Found an Old DOB Violation After Closing in NYC? What Title Insurance Covers and Your Options

If you closed on a New York City property and then found an open Department of Buildings (DOB) violation or an OATH/ECB summons, your owner’s title policy almost certainly does not pay to fix it. (OATH, the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, is the City’s administrative court that decides summonses. It took over from the Environmental Control Board, or ECB.) Building violations are reported in NYC title work for information only, and the standard owner’s policy excludes building and zoning matters. Your claim against the seller is also limited, because most contract promises end when the deed is handed over.

What you can do is clear the violation yourself, using DOB’s process for new owners. This guide covers the five boroughs. Westchester handles violations through each town, village or city; see open permits and COs at a Westchester closing.

Why title insurance usually doesn’t pay

Two separate things happened at your closing: a title search, which included a set of City (“departmental”) searches, and a title insurance policy. They do different jobs.

The violation search was information only. In NYC, the DOB, ECB, certificate of occupancy (CO) and similar searches come with the title report but are not insured. One title insurer’s New York guidelines for agents (2022) say these searches, other than the required tax, water and bankruptcy-type searches, “are for information only and are not insured.” They also require a cover page saying the company “assumes no liability for the accuracy thereof.” That is one insurer’s guidance, not law, but it reflects how NYC title reports are generally prepared. If the violation appeared in that search, it was disclosed to you. If the search missed it, the search result was not an insured statement.

The policy leaves out building rules. The 2021 standard owner’s policy from the American Land Title Association (ALTA) excludes loss from any law or regulation “including those relating to building and zoning” that controls how the land is used or what is built on it. It gives some coverage back, but only for a violation described in a notice recorded in the land records. A DOB violation sits in DOB’s systems, BIS (the older Buildings Information System) or DOB NOW (the newer one), not in the land records. So that coverage does not apply. These quotes come from the national ALTA form. New York policies are issued on forms filed through the Title Insurance Rate Service Association (TIRSA), so check the cover (jacket) of your own policy.

Money owed is a different question. A violation is not a lien, meaning a debt attached to the property. But some DOB-related amounts can become liens. Under a 2017 City law, certain ECB judgments turn into tax liens on the property, and they appear on the Department of Finance (DOF) property account. The policy covers real estate taxes or assessments “due or payable, but unpaid” on the policy date. Whether a converted charge on your account falls under that coverage depends on its timing, how it was billed, and the exceptions listed in your policy. If you find a lien-type charge from before your closing, tell the title company promptly, in writing. The policy reduces what it owes to the extent late notice hurts the insurer. How these charges follow the property is covered in ECB and HPD charges and the new owner.

What you found Is it a lien? Does the owner’s policy cover it?
Open DOB violation No Generally no
Open OATH/ECB summons No Generally no
ECB judgment against seller If entered before closing Notify the title company
ECB judgment made a tax lien Yes Depends; notify the title company
Missing or wrong CO No Generally no

Can you go back to the seller?

Usually only if your contract says so.

Contract promises end at closing. In New York, the promises in a purchase contract are absorbed into the deed and end at closing, unless the parties clearly meant a promise to survive. A 2009 decision of the Appellate Division, the state’s mid-level appeals court, states this rule. A 2007 decision from a different branch of that court used it to throw out a buyer’s contract claim after closing.

The standard contract does not help much. The widely used state and City bar association residential contract requires the seller to comply with violations “noted or issued as of the date hereof” and to deliver the property free of them. But it also says none of the seller’s promises survive closing unless the contract expressly says so, and the violations clause has no such language. That clause also reaches only violations that existed when the contract was signed. Riders vary, so read yours. Some add a promise that there are no open violations or permits and say it survives closing for a set period. That survival clause is what keeps a claim alive after closing.

Fraud is a narrow exception. New York follows “buyer beware.” A seller’s silence is not fraud. Active hiding of a problem, or a false statement, can be, including a false answer on the Property Condition Disclosure Statement (the seller’s disclosure form). That form, required by state law, asks about certificates of occupancy (question 9) but not directly about violations or open permits. It does not apply to co-ops or condos.

