NYC Housing Violations Data
NYC HPD makes housing violation data publicly available through HPD Online and NYC Open Data. This page explains how to read and use that data — whether you're researching a building before renting, or tracking your own complaint.
How to Look Up a Building's Violation History
Before signing a lease, prospective tenants can search a building's full HPD violation history. This is public data, updated regularly by NYC HPD:
HPD Online Building Search
Go to hpdonline.nyc.gov and enter the building address. You will see:
- →All open and closed violations, with class (A/B/C), status, and date
- →Complaint history (which conditions have been complained about)
- →Registration status (landlords must register annually with HPD)
- →The building's managing agent or owner of record
Reading the data: what to look for
- Red flag:Multiple open Class C violations (immediately hazardous) — indicates ongoing serious non-compliance
- Watch:Repeated violations for the same condition (e.g., rodents, no heat) across multiple years — indicates a pattern, not a one-off
- Positive:All violations shown as "closed" — indicates the landlord corrected the conditions
- Note:"Closed — no access" means the inspector could not gain entry — this is not a clearance; the condition may still exist
NYC Open Data — Housing Violation Datasets
For researchers, journalists, and data analysts, NYC Open Data provides downloadable housing enforcement datasets:
| Dataset | What it contains |
|---|---|
| HPD Violations | All HPD violations citywide — class, status, building ID, BBL, NTA |
| HPD Complaints | All 311 housing complaints routed to HPD — complaint type, status, building |
| Building Registrations | Registered property owners and managing agents for NYC rental buildings |
| DOHMH Rodent Inspections | DOHMH inspection results — pass/fail by address, borough, inspection date |
| NYC 311 Service Requests | All 311 complaints citywide — filterable by complaint type (Rodent, UNSANITARY CONDITION, etc.) |
All datasets available at NYC Open Data. Accessible via Socrata API or direct download (CSV/JSON/GeoJSON).
Scale of NYC Housing Violations
NYC's housing stock is large and heavily regulated. The HPD violations dataset provides a sense of scale:
~1M+
Total HPD violation records in the open dataset (all-time, all classes) [VERIFY current count via NYC Open Data]
Class C
Immediately hazardous violations — the most serious category; 24-hour correction deadline; includes active rodent infestations
Daily
Update frequency for the HPD violations dataset — look up any building in near-real time
For a borough-level view of pest complaints specifically, see the related NYC Rodent Report (NYC 311 rodent complaint data by borough and ZIP code).