You can check most of a New York City property’s City records yourself, for free, before you sign a contract. Seven public systems show open violations, permits never signed off, the certificate of occupancy (CO), unpaid summonses, and unpaid taxes and charges:
- BIS, the Department of Buildings’ (DOB’s) older Buildings Information System
- DOB NOW, DOB’s newer filing system
- Summons Finder from OATH, the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (the City’s administrative court)
- HPD Online from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (housing code)
- The property account at DOF, the Department of Finance (taxes)
- The water and sewer account at DEP, the Department of Environmental Protection
- NYC Open Data, downloadable City data
Findings fall into two groups. Money items can be or become liens, claims against the property that must be paid at or before closing. Most are condition items: records the title company reports but does not insure. Buyer, seller and lender deal with these in the contract. How each is cleared is covered in NYC property violations at closing.
This applies to the five boroughs only. Recorded documents such as deeds, mortgages and satisfactions (records that a mortgage was paid off) are a separate search in ACRIS, the City’s online land records; see how to read ACRIS for title.
Start with the BBL
Every system below can be searched by address. But addresses fail on corner lots, buildings with several street numbers, and condos. The reliable key is the BBL (borough, block and lot), the property’s tax parcel number. The DOF property lookup gives it to you from an address.
In a condo, each unit has its own lot, separate from the building’s base lot. Building-wide DOB and HPD records usually sit on the building. Taxes and water charges sit on the unit. Search both.
BIS: older permits, violations and COs
What to search. BIS has a property profile page for every NYC property, by address or BBL. DOB describes it as holding “records of permits issued and job applications created before the launch of the DOB NOW system”, plus complaints, violations and occupancy information.
What you will see.
- The profile overview shows the number of open DOB violations and links to the DOB and ECB violation records.
- ECB violations are DOB summonses decided at OATH. (OATH took over hearings from the old Environmental Control Board, or ECB, and the label stuck.) They appear only in BIS, not in DOB NOW.
- A dismissed DOB violation is marked with an asterisk, for example “V*7052-18P”.
- COs requested before March 1, 2021 are in BIS, reached from the property profile (DOB, Certificate of Occupancy).
- The job and permit list shows older filings and their status.
What it means. An open DOB violation is not a lien and does not block the sale, but it stays with the building after closing. An ECB violation can carry an unpaid penalty that has become a judgment. It can also show “open” in BIS after the penalty is paid, until DOB accepts proof the problem was fixed (DOB, Resolve a Summons or Violation). Write down the violation numbers and check the OATH record for each ECB item.
DOB NOW: newer permits, COs and safety records
What to search. The DOB NOW Public Portal has a property profile you can search by address, BBL, BIN (the building identification number) or job number. No account or login is needed (DOB NOW Public Portal FAQs).
What you will see. Only filings made in DOB NOW:
- Newer job applications and permits
- COs requested on or after March 1, 2021
- Safety compliance records for boilers, elevators and facades
- Violations issued after November 2024; older ones stay in BIS, except safety compliance types such as boilers, elevators and facades
Jobs still in pre-filing status are not shown.
What it means. A clean result here says nothing about BIS (see the next section). A permit that was issued but never signed off, in either system, is an open permit. It is not a lien, but it can hold up a new CO, a refinance or your own future filings. How open permits get closed out is covered in open permits on a NYC sale.
Why open permits get missed
DOB is moving filings into DOB NOW in stages and has not finished. Records will not all be in one place “until all transactions have fully transitioned to DOB NOW” (Public Portal FAQs). So a permit filed through BIS in 2015 and never signed off is found in BIS, even if the building has newer jobs in DOB NOW.
Three mistakes cause most misses:
- Searching only DOB NOW because it looks current. Filings made through eFiling, DOB’s older online filing, or at a borough office are in BIS.
- Treating one system’s violation count as the total. Older violations, OATH/ECB violations and 311 complaints are in BIS.
