Violations 101

Start here (6 guides)

What is an HPD Class C violation?Immediately hazardous conditions, the short correction clock, and what certification actually means.5 min · updated September 2026HPD Class A and B violations, for tenantsThe two lower classes get less attention than Class C, but Class B is where most livability problems sit.2 min · updated August 2026How to read an HPD violation noticeEvery field on a Notice of Violation, what it controls, and where the same record shows up publicly.2 min · updated August 2026What happens when a violation is never curedViolations do not expire. The slow machinery that catches up with them: penalties, emergency repairs, liens, AEP, and default judgments.3 min · updated August 2026Complaint vs violation: what's the difference?One is an allegation, the other is a finding. Confusing them is the fastest way to misread a building.2 min · updated August 2026Does an old open violation still matter?A building shows an open violation from 2019. Is the problem still there, or did nobody file the paperwork? How to tell, and when age changes the answer.3 min · updated September 2026

Lookups

Find any record (3 guides)

How to look up NYC building violationsEvery route to a building's record: this site, the agency systems behind it, and what each one shows.2 min · updated August 2026What is a BIN? NYC's building ID, explainedThe seven-digit number that pins down a structure when addresses cannot, and how to find yours.2 min · updated August 2026BIS, DOB NOW, HPD Online: where the records liveThree city systems, three slices of the record. Which one answers which question, and what only exists in the old one.2 min · updated August 2026

By agency

Who issues what (2 guides)

DOB vs HPD violations, explainedHeat, mold and pests go one way; construction, elevators and facades go the other. Two agencies, two very different records.2 min · updated July 2026OATH hearings, explainedHow a summons becomes a penalty, what a default judgment costs, and the options for responding.3 min · updated September 2026

Enforcement

When nothing gets fixed (3 guides)

The Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP), explainedHow HPD picks its most distressed buildings each year, what enrollment does to an owner, and the four-month exit that most owners miss.2 min · updated August 2026The Emergency Repair Program: how charges become liensWhen HPD fixes what an owner will not, the bill does not arrive like an invoice. It arrives like a tax.2 min · updated August 2026OATH default penalties: the cost of not showing upMiss the hearing and the penalty is imposed at the maximum. The 75-day repair window, the one-year cliff, and what defaults look like in the data.2 min · updated August 2026

Local Laws

Filing deadlines (2 guides)

Local Law 11 facade inspections (FISP), explainedWhy buildings over six stories get inspected every five years, what SWARMP means, and why sidewalk sheds stay up.2 min · updated July 2026Local Law 86: the rent-stabilization notice in your lobbySince January 26, 2026, buildings with stabilized units must say so, in the common area and in new leases.2 min · updated August 2026

For tenants

Practical steps (3 guides)

Tenants: check a building before signing a leaseWhich records predict a bad winter, which are routine paperwork, and how to read a building page in five minutes.2 min · updated July 2026NYC heat season: the rules, and what the record showsOctober 1 to May 31, 68 by day and 62 by night, what to do the day the heat goes out, and why the same buildings fail every winter.4 min · updated September 2026Buying? Check the building's record firstOpen violations and unpaid penalties convey with the building. Five minutes of public record beats a surprise assessment.2 min · updated August 2026

For landlords

Compliance (2 guides)

How to resolve NYC building violationsThe general sequence (fix, document, then certify or file with the right agency) and the paperwork traps that keep records open.2 min · updated July 2026The NYC building compliance calendarEvery recurring deadline a residential owner faces, in the order the year serves them up.3 min · updated August 2026