HPD – NYC Housing Enforcement Agency and Landlord Watchdog
HPD (NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development) is the city agency that checks if apartments and residential buildings are safe and healthy to live in.
HPD gives violations when there are problems such as broken equipment, leaks, pests (rats, mice, cockroaches), bad smells, or other unsafe or unhealthy conditions.
For small homeowners, HPD often feels less like ‘protection’ and more like a strict inspector*: it sends notices, violations and fines when your building does not meet code requirements. This means that if tenants call 311 and HPD inspectors find serious issues, the owner can receive violations and civil penalties (money fines). When you hear about ‘HPD violations,’ it usually means violations of the Housing Maintenance Code recorded in HPD’s system.
What HPD does in NYC
HPD enforces the Housing Maintenance Code, inspects buildings for safety and habitability (whether the building is safe and fit to live in).
It can also make emergency repairs if the owner does not fix the problem. It also runs programs to keep housing affordable, prevent tenant harassment and displacement, support small homeowners, and finance repairs and energy upgrades in residential buildings.
Why HPD matters to tenants
For tenants, HPD is the main city agency that responds to lack of heat or hot water, leaks, pests, mold, or other maintenance problems and can pressure or compel landlords to correct violations. HPD also supports tenants facing harassment or eviction through outreach, enforcement, and connections to legal assistance and rental subsidy programs such as Section 8 and other HPD‑administered vouchers.
Why HPD matters to owners and homeowners
Owners of multi‑family buildings must register their properties annually with HPD and comply with HPD‑enforced standards for safety, lead paint, and building conditions; if they do not, they can receive violations, fines, or even be taken to Housing Court. HPD also offers tools that are very important for owners and small homeowners, such as low‑ or no‑interest repair loans (HomeFix, Green Housing Preservation) and counseling through programs like the Homeowner Help Desk and Landlord Ambassador Program. If you fix problems late, after HPD’s certification deadline, you may need to file an HPD dismissal request, which is a paid inspection request that lets HPD check your repairs and remove old violations from its records.
Dismissal request – how to handle it?
If you fix a problem after HPD’s original certification deadline, you often cannot send a free “I fixed it” certification anymore. In many cases, you must pay for a special re‑inspection called an HPD dismissal request, so HPD can check the repair and close old violations in its system.
For example, a tenant calls 311 about a leak, HPD inspects and issues a violation, and you miss the certification deadline. You fix the leak later, but because you are late, HPD may require a paid dismissal‑request inspection before it removes the violation from your record. In practice, this usually means paying an inspection fee, scheduling a new HPD visit, and having the inspector confirm that the condition is fully corrected.
Imagine you own a two‑family home and your tenant calls 311. An HPD inspector visits and finds a small leak, but you do not fix it in time. HPD can give you violations, charge you a dismissal‑request inspection fee if you miss the original certification period and later ask for an inspection, and in more serious cases take you to Housing Court and give you a fine. This can happen even in a small building where you live yourself.
HPD and small owner‑occupied buildings (1–5 rental units)
In New York City, HPD rules also apply to small buildings where the owner lives in the same house and rents out a few apartments. If you live in one unit and rent out two apartments, you likely need to register with HPD each year and follow all HPD housing maintenance rules. This usually includes providing heat and hot water during the required season, keeping the building free of leaks, pests, mold, and peeling paint, and making sure smoke and carbon‑monoxide detectors work in every apartment. Even if your building feels like “just a family house”, HPD and Housing Court can still issue violations and civil penalties if your tenants call 311 and inspectors find problems. A simple first step is to check your address in HPD Online, write down your Building ID, and see if there are any open violations or if your property registration is missing or expired.
The meaning of HPD
(NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development)
If you see any capital letter abbreviations on this page or in an official letter you received from the city and you do not understand them, you can try to look them up on our Violation Codes page with the search tool.
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