How to Check HPD Violations for Any NYC Building (And What They Mean)

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The Scale of NYC Housing Enforcement

HPD issued violations across more than 200,000 residential properties annually, according to HPD's own data — and enforcement has intensified significantly under the Mamdani administration, with expanded inspection programs and tenfold penalty increases under Local Law 71.

These are not abstract regulatory statistics. They are a map of where New York City's housing stock is failing its tenants. Buildings with open violations — violations that have been issued but not corrected — are buildings where landlords have been told about a problem and have not fixed it.

What HPD Violations Actually Mean

When HPD inspects a building and finds a condition that violates the Housing Maintenance Code, it issues a violation notice to the building owner. Violations are classified by severity:

• Class A (non-hazardous): maintenance issues that do not immediately affect health or safety — a broken window latch, a missing door knob. Must be corrected within 90 days.
• Class B (hazardous): conditions that could affect health or safety — mold, pest infestation, inadequate heat. Must be corrected within 30 days.
• Class C (immediately hazardous): conditions posing an immediate threat — no heat in winter, lead paint hazards, broken locks on entrance doors. Must be corrected within 24 hours.

Open violations — violations that have not been certified as corrected — are the most important signal. A landlord with many open Class B or C violations has a documented pattern of ignoring serious conditions. They can also accumulate strikingly fast: on a single May 2026 inspection day, five Brooklyn buildings logged 166 violations between them.

Read the record: open, not total

The number people fixate on — total lifetime violations — is the least useful one. A large, older building with hundreds of closed violations is often just a building where problems got reported and fixed; that's the system working. A smaller building with a handful of open Class C violations sitting unresolved for months is the real warning.

So don't read the total. Read three things: how many are open, what class the open ones are, and how long they've been open. An immediately-hazardous (Class C) violation left open for six months means the owner either didn't fix it or didn't certify the fix — and both tell you how the building is managed.

What a violation record predicts

A violation record is a behavioral history, and it's predictive. Chronic open heat and hot-water violations (Class C) predict cold winters. Recurring pest violations (Class B) predict an infestation the building hasn't solved. A cluster of new violations after a quiet stretch can signal a change in ownership or management worth investigating. None of this shows up in a listing photo; all of it is in the public record — which is exactly why it's worth reading before you sign.

How to Search HPD Violations by Address for Your Building

Option 1: HPD's public database. Go to hpd.cityofnewyork.us/building and search by address. You'll see all violations issued for that building, their class, their status (open or closed), and the date issued.

Option 2: Weverit building reports. Weverit consolidates HPD violations alongside other public data sources — DOB complaints

• Renters Insurance in NYC: Cost, Coverage, and the Flood Gap, litigation history, registration status — into a single building report. Search any NYC address at weverit.com.

What to look for:

• Number of open violations vs. closed
• Concentration of Class B and C violations
• Whether the building is in HPD's Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP) — the highest-scrutiny category for the most distressed buildings
• Recent inspection dates vs. violation dates

Why Enforcement Is Intensifying

Three factors are driving increased enforcement. First, HPD has expanded its proactive inspection programs, including the Alternative Enforcement Program. Second, Local Law 71 increased civil penalties significantly for buildings that accumulate violations and fail to correct them — up to tenfold for repeat offenders. Third, the Mamdani administration has directed all enforcement agencies to prioritize tenant protection, resulting in more complaint-driven inspections.

In February 2026, HPD announced its second annual Certification Watchlist — 100 buildings with over 7,500 falsely certified violations, where landlords claimed repairs were made but HPD reinspection found otherwise. Buildings on the Watchlist face heightened oversight, mandatory re-inspections, and escalated penalties.

How to Use Violations as a Legal Tool

An open HPD violation in your building is not just an administrative record — it is a legal document.

In Housing Court HP Actions: HPD violation records are evidence of conditions your landlord has failed to correct. A judge can order repairs based on open violations.

In DHCR rent reduction proceedings: A pattern of open violations supports a reduction-of-services claim for rent-stabilized tenants.

In warranty of habitability cases: If your landlord claims your apartment is in good condition while HPD records show the opposite, that gap is directly relevant to a rent abatement claim.

In lease negotiations: A building with a history of unresolved violations gives you leverage before you sign — and a reason to walk away.

