NYC Building Violation Search & Building Complaints Lookup

Yes. All HPD violations, 311 complaints, DOB records, and ACRIS property records are public and searchable online through NYC government websites. Anyone can look up any building's complaint history without needing to be a tenant, owner, or attorney. This transparency is a unique strength of NYC's housing oversight — most US cities don't publish building violation data this openly.

HPD violation records go back to the late 1980s for many buildings, with complete data from around 2000. 311 complaint data is available from 2010 onward through NYC Open Data. DOB building records vary by building age but generally go back to the 1990s for electronic records, with paper records available for older structures through a records request. ACRIS deed records go back to 1966 for most properties.

HPD Class A violations are non-hazardous conditions (peeling non-lead paint, minor cracks, missing mailbox locks) with a 90-day correction deadline. Class B violations are hazardous (broken stove, inadequate lighting, leaks, mice) and must be corrected within 30 days. Class C violations are immediately hazardous (no heat in winter, lead paint with children under 6, gas leaks, inadequate fire egress) and must be corrected within 24 hours. Multiple open Class C violations on a building are a major red flag and may indicate enrollment in the Alternative Enforcement Program.

Each HPD violation record includes: the class (A/B/C), violation code (e.g., HMC 27-2029 = no heat), description (plain-language summary), issue date, certification deadline, and current status (open, closed, dismissed). Focus on: (1) open status, (2) certification deadline passed without correction, (3) same violation recurring year after year. These three patterns indicate a non-responsive landlord, not just a building with normal wear and tear.

No. It is illegal under NYC Human Rights Law to retaliate against prospective tenants for asking about building conditions, violations, or complaint history. If a landlord refuses to answer or reacts defensively, that itself is a signal about how they will handle your repair requests as a tenant. A landlord with nothing to hide has no reason to resist basic due diligence questions.

Document everything immediately. If there are serious habitability issues (no heat in winter, chronic pest infestations, lead paint, or unaddressed Class C violations), you may have grounds to break the lease under NYC's warranty of habitability, or to withhold rent and place it in escrow pending repairs. Contact Met Council on Housing at (212) 979-0611 for free legal advice, or JustFix (justfix.org) for self-help tools. Housing Court also offers HP actions (Housing Part) for compelling repairs without an attorney.

Context matters — a large building naturally has more records than a small one, so compare per apartment. DwellCheck measured every NYC building with 3 or more apartments: most have no open class B or C HPD violation issued in the past 24 months. The top 10% have at least 0.33 open B/C violations per apartment, the top 5% at least 1, and the top 1% at least 4.4. Beyond the count, look at (1) open vs. closed — closed violations show the landlord eventually fixes things, (2) recurring patterns — the same heat or pest problem every year points to a chronic issue, and (3) how long violations stay open past their correction deadline.

The Alternative Enforcement Program is HPD's watchlist of the 250 worst-maintained buildings in NYC, updated annually. Buildings with the highest combined counts of Class B and C violations per unit are selected. AEP buildings receive quarterly inspections, targeted code enforcement, and public listing — avoid renting in any AEP building. The list is published each February at nyc.gov/hpd and searchable by address.

Yes. Both 311 complaints and HPD complaints can be filed anonymously, and the landlord cannot legally retaliate for any complaint (anonymous or not). However, for HPD inspections to enter a specific apartment, an inspector needs access from a resident — so complete anonymity is harder for unit-specific issues like leaks or pests inside your own apartment. Common-area issues (hallway lighting, lobby mold, exterior repairs) can be fully anonymized because inspection happens from public spaces.

HPD performs three types of inspections: (1) complaint-driven inspections triggered when tenants file HPD or 311 complaints (typically within 1-7 days for emergencies, 14-30 days for non-emergencies), (2) proactive inspections of AEP buildings (quarterly at minimum), and (3) targeted sweeps of high-violation neighborhoods. Non-AEP buildings without active complaints may not see an HPD inspector for years, which is why tenant-initiated complaints matter.

NYC Local Law 69 requires every landlord to file an annual Bedbug Report disclosing any bedbug infestations in the previous year. These reports are publicly searchable through HPD Online under the "Bedbug" tab for each building. Before signing any NYC lease, you are legally entitled to request the building's most recent bedbug history disclosure from your landlord — they must provide it in writing within a reasonable timeframe.

The landlord will learn that a complaint exists (the inspector contacts the managing agent or owner when investigating), but 311 does not share the complainant's identity unless you explicitly consent. Landlords cannot legally retaliate for 311 complaints — NYC Real Property Law 223-b prohibits retaliatory rent increases, lease non-renewal, or service reductions within 12 months of a complaint. Keep documentation of the complaint and any landlord reactions.

Through 311 — for both agencies. Housing-condition problems (no heat or hot water, leaks, mold, pests, broken locks) go to HPD; construction, structural and illegal-occupancy problems go to the Department of Buildings. Call 311 (or 911 for a gas leak or other emergency), file at portal.311.nyc.gov, or use the NYC311 app. Keep the service request number: it is how you check the status later.

