Illegal Housing - Assignment Example

On October 13, 2013, The New York Times ran a story on illegal basement housing units, covering the experience of Rakha and Mahbub Sarkar who spent more than $4,000 upgrading a cellar apartment of their home in Queens, but were subsequently fined $ 1,200 and ordered by the City’s Department of Buildings’ (DOB) inspectors to dismantle it because it was illegal. In an interview with another Queens’ couple from Bangladesh, the wife admitted that they were renting out their cellar knowing it was an illegal act; moreover, they had no written lease agreement (Navarro, 2013).

A perplexing matter that requires more analysis is why are these residents participating in risky illegal affairs that can result to drastic measures? The DOB issues annually more than 4,440 violations for illegal conversion of basements, cellars, and attics: - which are not fit for human occupancy due to health and safety risks as specified by The New York City Building or Housing Maintenance code, Article 5- Occupancy of cellars and basements. Councilman Lander, you have asked me to explore the legalization of basement units, including through the new city council legislation based on the standardization of safety and health measures.

In this memo, I will evaluate stakeholder interests, by restoring the preferences given to homeless families. This will be achieved by the creation of a new rent financial support program and reformation of DOB code, Article 5- Occupancy of cellars and basements; that will create a momentous dent in restructuring building codes outlawing basement apartments