What an HPD violation actually is.
The agencies: the flow, HPD, DOB, OATH/ECB, 311
Of the 884,091 Class C HPD violations issued citywide since August 7, 2023, the immediately hazardous class, 276,869 are still open right now, 31.3%. Class C is the class HPD gives 24 hours to correct.
See what is open on one building.
What HPD violations cover
HPD, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, enforces the Housing Maintenance Code inside residential buildings: heat and hot water, pests, mold, lead paint, leaks, electrical hazards, and the general condition of occupied units. It does not review permits or inspect ongoing construction; that scope belongs to DOB, a different agency working from a different code.
How a violation gets issued
Most HPD violations start with a tenant's call to 311. HPD schedules an inspection, and only if an inspector confirms the condition does HPD issue a violation and mail the owner a Notice of Violation. From that point the violation is searchable on HPD Online and in the data this site reads. Some HPD inspections are proactive rather than complaint-driven, so not every violation traces back to a 311 call at all.
By class
HPD sorts every violation into one of four classes, and the class sets the correction window. Class A is not hazardous and gives 90 days. Class B is hazardous and gives 30 days. Class C is immediately hazardous and gives 24 hours. Class I covers registration and Alternative Enforcement Program orders, which clear by filing rather than by certification.
| Class | Violations |
|---|---|
| Class A (not hazardous, correct within 90 days) | 683,983 |
| Class B (hazardous, correct within 30 days) | 1,188,260 |
| Class C (immediately hazardous, correct within 24 hours) | 884,091 |
| Class I (registration / AEP orders) | 211,543 |
Class C is 29.8% of all the HPD violations we hold.
How often Class C gets certified
Of the 884,091 Class C violations we hold, 403,151 have been certified corrected at some point, 45.6%. An owner corrects the condition and certifies with HPD directly; if the certify-by date passes with nothing filed, the status moves to Not Complied With. When an owner does certify, HPD mails the tenant a CIV14 letter asking whether the repair was made. Every status a violation can carry is decoded in the status glossary.
Where HPD and DOB meet
HPD's violations and DOB's matters are two different codes tracked in two different datasets, but they land on the same buildings often enough to matter. Right now, 98,191 properties carry an open HPD violation, and 12,307 of those, 12.5%, also carry an active OATH/ECB matter, DOB's own enforcement channel. The full flow between all four sources is on the agencies hub.
Owners with more than one violation
138,488 distinct owners have at least one HPD violation in our copy, matched on the exact owner name, never on a near match. 121,355 of them, 87.6%, carry more than one violation; the median owner carries 5 violations. A single violation on a single building is the exception, not the rule.
What a tenant does, and what an owner does
A tenant without a working condition can call 311 to start the process, and a photograph with the date of the call helps if a second inspection is needed. If HPD confirms nothing changed, calling again to request a reinspection is the next step, not a new complaint filed from scratch.
An owner who receives a Notice of Violation corrects the condition and files the certification directly with HPD, not with this site and not with 311. Missing the certify-by date does not erase the violation; it changes its status and can trigger HPD's own penalty process, covered above.
311 calls at HPD buildings
Buildings with HPD violations also tend to generate 311 calls, and the overlap runs both ways. Of the 158,420 properties that have had an HPD violation in our copy, 75.1% also have a 311 request in just our trailing 311 window. The full 311-to-HPD comparison, in both directions, is on its own page.
What this page is not
This page counts violations. It does not identify a building, an owner, or a unit, and it does not replace HPD Online, the city's own source for any specific address. If you manage a building and want to see what is open on it, start here.
No building or owner is named on this page. Source: NYC Open Data, the city's own published datasets. Status codes decoded, violations by borough, citywide, ViolationScout.