A DOB vacate order is issued when the Department of Buildings determines a building is unsafe to occupy — usually due to structural failure, fire damage, or illegal conversions. Vacate orders are serious: tenants in a vacated building may be forced to leave with limited notice. Before signing any lease, check DOB BIS (a810-bisweb.nyc.gov) for active vacate orders against the address. Any vacate order, even partial, is a deal-breaker.

NYC Open Data refreshes at different cadences depending on the dataset. 311 service requests update daily. HPD violations and complaints update within 24-48 hours of filing. DOB violations and permits update within 2-3 business days. ACRIS document records update within 24 hours of recording. NYPD crime data is published quarterly. DwellCheck queries the sources when a report is calculated and reuses that report for up to 14 days.

DwellCheck aggregates 15+ free public data sources (mostly NYC Open Data, plus MTA, New York State, USDA and Census data) but adds meaningful value on top: (1) address normalization and geocoding so any address format matches the right tax lot, (2) counts within set distances of the address for neighborhood context (not just the building itself), (3) open class B and C HPD violations rated per apartment against NYC buildings with 3 or more units, (4) crime compared with the borough average and 311 noise, rodent and trash counts ranked against 100 sampled points in the same neighborhood, and (5) one 0-100 score across 41 checks. The raw data is free; the analysis saves 2-3 hours per address.

Use HPD Online (hpdonline.nyc.gov) for housing violations, DOB BIS (a810-bisweb.nyc.gov) for DOB and ECB/OATH violations, and the 311 Service Requests dataset on NYC Open Data (data.cityofnewyork.us) for 311 complaints. Enter the full street address — number + street + borough. Each portal covers a different slice. HPD shows housing-code violations in apartments and common areas; DOB shows construction, zoning, elevator and Certificate of Occupancy issues; 311 shows complaints residents filed, whatever the inspection found. DwellCheck covers the HPD and 311 slices plus open DOB complaints for one address; it does not show DOB construction violations.

The NYC building department (DOB) violations search lives at a810-dobnow.nyc.gov (modern) or a810-bisweb.nyc.gov (legacy BIS). Both let you search by address or BBL for permits, violations, Certificate of Occupancy, ECB/OATH hearings, and Stop Work Orders. DOB-issued violations are distinct from HPD housing violations — DOB covers construction, structural, and zoning; HPD covers tenant living conditions. Heavy renovation buildings and recent conversions tend to accumulate more DOB activity than HPD activity.

Four free portals cover the full picture: (1) HPD Online for housing violations at hpdonline.nyc.gov, (2) DOB BIS at a810-bisweb.nyc.gov or DOB NOW at a810-dobnow.nyc.gov for construction violations, (3) the 311 Service Requests dataset on NYC Open Data (data.cityofnewyork.us) for resident complaints by address, and (4) ACRIS at a836-acris.nyc.gov for ownership and lien records. None are paywalled. For one-off lookups, the four free portals are enough; for ongoing research across many addresses, paid aggregators save significant time.

Open hpdonline.nyc.gov and search the building number, street, and borough. The result lists the HPD housing violations issued, with class (A/B/C), dates, and open/closed status. For DOB and ECB/OATH violations, repeat the search at a810-bisweb.nyc.gov. For 311 complaints, filter the 311 Service Requests dataset on data.cityofnewyork.us by address. Each portal returns a different perspective; combining all three is the only way to see a building's full violation footprint.

Open DOB BIS (a810-bisweb.nyc.gov), search the address, and follow the Complaints link on the property profile. Each complaint shows its category, the date it was entered, the inspection disposition if any, and whether it is still active. The same records are published as the "DOB Complaints Received" dataset on NYC Open Data. Common DOB complaint categories include after-hours or unpermitted construction, illegal conversions, and elevator problems. Recurring complaints at the same address are a stronger signal than any single one.

A complaint is a report that someone filed — usually through 311 — saying a problem exists. A violation is issued only after an HPD or DOB inspector confirms the condition breaks the housing or building code. Many complaints never become violations (the inspector could not get access, or found the condition fixed), so the two counts for one address are always different. Search both: complaints show what tenants are reporting now, violations show what the city has confirmed.

DOB complaints are filed through 311: call 311, file at portal.311.nyc.gov, or use the NYC311 app. Use it for unsafe or unpermitted construction, illegal conversions, a building without a working elevator, or a structure that looks unsafe; call 911 for anything immediately dangerous. The complaint then appears on the building's DOB BIS record, where you can check whether an inspector visited and what they found.

Go to hpdonline.nyc.gov and search your building's address. The result page lists all HPD complaints filed with the agency, the resulting violations (if any), the inspection outcome, and the current resolution status. Note that 311 complaints filed by tenants are routed to HPD or DOB based on category — so the HPD complaint count and the 311 complaint count for the same address may differ. Cross-reference both for the full picture.