Money held back at closing. If money was held in escrow at closing for a violation or permit, the escrow agreement sets when it is released. Check that agreement first.

How to clear the violation now

A violation stays open on the property record until it is resolved, no matter who owns the building. As the new owner, you can resolve it.

  1. Find out what is open. Look the property up in BIS for DOB and ECB violations, and in DOB NOW for newer records. Search the address in the OATH Summons Finder for hearing results and amounts owed. Note whether each item is a DOB violation (no hearing) or an OATH summons (decided at OATH). Step-by-step lookups are in how to check a NYC property for violations.
  2. Fix the problem. Many violations, especially work without a permit, need a permit filed and signed off, or the work removed. Older unfinished jobs are covered in open permits on a NYC sale, and CO mismatches in no certificate of occupancy in NYC.
  3. For a DOB violation with no summons, fix the condition, send proof to the DOB unit that issued it, and pay any DOB civil penalty (DOB Violations).
  4. For an OATH/ECB summons, file a Certificate of Correction, DOB’s form showing the problem was fixed. You file it in DOB NOW: Safety (DOB, OATH Summonses; DOB, Certificate of Correction). If you are not the person named on the summons, attach a copy of your deed (DOB, Tips & Additional Information). Include proof of the fix, such as permits, a job sign-off or photos, depending on the violation (user guide). DOB will not approve it until all DOB civil penalties are paid or waived. Work-without-a-permit penalties are set and paid in person at the DOB borough office that issued the summons (Certificate of Correction FAQs).
  5. Don’t stop at paying. Paying an OATH penalty does not close the violation. It stays “Open” in BIS until DOB accepts proof of the fix, and shows “Resolved” after the Certificate of Correction is approved.

Who owes the old penalty. An OATH penalty is charged to the person named in the summons. If that was the prior owner, the judgment is the prior owner’s personal debt, not yours. Two exceptions bring it back to the title company:

  • A judgment that was turned into a tax lien on the property
  • A judgment entered against the seller before your deed was handed over, which title companies treat as a lien on the seller’s property that should have been raised and paid at closing

See NYC property violations at closing and ECB and HPD charges and the new owner. If either turns up, tell the title company in writing. The violation itself, and the work to fix it, are yours as the current owner.

Co-ops, condos and selling later

In a co-op, building-wide violations belong to the co-op corporation. Open items from a prior owner’s apartment renovation are usually handled under the alteration agreement, and the board may require the current shareholder to close them out. For any property type, the violation will show up on your own buyer’s search when you sell. Clearing it now is usually easier than under a contract deadline. Keep the approval letters.

Details for attorneys and title professionals

  • Policy provisions (2021 ALTA owner’s form). The building and zoning exclusion is Exclusion 1.a. The give-back is Covered Risk 5, limited to an “Enforcement Notice,” defined as a document recorded in the Public Records. The definition of Public Records leaves out permitting, building and public safety filing systems. Taxes “due or payable, but unpaid” are Covered Risk 2.b. Prompt notice and reduction for prejudice are in Condition 3.
  • Standard contract paragraphs. The seller’s violations obligation is paragraph 10(a). The no-survival clause is paragraph 11(c). Paragraph 10 has no survival language.
  • Court decisions. The merger quote (“provisions in a contract for the sale of real estate merge into the deed and are thereby extinguished absent the parties’ demonstrated intent that a provision shall survive transfer of title”) is from the 2009 decision of the Appellate Division, Third Department. The Second Department (another branch of the same court) applied the same rule in its 2007 decision. That decision also discusses a false disclosure-form answer as possible proof of active concealment. Both are listed below.
  • Certificate of Correction menu. Filed in DOB NOW: Safety under Violations & Notices of Deficiency.

Official sources

Related guides

Korvane Title is preparing to launch in New York. It is not licensed as a title insurance agent and does not accept title orders. Content on this site is general information, not legal advice.