- Picking the wrong CO. The split is by the date the CO was requested, March 1, 2021, not by when the building was built (DOB, Certificate of Occupancy). A building can have a final CO in BIS and a later amended CO in DOB NOW.
| Record | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Pre-DOB NOW, eFiling, borough jobs | BIS |
| DOB NOW jobs and permits | DOB NOW |
| Pre-filing jobs | DOB NOW login only |
| CO requested before Mar 1, 2021 | BIS |
| CO requested from Mar 1, 2021 | DOB NOW |
| OATH/ECB violations | BIS only |
| Most DOB violations before Nov 2024 | BIS |
| Most DOB violations after Nov 2024 | DOB NOW |
| Boiler, elevator, facade compliance | DOB NOW |
| 311 complaints | BIS |
| Elevator filings before Dec 11, 2017 | BIS |
| Boiler filings before Sept 3, 2019 | BIS |
Run the same address and BBL through both systems. List every job not signed off in either one, and compare the two lists before relying on either.
The certificate of occupancy
What to search. Pick the system by the date the CO was requested (see the table above). Look for the most recent final CO, or a temporary CO (TCO).
What you will see. The CO states the building’s legal use, number of units and occupancy. Buildings built before 1938 did not need a CO unless later work changed their use, exits or occupancy. For those, DOB may issue a Letter of No Objection confirming the legal use (DOB, Certificate of Occupancy).
What it means. Compare the CO to the listing and to what is actually there. A “three-family” house on a two-family CO, or a finished cellar used as an apartment, is a legal-use problem, not a title defect. The title company reports the CO search for information only and does not insure that the use is legal. The problem usually comes up with the lender or appraiser. The contract handles it: the seller fixes it first, the price is adjusted, or the buyer accepts the risk. If no CO is on file at all, see no certificate of occupancy in NYC.
OATH Summons Finder: summonses, hearings and balances
What to search. OATH’s Summons Finder searches by name, address or summons number. Search the property address and the seller’s exact name, including any LLC or earlier owner company. Summonses issued to for-hire vehicles and restaurants are not in the Summons Finder.
What you will see. Each summons, the agency that issued it (DOB, the Fire Department, Sanitation, DEP and others), the hearing date and result, and any amount owed.
What it means. A summons still waiting for a hearing is not yet a money item. An unpaid penalty becomes a judgment against the person named in the summons, collected by DOF. Some DOB judgments become tax liens on the building. Paying a penalty does not close the matching DOB violation in BIS. Details are in NYC property violations at closing. Before contract, list every summons with a balance, note who is named, and ask the seller how each will be paid or resolved.
HPD Online: housing code violations
What to search. HPD Online, by address. For a residential building it shows complaints and violations, property registration, charges and Housing Court lawsuits, block and lot, and vacate orders.
What you will see. Open and closed violations, each with a class (HPD, Clear Violations). Before Housing Court penalties apply, owners get:
- Class A, not hazardous: 90 days to fix
- Class B, hazardous: 30 days
- Class C, immediately hazardous: 24 hours for most conditions, longer for items such as lead paint and mold, and no grace period for heat and hot water
What it means. HPD violations are not liens. Many old ones are still open only because the fix was never certified to HPD. A long list of open Class C items, an active lawsuit or a vacate order tells you about the building’s condition, tenant relations and likely costs. Emergency repair charges are different. HPD bills them through DOF and they can become tax liens, so confirm them on the DOF account.
DOF property account and the tax lien sale
What to search. The DOF property tax account, by address or BBL, through the property information lookup. It shows what is owed, charges and interest, payment history, exemptions and tax class. For a co-op apartment, DOF sends owners to the co-op’s management office for this information.
What you will see. Unpaid property taxes, plus other charges DOF bills on the account, such as HPD emergency repair charges and DOB judgments turned into tax liens. Exemptions and tax breaks show too, which helps you estimate future carrying costs.
What it means. Unpaid property tax is a lien, paid from the seller’s money at closing. Also check whether any liens were already sold. In the City’s tax lien sale, the City has sold unpaid property taxes, water and sewer charges, and HPD emergency repair and Alternative Enforcement Program charges to a buyer of the debt. After a sale, the debt is owed to that lien holder with a 5% surcharge plus interest and fees, and the holder can foreclose.
