NYC Renter Guides
Built From Real Building Data.

Tenant rights, building violations, lease traps, pest issues, and how to research any NYC building before you sign, covering all 5 boroughs.

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How to Check for Mouse and Rat Complaints in NYC Buildings
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

How to Check for Mouse and Rat Complaints in NYC Buildings

Learn how to check for mouse and rat complaints in NYC buildings using the 311 database and Open Data Portal. Search by address or BBL, understand Hea...

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How to Check if a Building Has Illegal Alterations
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

How to Check if a Building Has Illegal Alterations

Discover how to check if a building has illegal alterations through property records, visual inspections, permit verification, and expert hires. Avoid...

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How to Check if My Building Is in Foreclosure
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

How to Check if My Building Is in Foreclosure

Discover how to check if your building is in foreclosure using county records, online databases like RealtyTrac, title reports, and tax checks. Learn ...

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How to Check if My Landlord Is Overcharging Me
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

How to Check if My Landlord Is Overcharging Me

Learn how to check if your landlord is overcharging you through illegal rent hikes, hidden fees, inflated utilities, and deposit issues. Review your l...

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How to Look Up Gas and Electrical Safety Violations
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

How to Look Up Gas and Electrical Safety Violations

Learn how to look up gas and electrical safety violations using OSHA, CPSC databases, state authorities, and FOIA requests. Protect your home from hid...

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HP Actions in NYC Housing Court and on Building Records
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

HP Actions in NYC Housing Court and on Building Records

How NYC tenants start an HP action to force repairs or stop harassment, what it costs, what happens in court, and what HP cases on a building's record tell a future renter.

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Is My Landlord Required to Pay for Bed Bug Treatment in NYC?
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

Is My Landlord Required to Pay for Bed Bug Treatment in NYC?

Discover if your landlord must pay for bed bug treatment in NYC under Local Law 151 of 2017. Learn disclosure rules, timelines, habitability warrantie...

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Looking Up NYC Building Violations at HPD, DOB and ECB
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

Looking Up NYC Building Violations at HPD, DOB and ECB

NYC violations live in four separate systems, not one. Here is which agency's portal to search for a given address, what each screen shows, and the fastest way to pull all of it at once.

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Looking Up NYC Housing Court Cases by Address
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

Looking Up NYC Housing Court Cases by Address

NYC's own court search tools look up Housing Court cases by party name or index number, not street address, but HPD's litigation data and the eviction dataset fill the gap.

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NYC Building Reports and Whether to Pay for One
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

NYC Building Reports and Whether to Pay for One

Most of what a paid NYC building report shows comes from free city records. See what those records cover, what a paid service adds, and when a licensed inspection is the thing worth paying for.

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NYC Heat Complaint Records to Check Before Renting
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

NYC Heat Complaint Records to Check Before Renting

Before you sign a lease, pull the building's heat and hot water record on HPD Online, NYC Open Data, or a free address lookup, then read it for recent violations, not just a raw complaint count.

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Open HPD Violations and What Each Status Means
BUILDING VIOLATIONS

Open HPD Violations and What Each Status Means

An open HPD violation is still active on the city's record, whether or not the landlord has made the repair. Learn how violations open and close, what each status code means, and how to judge them before you rent.

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