Rockland, illegal Spring Valley property owner, agree to lesser fine

SPRING VALLEY − A property owner has been fined $5,500 for violations in a deal with the county's inspection agency charged with policing the village's substandard housing.

Joel Fekete, a Brooklyn-based landlord who owns several properties in the Ramapo village, had faced $11,750 in fines for allowing the addition of multiple bedrooms and construction inside the single-family house at 17 John St.

The Rockland Office of Buildings and Codes agreed Monday to the reduced fine based on Fekete's compliance, including vacating the house and potentially removing illegal construction, county officials said. Supreme Court Justice Thomas Zugibe heard the case on Monday at the Rockland Courthouse in New City.

"Similar to a plea deal, the landlord assumed liability and agreed to demolish the property," County Executive Ed Day said Tuesday in an email. "Our goal since day one was ridding the village of unsafe structures and seeking compliance over making a profit and this achieves that.

"This is a standard operating procedure that gives violators a chance to comply expeditiously in exchange for a reduced fine," Day added.

Owner must abide by closure agreement

Fekete's attorney, Joseph Churgin of Nanuet, said Tuesday that the owner's quick response to violations likely spurred the agreement to a lesser fine. He said Fekete also obtained a demolition permit.

"I think the court recognized my client cooperated and abated the problems right away," Churgin said.

Shutdown: Rockland urges state judge to shut down illegally converted Spring Valley house

Churgin said the case has been adjourned to later in February to allow the "paperwork to get buttoned up."

Churgin has contended that Fekete was unaware of the internal additions to the house and the lease with two tenants states the owner must approve written requests for any sublets.

"This is another situation where a property owner rents their single-family house and somebody else puts up walls and brings in multiple other people, creating the illegal and likely dangerous situation," Churgin has said.

As the property owner, Fekete responsible.

Fekete signed the consent order, vacated the property immediately, and filed a demolition permit, said Beth Cefalu, director of strategic communications for Day.

The agreement requires that Fekete keep the property vacant and continue with the demolition as well as paying a fine of $5,500, Cefalu said.

"If he fails to comply he will have to pay the full $11,500 fine, and still be obligated to repair or demolish the property," she added.

Building and Codes officials also inspected other Fekete properties in light of the overcrowding and other problems found at 17 John St.

Cefalu said inspectors found similar violations at 30 E. Castle Ave. and 50 N. Cole Ave. The violations were a change in use from a single-family home and occupancy violations.

Inspectors received no answer attempting to inspect the two-family houses at 40. N. Cole Ave., 59 N Cole, and 65 N Cole.

Fire led to inspection and violation notices at 17 John St.

Fekete was hit with multiple violation notices by Buildings & Codes inspector Kim Weppler following a fire on Jan. 8 at the two-story house

The violations stated the house had been illegally converted into eight rooms in violation of the building's certificate of occupancy as a single-family home. Boarding houses violate village zoning and also require a permit from the Rockland Health Department.

The fire is believed to have started inside a second-floor closet converted into a bedroom with a mattress, fire officials said. One of the estimated 12 to 14 people living in the house commented they've been without heat, Rockland Fire Coordinator Chris Kear said.

The county said a person living in the house claimed they paid Fekete $6,000 a month in rent. Churgin said the lease calls for a monthly rent of $3,000.

Rockland took over on state orders

Rockland County, through the Office of Building & Codes, has been responsible for enforcing state fire and safety codes at properties in the village since November 2021.

The New York State Department of State seized control of the village's Building Department.

The state deputized the county — at the encouragement of Day, other officials, and firefighters — to inspect village properties, enforce the codes, and issue fines or remediation agreements. The county started inspections of Spring Valley buildings in February 2022 after creating the Office of Buildings & Codes.

The Department of State seized control of the village's Building Department after years of pressure from firefighters, county officials, and state lawmakers regarding the village's dysfunction.

Since taking over, Building and Codes has performed 2,090 inspections as of Jan. 23 — 1,107 in 2023 and 983 in 2022. The office has issued 12,400 violation notices and, so far, has collected $429,336 in fines.

Inspections: Bringing back inspections to Spring Valley still uncertain after code enforcer speaks

The state acted following two deaths, including firefighter Lt. Jared Lloyd, in a March 2021 blaze at the Evergreen Court Home for Adults.

Owners of the Lafayette Street adult home − the Schoenberg family − have not been fined or prosecuted, but their nearby Spring Valley facility, New Golden Acres Home for Adults, had been shut down in January 2023 for multiple violations, including a history of poor care and vermin. The state also permitted the owners to rebuild Evergreen Court and New Golden Acres.

Evergreen Court fire: Rabbis sentenced to probation amid outcry from family, firefighters

The Rockland County District Attorney's Office criminal prosecutions failed to get convictions against two building inspectors while reaching a plea deal with two Evergreen Court employees for their grand jury testimony.

Two rabbis pleaded guilty and were given probation for causing the fatal Evergreen Court fire. The non-jail pleas spurred condemnation by firefighters and others. The decision led to a write-in campaign against District Attorney Thomas Walsh in the November election. Walsh won another four-year term.

Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com Twitter: @lohudlegal

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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Owner of illegal Spring Valley NY house, Rockland, agree to lesser fine