Vacate order

An order that a building or part of one is too dangerous to occupy and must be emptied, issued by HPD, DOB or FDNY.

A vacate order is the sharpest tool in the enforcement box: it removes people rather than penalizing an owner. HPD vacates apartments or buildings for conditions like structural instability or utter lack of services; DOB vacates for structural danger; FDNY vacates for fire safety. The order stays in force until the underlying condition is corrected and the agency rescinds it.

Vacate orders are public, and a building's history of them matters even after they are lifted: a building that has been ordered vacated before is a building that reached the end of the escalation ladder at least once.