say the lax and corrupt inspection situation in the city attracts sleazy landlords like flies to shit, just like the rent control does. There's no excuse for unsafe housing. Period.

Rezoning and putting them on the tax rolls would only be acceptable if they are up to safety standards, which many aren't capable of meeting mostly due to these egress issues. Here's a shocker for some of you: a room can't be called or used as a bedroom if it doesn't have a window and is 50% above ground.

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LOL nice to see you're following my posts so closely. Worry not, I expect nothing more than the NewHeights "common knowledge" theory of BS argumentation from you and the rest of the cheerleading angelic landlord posse.

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Oh snap the pc police is back, we must have forgotten to provide footnotes with sources.

Law-shirking absentee landlord apologists make me hot. There's somebody missing though... paging brewster!

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Because the poor tenant had no clue that he was going to live in a home packed like a sardine can. The slumlord just FORCED this overcrowded co-habitation on these innocent people.

Xerxes, why not sue for $800 million dollars?
Yea, lets sue all the landlords. I am sure this dumb ass cook gladly & knowingly took this illegal apartment, as it was cheap. Xerxes, you should move in with this moron and the 70 year old and his vases. ha haa lol

how about making all of these buildings legal 3 families and raising the taxes accordingly. this way they would fall under the city and state green card inspections etc.

If the tenant survives, I would think a $10 Million suit would be appropriate especially in light of lack of second egress.

There is also a difference betweeen the civil action resulting from failure to observe zoning codes, and negligently contributiong to a near-fatality or fatality...certainlly a criminal felony.

These apartments are all over town, probably many hundreds of them, but with the bought and paid for city inspectors, none will be abated.

Yes, a $5,000 fine is too small. More appropriate would be $10,000 to the city PLUS every penny collected in rent returned to the tenant/tenants so that he can use the money to find LEGAL housing.


SLUMLORDS don't do ANYTHING for a city!

I hope the tenant in that illegal basement apartment can sue the landlords for his costs in finding other housing ...

They should give more fines out. There are so many illegal apartments being rented in Country Village. Many of the landlords are absentee landlords. Many of the 2 families are being rented as 3 families and that is one of the big problems why parking is so hard to find in Country Village. Look at Briarwood Rd. , there are so many illegal apartments they should all get fined $10,000.00.

$10G fine for having illegal unit

Saturday, August 08, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The owners of a two-family house in Country Village where firefighters rescued a man from a cooking blaze in an illegal basement apartment have been fined $10,000, Jersey City officials said yesterday.

Michael Ferguson, 33, was not breathing and had no vital signs early Monday when he was dragged from the 17 Suburbia Terrace residence owned by Jack and Josephine Stancampiano of Bayonne, Fire Director Armando Roman said.

Ferguson was revived at the scene and taken to the Jersey City Medical Center, then transferred to a New York City hospital for specialized treatment, officials said. An update on his condition was not available yesterday.

The Stancampianos were cited for having an illegal apartment, failure to update the certificate of occupancy, failure to produce building and zoning approvals for the apartment, having no second egress for the apartment, having an imminent fire hazard, failure to safely maintain the property and having a double key lock on the side door, Roman said.

The apartment was also ordered vacated and closed, Roman said.

Fire Prevention Inspector Matt Barrett said the notice of the $10,000 fine was mailed yesterday and a Sept. 3 court date has been set.

Lou Stancampiano, one of the building owners' sons and a vice president of The Jersey Journal, said the family would have no comment at this time.

Based on incorrect information from officials, it was reported in Tuesday's paper that the upper floors were vacant.

The tenants living on the first and second floors would be allowed to return, fire officials said.