What Happens When Violations Go Uncorrected

HPD can impose daily civil penalties on landlords who fail to correct violations within the required timeframe. Under Local Law 71, penalties for serious and repeat violations have increased up to tenfold. HPD can also perform emergency repairs itself and charge the cost to the building owner through a lien on the property.

Buildings with the most serious violation patterns — including those in HPD's Alternative Enforcement Program — face the most aggressive enforcement and are also the buildings most likely to be covered by COPA if that legislation passes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I check HPD violations for my building? Two ways. Option one is HPD's public database at hpd.cityofnewyork.us/building — search by address and you'll see every violation issued for the building, its class, its status (open or closed), and the date issued. Option two is a Weverit building report, which consolidates HPD violations alongside other public data (DOB complaints, litigation history, registration status) into a single plain-English report for any NYC address. Either way, don't just read the total count. Look at how many violations are open versus closed, the concentration of Class B and C violations, whether the building is in HPD's Alternative Enforcement Program, and how recent the inspection dates are relative to the violation dates.

What is the difference between an open and closed violation? An open violation has been issued but not yet certified as corrected — the landlord was told about a condition and hasn't resolved it (or hasn't certified the fix). A closed violation has been resolved and signed off by HPD. This distinction is the single most important thing in the record, and it's why total lifetime violations is the least useful number: a large older building with hundreds of closed violations is often just a building where problems got reported and fixed. The real warning is a smaller building with open Class B or C violations sitting unresolved for months. Read three things — how many are open, what class the open ones are, and how long they've been open. A Class C violation open for six months tells you how the building is managed.

What is HPD's Alternative Enforcement Program? The Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP) is HPD's highest-scrutiny enforcement category, targeting the buildings with the worst violation records in the city — the most distressed housing stock. Buildings placed in AEP face enhanced inspections, accelerated penalty timelines, and the most aggressive enforcement HPD applies. It's also a forward signal: AEP buildings are among those most likely to be covered by COPA (the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act) if that legislation passes. If a building you're researching is in AEP, that's a strong indicator of chronic, serious maintenance failures — not a one-off issue. It's exactly the kind of status worth checking before you sign a lease.

Can I file an HPD complaint anonymously? Yes. HPD accepts anonymous complaints through 311, so you can report a condition without giving your name. There's a practical limit, though: for a condition inside your own apartment, an HPD inspector needs access to your unit to document it — which is hard to arrange if you've stayed anonymous. That makes anonymous complaints most effective for common-area issues (a broken lobby lock, no heat building-wide, pests in shared spaces) where the inspector doesn't need to enter a specific unit. For conditions inside your apartment, you'll generally get further by filing under your name and being reachable so an inspector can confirm and record the violation.

Buildings With Significant Open Violations

These NYC buildings carry some of the highest counts of open HPD violations in the public record. Each links to its full Weverit report:

• 553 Howard Avenue, Brooklyn
• 1726 Davidson Avenue, Bronx
• 1055 Bergen Street, Brooklyn
• 530 East 169 Street, Bronx
• 675 Lincoln Avenue, Brooklyn
• 8501 Fort Hamilton Pkw, Brooklyn
• 479 Central Avenue, Brooklyn
• 338 South 3 Street, Brooklyn
• 700 Esplanade Gardens Plaza, Manhattan
• 2265 Olinville Avenue, Bronx
• 2541 Adam C Powell Boulevard, Manhattan
• 655 East 234 Street, Bronx
• 229 East 18 Street, Brooklyn
• 2179 Washington Avenue, Bronx
• 133 Mac Donough Street, Brooklyn
• 1593 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
• 2344 Davidson Avenue, Bronx
• 438 West 164 Street, Manhattan
• 1600 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx
• 1705 Andrews Avenue South, Bronx
• 738 New Jersey Avenue, Brooklyn
• 2201 Davidson Avenue, Bronx
• 533 West 145 Street, Manhattan
• 2290 Davidson Avenue, Bronx
• 738 East 243 Street, Bronx

Related NYC Housing Guides

• What Is the Warranty of Habitability?
• Your Landlord Can't Retaliate Against You — Here's How to Prove It
• What Is NYC's COPA Law?
• NYC's Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants: What It Can Do for You
• HPD vs. DOB Violations: What's the Difference?

Sources: NYC HPD Open Data; Local Law 71; HPD Certification Watchlist press release, February 2026; NYC Mayor's Office. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.