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ViolationScoutRequest a sample file
Corrections and removalCurrent through

Ask us to check a figure

If a number on one of our pages looks wrong, write to us and we'll check it. We go back to the city's own data for that building and compare it with our page. That's the whole method. It isn't a take-down button, and the outcome depends on what the city's data shows, not on who asked.

Go to the request form The three outcomes

Before you write

We don't take down an accurate page. A violation on one of our pages was opened and published by HPD or DOB before we copied it. Deleting our copy wouldn't change what a tenant, a lender, or a buyer's attorney finds three clicks later, and it would only make our copy wrong.

The data we copy is public and free. HPD Online and DOB BIS will show you the same violations we do, and OATH's case search will show you the hearings. It's worth looking there first, because often the answer is sitting in the city's own system and you'll have it faster than we can reply.

The commonest reason a page looks wrong isn't an error on anyone's part. It's lag. A violation dismissed at a hearing yesterday, a repair certified this morning, a case that moved after we last read it. None of that shows up here until our next read. If that's your situation, the city's own system will already show the change.

Every request ends in exactly one of these.

We find the page and the building, count the disputed figure again from the city's data on the day we check, and compare it with the page. The comparison decides the outcome.

How we count a figure in the first place, and what "open" means here: /methodology.

The city's data has moved and our page hasn't caught up

What the check found
This is the common one. The city now shows something different from what we published, usually because it changed after we took our copy.
What we do
We log the correction, and it appears the next time this site publishes.
What you can do next
Our reply tells you the figure we read, the date we read it, and where. Every page prints, at the top, the date its data runs through, so you can check whether the change has landed rather than take our word for it.

The city's data says what our page says

What the check found
Sometimes we re-read it and our page is right. The figure is an accurate copy of what the city published.
What we do
We don't change the page. We reply with the figure, its date, and a link to the source so you can see the same thing we saw.
What you can do next
If the city has it wrong, that's a real problem and it's worth pursuing, but it has to be pursued with the agency that wrote it. When the agency changes it, our next read picks that up automatically. There's nothing you need to send us afterward.

The fault is ours

What the check found
A wrong address. A wrong BBL, the city's borough-block-lot number for the property. Two buildings collapsed into one page. Anything appearing that shouldn't, an apartment number or a person's name.
What we do
We fix it because it's wrong, not because it was requested.
What you can do next
Our reply says what was wrong and what we changed, and the change appears when the site next publishes.

When the city has it wrong

If our copy is accurate and the city's own entry is what's wrong, the agency that issued it is the only place that can change it. Where to go depends on which agency.

HPD. Violations issued against a residential building. Corrections and certifications go through HPD's own process; the violation notice itself names the path.

Look the building up: hpdonline.nyc.gov.

DOB. Permits, construction violations, and anything on the buildings side. BIS and DOB NOW carry the filing history and the correction routes.

Look the building up: a810-bisweb.nyc.gov.

OATH and ECB. Hearings and penalties. Case status, adjournments, and appeals run through OATH, and their case search shows where a case actually stands.

We don't file anything with any of them and we can't move a case along for you.

Send a request.

Tell us the page, the building, and what looks off. The most useful thing you can send is the page address pasted exactly as it appears in your browser. It tells us the building, the figure, and which version you were looking at, all in one. If you can, also name the specific figure you're disputing and what you think it should be.

Where you saw it

Copy it from the browser's address bar. It starts with https://violationscout.com/

If the page carries a report ID, include it.

The building

If the page shows one. A BBL identifies the tax lot; a BIN identifies the building.

What is disputed

An HPD Online or DOB BIS page for the building, if you have one open.

How to reach you

A person reads every request.

What happens to what you send

We use your message to check the figure and to reply to you.

We don't sell it, share it with anyone, or add you to anything.

We keep requests as a record of what was reported and what we did about it, which is how we know how often we're wrong and about what. We don't currently have a way to delete a request once it's been made.

What this page isn't

We don't represent owners, file paperwork, or speak to HPD, DOB, or OATH on anyone's behalf. Certifying a repair and clearing a violation happens through the agency's own process, never through us. If you want a firm to handle that filing, /for-owners has a consent-based way to ask for exactly one introduction. We don't start that unless you ask. Not legal advice, and nothing on this site is.