How to Handle a Vacate Violation (VAC)
VAC is the vacate code in a Department of Buildings violation number. The types page gives those letters that meaning: vacate. It does not print a rescission form, a deadline, or a penalty amount under VAC. The notice states the order and the condition. A stop-work order is a different order. An order of closure, code VCLOS, is the padlock order. Neither one is a subtype of VAC.
Read the notice
Confirm the number contains VAC. An asterisk means the types page marks the item dismissed. UB is an unsafe building. A precept for that case is UB% or V%. A multiple dwelling mark, MDV, does not itself create a vacate. Read the order that was posted or served.
Older summonses say ECB. Current pages call that hearing path an OATH summons. OATH holds the hearing. OATH is not part of the Department of Buildings and does not issue the summons. A DOB violation orders correction and has no court appearance. A vacate paper may sit next to either kind of violation. The vacate order is the order on the notice. If a class is printed on a summons, Class 1 is immediately hazardous, Class 2 is major, and Class 3 is lesser. The class is severity. The letters VAC do not set it.
On a summons that accompanies the vacate, read the hearing date and any cure date. Unless OATH dismisses that summons, the condition must still be corrected and accepted. Paying a penalty does not close the Department record.
What the city is requiring
Follow the vacate order as it is written. The classification table lists two charges, both Class 1: failure to obey a vacate order, and removing or defacing a written posted vacate order. Those classes are on those charges. They are not extra VAC types.
The Quality of Life Task Force inspects illegal-conversion complaints and issues vacate orders for non-compliance. That is one way a vacate order is issued. It does not mean every VAC number is a conversion. Illegal conversion, where that is the underlying case, means new living space built without prior Department approval. Examples on that page include bedrooms in a cellar and unauthorized rooming units. Use that description only when the notice is a conversion.
The types page does not state how a vacate order is lifted, and it does not state a dollar penalty for VAC. Correction and proof still go to the unit that issued the order. Do not invent a form number. A full stop-work order, if one was also issued, prohibits all work except remedial work to make the site safe. That order is separate from the vacate.
What S & M Expediting handles
S & M Expediting researches the VAC paper and any summons issued with it. They prepare and file the certificate of correction and the related Department filings, and they follow them. When the paper is a summons, they can appear at the OATH hearing.
They are Class 2 filing representatives, never Class 1. We will work with the contractor you have, or if not, we will recommend one from our network. violation removal is the research and the filings.
Who does the corrective work
The licensed professional the order requires does the work that addresses the condition. We will work with the contractor you have, or if not, we will recommend one from our network.
Call us at 718-833-2333 or email info@sandmexpediting.com. Bring the vacate order and any summons posted with it. S & M Expediting is a New York City certified minority- and women-owned business.