A sold lien appears in ACRIS as a TLS (tax lien sale) document. DOF lists past sales on its lien sales page. The most recent sale there was June 3, 2025. The Mayor said there would be no lien sale in 2026. City laws passed in 2026 create a land bank meant to take over lien collection starting in 2029 (NYC Independent Budget Office, April 2026). Liens sold in earlier years can still be enforced, so the check still matters.
DEP water and sewer account
What to search. DEP, not DOF, bills water and sewer charges. The online account, My DEP Account, is for the property owner. So a buyer usually gets the balance from the seller or from the title company’s water search. Questions about overdue balances go to DEP at 718-595-7890 (DEP, Overdue Water and Sewer Charges).
What you will see. The current balance, charges and water use.
What it means. Overdue water and sewer charges can be sold in a tax lien sale, so treat them like taxes: paid from the seller’s money at closing. The seller, or your attorney through the seller, arranges a Property Transfer Meter Reading (also called a title or final read) at least 30 days before closing. It costs $25 and does not shut off service (311, Water and Sewer Bill). Without a current reading, the closing figure is an estimate, and the parties often hold back an amount.
NYC Open Data: screening many properties
NYC Open Data publishes the same agency records as downloadable datasets, searchable by borough, block and lot. The useful ones before contract:
- DOB Violations (older BIS civil penalties)
- DOB ECB Violations (DOB summonses decided at OATH)
- DOB Permit Issuance (BIS permits) and DOB NOW: Build Approved Permits
- HPD Housing Maintenance Code Violations
Open Data suits investors screening several properties. It does not replace the live sites. Datasets update with a delay, and any balance in the ECB dataset should be confirmed on the live OATH record.
Quick reference
| Site | Effect on title | Shows |
|---|---|---|
| BIS | Information | Older permits, DOB and ECB violations, older COs |
| DOB NOW | Information | Newer permits, newer COs, newer violations |
| CO (BIS or DOB NOW) | Information; lender issue | Legal use, units |
| OATH Summons Finder | Judgment if unpaid | Summonses, hearings, balances |
| HPD Online | Information | A/B/C violations, lawsuits, vacate orders |
| DOF property account | Lien; pay at closing | Taxes, emergency repair charges, converted ECB charges |
| DOF lien sale lists | Lien; payoff needed | Liens sold to a lien holder |
| DEP account | Lien risk; pay at closing | Water and sewer balance |
| ACRIS | Recorded title | Deeds, mortgages, TLS certificates |
Using what you find
Run these checks before signing, not after the title report arrives. A finding helps most while it can still shape the deal: the seller agrees to fix it, gives a price credit, leaves money in escrow, or you walk away.
Money items (taxes, water, sold liens, ECB judgments against the seller) show up in the title report and are paid from the seller’s money at closing. The question is whether the seller’s money will cover them. Condition items (DOB and HPD violations, open permits, CO mismatches) stay with the property unless the contract says otherwise. A lender or appraiser is most likely to question these.
None of these lookups is insured, and none replaces the title company’s City searches. For how the attorney, title company and lender divide this work, see who does what at a New York closing.
Official sources
- DOB, Find Building Data
- DOB, Certificate of Occupancy
- DOB, DOB Violations
- DOB, Resolve a Summons or Violation
- DOB, DOB NOW Public Portal FAQs
- OATH, Case Status (Summons Finder)
- HPD, HPD Online
- HPD, Clear Violations
- DOF, Lien Sales
- NYC 311, Property tax account information
- NYC 311, Tax Lien Sale
- NYC 311, Water and Sewer Bill
- DEP, Overdue Water and Sewer Charges
- NYC Independent Budget Office, NYC’s Tax Lien Sale (April 2026)
- NYC Open Data: DOB Violations, DOB ECB Violations, DOB Permit Issuance, DOB NOW: Build Approved Permits, HPD Housing Maintenance Code Violations (dataset links above)