Penalties and Fees

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) violations may result in civil penalties imposed by the Housing Court if an owner fails to comply with the violation and certify the correction, or if the owner certifies correction falsely. HPD inspections may result in inspection fees. Information about violations and inspection fees are outlined below.

Timeline for Violation Correction:

Violation Class	Type	Time owner has to correct from notice before civil penalties apply if sought in Housing Court
Class A	Non-Hazardous	90 Days from date of service
Class B	Hazardous	30 Days from date of service
Class C: Lead-Based Paint, Window Guards, Mold, Mice/Cockroaches, and Rats	Immediately Hazardous	21 Days from date of service
Class C: Self-Closing Doors	Immediately Hazardous	14 Days from date of service
Class C: Heat and Hot Water	Immediately Hazardous	No time
All other Class C:	Immediately Hazardous	24 Hours from date of service

HPD inspections may also result in emergency repair work.

There are several important changes to penalties and fees resulting from Local Law 71 for property owners, effective December 8, 2023.

Civil Penalties

Violations

Properties are subject to the penalties described below unless violations are corrected and the correction is certified to the Department by the dates indicated on the front of the Notice of Violation(s) mailed to the property owner or, in the case of heat and hot water violations, from the date the violation is posted at the building.

Starting December 8, 2023, civil penalties for HPD violations have increased as a result of recent legislation.  The changes are indicated in the following chart.

Civil Penalties	Violations Issued BEFORE December 8, 2023	Violations Issued ON/AFTER December 8, 2023
Class A	$10-$50	$50-$150, plus $25/day
Class B	$25-$100, plus $10/day	$75-$500 plus $25-$125/day
Class C, buildings with 5 or fewer units (except for the below detailed class C violations)	$50 per day	$150-$750 plus $50-$150/day
Class C, buildings with more than 5 units (except for the below detailed class C violations)	$50/150 days plus $125 per day	$150-$1,200 plus $150-$1,200 per day
Class C, Lead-based paint hazard	$250 per day, up to $10,000	$250 per day, up to $10,000 (NO CHANGE)
Class C Heat and hot water	$250-$500 per day AND $500-$1000 per day for subsequent violations	$350 - $1,250 per day AND $500 - $1,500 per day for subsequent violations.
Class C Heat and hot water - illegal device	$25 per day or $1000, whichever is more	$50 per day or $2,000, whichever is more
Class C, self-closing doors	$250-$500, plus $250 per day for each day from date set for correction until correction	$250-$500, plus $250 per day for each day from date set for correction until correction (NO CHANGE)

• Lead-based paint recordkeeping violations also can result in civil penalties.
  • Order 614, 616, or 617: $250 per day per violation, up to a maximum of $10,000
  • Order 618: $1,000 maximum
  • Order 619: $1,500 maximum per violation
    • Criminal penalty: Misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment for up to six months or both
  • Order 620: $1,000 minimum and $5,000 maximum per violation

Failure to file Property Registration annually

Annual Property Registration is required by the New York City Housing Maintenance Code (HMC) for all residential properties with the exception of one- or two-family homes occupied by the Owner or the Owner’s immediate family. Failure to file may result in penalties:

• not less than $500 and not more than $1,500 for a multiple dwelling containing five or less dwelling units.
• not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 for a multiple dwelling containing more than five dwelling units.
• A person who provides false information on the registration statement is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $750 and not more than $5,000. The department shall invalidate any statement required under this article that has been found to contain false information.  The following is a sample, but not exhaustive, list of false statements:
  • Indicating the building address as the home or office address of an owner or agent, when the individual does not have an office or live at the building premises.
  • Listing a superintendent as the managing agent or owner of a building when the individual does not serve that role.

As a reminder, an owner who is required to file a statement of registration under this article and who fails to file as required shall be denied the right to recover possession of the premises for nonpayment of rent during the period of noncompliance, and shall, in the discretion of the court, suffer a stay of proceedings to recover rents, during such period.

• The property owner will not be able to certify correctionof HPD violations or file for a violation Dismissal Request

False Certification

Property owners and agents who certify the correction of conditions must do so only after conditions are corrected properly.  Except for lead-based paint violations, properly certified violations are deemed complied and closed 70 days from the date of the receipt of the certification unless the department has determined by a re-inspection made within such period that the violation still has not been corrected.

Falsely certifying the correction of HPD violations may lead to the following:

• A person who makes a false certification of correction of a violation shall be subject to a civil penalty as follows:
  • For each non-hazardous violation falsely certified, not less than $50 nor more than $250 dollars;
  • For each hazardous violation falsely certified, not less than $250 dollars nor more than $500; and
  • For each immediately hazardous violation falsely certified, not less than $500 nor more than $1,000.
• False certifications may result in future certifications not being deemed complied without an inspection attempt beginning in January 2025 for buildings which have a significant number of false certifications in 2024.
  • By January 15, 2025, or the first business day thereafter, and each calendar year thereafter, the department shall compile and post on its website a list of 100 multiple dwellings for which the department has determined that:
    • more than 20 hazardous violations or immediately hazardous violations have been certified as corrected during the previous calendar year, other than a violation issued pursuant to section 27-2017.4 of this code, and
    • at least four of such hazardous or immediately hazardous violations that have been certified as corrected during such calendar year were falsely certified as corrected.

Fees

Code Enforcement Inspection

Heat and Hot Water

HPD may impose an Inspection Fee of $200 if a third or subsequent inspection within a heat season results in a third or subsequent heat violation and if a third or subsequent inspection within a calendar year results in a third or subsequent hot water violation.

Non-heat/hot water

Where (1) the department has performed two or more complaint-based inspections in the same dwelling unit within a twelve-month period, (2) each such inspection has resulted in the issuance of a hazardous or immediately hazardous violation (except heat or hot water), and (3) not all such violations have been certified as corrected pursuant to this section, the department may impose an inspection fee of $200 for the third and for each subsequent complaint-based inspection that it performs in such dwelling unit within the same twelve-month period that results in the issuance of a hazardous or immediately hazardous violation, provided that the department may by rule increase the fee for inspections performed during the period of October first through May thirty-first.

Alternative Enforcement Program

Buildings not discharged from the Alternative Enforcement Program within the first four months of the initial notice of selection for the program are subject to fees:

• Initial inspection fee: $500 per dwelling unit every six months, beginning on the date of the building wide inspection, with a maximum total fee of $1,000 per dwelling unit during participation in AEP.
• Complaint Inspection fee: $200 for any complaint inspection performed in the subject property that results in the issuance of a class "B" (hazardous) or "C" (immediately hazardous) violation.
• False Certification Inspection fee: $100 for each re-inspection pursuant to a certification of correction of violation(s) submitted to HPD where HPD finds one or more violations have not been corrected.

Objecting to HPD Fees