Officials: Noyack home was rented illegally

After executing a search warrant Sunday to get into a house in Noyack that Southampton town officials said was being used as an illegal group rental, the town has charged the owners with 11 zoning code violations, including lack of a rental permit.

Town officials said the six-bedroom house at 2210 Noyac Road has a history of similar code violations, drawing 12 summonses in 2010 and eight more earlier this year.

Chief Town Investigator David Betts said he found 25 people staying there Sunday, some in the basement, which he said was illegally broken up into four apartments, and others in a separate living area above the garage.

According to town officials, the house is owned by Muhammad and Anessa Rahman, of Manhattan. Because they live out of town, they have not yet been served with the summonses. A court return date is usually set for 14 days after service.

Muhammad Rahman said Wednesday that he knew nothing of the raid and that he has a rental permit for the property. He said the house was rented for three months to a single tenant, whom he declined to identify. "My lawyer is looking at this," he said.

Betts said all previous charges against the homeowners are still pending in town justice court. Fines for illegal rental violations range from $1,500 to $8,000 for a first offense, and up to $15,000 for repeat offenses, although the town sometimes drops charges if certain violations, such as not having a working smoke detector, are corrected.

The charges filed as a result of Sunday's action include no rental permit, operation of a transient rental, excessive vehicles on the property, no building permit, no smoke detector (two counts), no carbon monoxide detector (three counts) and illegal change of use (two counts).