527 40th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232

527 40th Street in Sunset Park is a 4-story, 8-unit New Law Tenement building constructed in 1935, currently owned by Sam Bilas. The property has experienced numerous maintenance and safety issues over the past year, with the most recent concerns centered around indoor air quality issues, including sewage odors in June 2025. A significant pattern of heating and hot water problems has emerged in 2025, with multiple complaints from entire building residents in April and May, some requiring HPD violations.

Water-related issues are particularly concerning, with multiple complaints of leaks (both heavy flow and slow leaks) reported between April and June 2025, and additional water-related complaints from earlier in 2025. The building has also faced pest control challenges, with open housing violations for rodent and roach infestations in Apartment 8 as of October 2024, and several rodent activity reports in 2024. The property has had multiple buildings and housing department inspections that revealed various violations requiring attention, including missing safety devices like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in Apartment 8, and issues with garbage storage that resulted in violations.

Access issues have been a recurring theme, with multiple HPD inspections in 2025 (January, May, and others) unable to gain entry, though violations were issued when access was granted. There have been two recent complaints of illegal conversion attempts (April and June 2025) where inspectors could not gain access during their initial visits. The building's overall maintenance history suggests ongoing challenges with basic services, proper maintenance, and pest control, though it's worth noting that some routine inspections (such as for bedbugs in 2021) showed no reported infestations during the filing period.