Foreclosed property being used illegally

From NY1:

A littered lot, full of junk cars and tractor trailers and, unfortunately for Jamaica resident Beverley Smith, she's had to live next to it for five years now.

Smith says the residential lot is being used as a commercial garage where work is performed on vehicles which are stored on the lot, often blocking her view and her driveway.

Not only is the lot a tremendous eyesore but Smith says there's also a huge amount of noise and air pollution created.

"There's gas smell all over the place. They are painting cars here," says Smith.

The fed up homeowner called 311 on numerous occasions but no action was taken. And to add insult to injury Smith actually received three violations for the mess at the neighboring lot.

After Smith called NY1 for help the station first searched for the owner of record who apparently died before closing the sale of the property to another owner leaving the property belonging to the bank.

In the meantime, NY1 contacted the city Department of Buildings. A spokeswoman said since 2009 the department has issued seven ECB violations in response to complaints about an illegal commercial business at the location. She went on to say violations have been issued for work without permits, illegal use in a residential district, and failure to comply with the Department’s order to correct the condition. A total of $116,000 is owed in fines.

NY1 asked the DOB spokeswoman what action could be taken to address the situation and she said the location will be referred to the padlock enforcement unit which removes illegal uses from residential districts.