Open Department of Buildings and ECB/OATH violations surprise buyers and owners at the worst possible moment: the week before closing, the day the contractor tries to pull a permit, or the month the refinance appraisal comes back with a title exception. The record is public and can be checked before you commit. This guide explains what to look for, where to look, and what each kind of open item means for a purchase or a renovation.
Why it matters
Violations are recorded against the property, not against the person who caused them, so when you buy a building you buy its record. Unpaid ECB/OATH penalties become judgments, and a DOB judgment can be converted into a tax lien on the property. Open violations and the more serious summonses can block new permits, block a Certificate of Occupancy, and hold up a Letter of Completion on work that is otherwise finished. Lenders and title companies search these records, and an open stop-work order or vacate order can stop a closing outright.
For a renovation, the practical effect is that the new job inherits the old problems. A DOB plan examiner will see the open items on the property, and some of them will have to be resolved before the new filing is approved or signed off.
The different kinds of violations
DOB violations are notices issued by the Department of Buildings for conditions that do not comply with the Building Code, the Zoning Resolution or the department's rules. They include things like failure to file a required periodic inspection (boiler, elevator, facade), failure to maintain, and unsafe conditions. Many carry no fine of their own, though some come with a DOB civil penalty, and each one stays open on the record until the condition is corrected and DOB accepts the proof.
ECB/OATH violations are summonses issued by DOB (and other agencies) that are adjudicated by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, which absorbed the former Environmental Control Board. These carry monetary penalties, have hearing dates, and can result in default judgments if ignored. DOB's OATH summonses are classified as Class 1 (immediately hazardous), Class 2 (major) or Class 3 (lesser), and Class 1 items must be corrected immediately, with a certificate of correction filed with DOB.
A single condition, such as work without a permit, commonly produces both: a DOB violation and an OATH summons. A property can also carry HPD violations (housing maintenance), FDNY violations, DEP violations and DOT violations, each in its own system.
What to research
- Open DOB violations, including their class and the date issued.
- Open ECB/OATH summonses, hearing status, and whether any have gone to default judgment.
- Outstanding penalties and judgments, including amounts, and whether liens have been recorded.
- Stop-work orders and vacate orders, full or partial, and whether they have been rescinded.
- Open and expired permits, and whether the jobs behind them ever received a Letter of Completion or a Certificate of Occupancy.
- The Certificate of Occupancy itself, compared against the actual use and layout. An extra apartment in the cellar that does not appear on the CO is a violation waiting to be written.
- Complaint history, which often points to conditions that have not been inspected yet.
- Required periodic filings under DOB NOW: Safety (facade, boiler, elevator, gas piping) and whether they are current.
Where to look
DOB's Buildings Information System (BIS) and DOB NOW show violations, permits, complaints and Certificates of Occupancy by address or BIN. OATH's Summons Finder shows hearing status and any amount owed. The Department of Finance shows judgments and outstanding charges. ACRIS shows recorded liens. HPD Online shows housing maintenance violations. The free property report on our site checks NYC Open Data for any NYC address and shows how many DOB and ECB violations are open and any ECB balance due, which is a good first pass before a deeper search.
What the results mean for a purchase
Not every open item is a problem. An old Class 3 summons that was paid and corrected long ago may need only paperwork to close. A Class 1 summons for an illegal conversion with no certificate of correction, plus an open vacate order, is a serious defect that affects value, financing and insurability. The negotiation depends on the category: items that need only paperwork or a payment can be handled by a credit at closing; items that require physical correction and DOB sign-off need a plan, a budget and usually an escrow.
What the results mean for a renovation
Open items on the property will be visible to the plan examiner reviewing the new filing. Some will be flagged as objections. Some will not block approval but will block the Letter of Completion or the Certificate of Occupancy at the end. The right sequence is to identify everything up front, decide which items to clear before filing and which to clear alongside the new work, and build both into the schedule.
Clearing violations
DOB violations are removed by correcting the condition and giving the issuing unit proof of the correction, with any DOB civil penalty paid. An OATH summons is decided at the hearing or admitted by paying the penalty, and it stays open on the DOB record until it is dismissed or DOB accepts a certificate of correction, filed with photographs and supporting documents. Class 1 items always need one. Default judgments can be reopened in limited circumstances. Old items that were corrected long ago but never closed can often be dismissed with the right paperwork. We handle both the research and the clean-up under our violation research and violation removal services.