HPD Litigation Records: What They Reveal
What HPD Housing Court cases reveal about a NYC landlord: heat cases, comprehensive cases, access warrants, false certification, judgments and harassment.
6 min read · Updated
HPD litigation records show every Housing Court case where the city's housing agency sued a landlord, or where tenants sued and HPD was named as a party, since August 2006. If a building has several of these cases, especially heat, comprehensive or false certification cases, the city has had to go to court to make the owner follow the housing code.
The records are free on HPD Online (the Litigation tab for a building) and on NYC Open Data as Housing Litigations. This guide explains each case type, what the status and judgment fields mean, and how to read a pattern.
At a glance
- Who brings the cases
- HPD Housing Litigation Division
- Also represents HPD in tenant cases
- Coverage
- Since August 2006
- Some earlier cases are included
- Records in the dataset
- 241,562
- As of our Oct 12, 2026 query
- Updated
- Monthly
- The file is replaced each month
What HPD litigation is
HPD's Housing Litigation Division brings cases in Housing Court against owners of private buildings to enforce the New York State Multiple Dwelling Law and the NYC Housing Maintenance Code. According to HPD, the goal is to get enforceable orders to correct, civil penalties (fines) and contempt sanctions that force owners to comply. When tenants start their own repair case, called an HP action, HPD is automatically named as a party, so those cases appear in the same records.
Case types, decoded
The dataset's Case Type field tells you why the case was brought. Here are the definitions from HPD's data dictionary, with how often each appears.
| Case type (as shown) | What it means | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant Action | One or more tenants sued the landlord, naming HPD, for an order to correct violations and civil penalties. | 111,526 |
| Heat and Hot Water | HPD seeks an order to restore and maintain heat and hot water, plus civil penalties. | 60,845 |
| Tenant Action/Harrassment | A tenant case that includes a harassment claim. (The misspelling is in the data.) | 23,124 |
| Access Warrant - Non-Lead / lead | HPD inspectors or repair crews were denied access to inspect or fix conditions, so HPD asked the court for a warrant. | 19,197 / 4,509 |
| Comprehensive | HPD seeks correction of all outstanding violations in the building, and/or penalties for failing to certify corrections or to register the building. | 8,017 |
| False Certification Non-Lead | HPD seeks penalties because the owner told HPD violations were fixed when they were not. | 7,715 |
| CONH | An application for a Certification of No Harassment, required before some demolition or alteration permits. | 2,743 |
| Comp Supplemental Cases | HPD seeks contempt and/or more penalties because the owner ignored orders from a comprehensive case. | 2,171 |
| Lead False Certification | False certification of lead paint violation corrections. | 683 |
| 7A | HPD asks the court to appoint an administrator to run the building because of dangerous conditions, harassment or loss of services. | 394 |
| Heat Supplemental Cases | Contempt and/or more penalties because the owner ignored an order to provide heat or hot water. | 348 |
| Failure to Register Only | A case about the building not being registered with HPD. | 277 |
The "Tenant Action/Harrassment" and "Failure to Register Only" labels are not defined in the dictionary, so we describe them from their names. See our guide to HPD property registration for why registration matters.
Which case types matter most to a renter
- Heat and Hot Water: the clearest warning for winter. One case in many years can be a one-off breakdown. Cases in several seasons suggest a heating system or an owner that fails repeatedly. Read how to check a building's heat complaint history.
- Comprehensive and Comp Supplemental: the city went after the whole building's backlog of violations. A supplemental case means the owner didn't follow the first court order.
- False Certification: the owner claimed repairs that weren't made. HPD's penalties for this run from $50–$250 per non-hazardous violation up to $500–$1,000 per immediately hazardous violation.
- Access Warrant: HPD inspectors or the contractors HPD sent were kept out, so HPD had to ask a judge for permission to get in and inspect or repair.
- 7A: rare and serious. A court-appointed administrator takes over running the building.
Status, judgments and harassment findings
| Field | What it means | What you will usually see |
|---|---|---|
| Case Open Date | The date the case was filed with the court. | Use it to see when trouble started and how recent it is. |
| Case Status | Where the case stands now. | CLOSED (232,103) or PENDING (6,716). A few old CONH rows show text like “GRANTED - 10/20/2006”. |
| Open Judgment | “Yes” means civil penalties are owed to HPD after the court awarded them. | YES on 3,667 records; NO on 237,895. |
| Finding of Harassment | Whether the court found harassment and how. | “After Trial” (80), “After Inquest” (257), “No Harassment” (8,136); blank on most rows. |
| Finding Date | The date of the court’s decision. | Filled only when there is a finding. |
| Penalty | Penalty awarded when harassment is found, including all penalties in the case. | Blank on most rows. |
| Respondent | Who the case was brought against. | Not necessarily the owner then, and maybe not the owner now. |
A closed case is not automatically good news. Most cases close after the owner makes repairs, settles or pays penalties. A closed case with an open judgment means the court awarded penalties that haven't been paid.
Certification of No Harassment (CONH)
Owners of single room occupancy (SRO) buildings, and some buildings in certain special zoning districts, need a Certification of No Harassment from HPD before they can get a DOB permit to demolish or reconfigure the building. HPD investigates. If there is reasonable cause to believe harassment happened, a hearing is held at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). A harassment finding blocks certain permits for three years for an SRO, or possibly permanently in some special districts unless the owner meets an affordable housing requirement. A CONH row tells you an owner applied to do major work, which is worth knowing if you rent in that building.
How to read a pattern
- Look at the last five years first. A case from 2008 under a previous owner says little about the building today. Check the respondent and compare it with the current owner on the building's HPD registration.
- Separate tenant cases from HPD cases. Tenant Actions show tenants who organized or pushed for repairs. Heat, Comprehensive, False Certification and 7A cases mean the city itself decided to sue.
- Look for repeats. Supplemental cases and repeated heat cases mean court orders didn't fix the problem.
- Check open judgments. Unpaid penalties suggest an owner who ignores the city.
- Scale to building size. A 400-unit complex will collect more tenant cases than a six-unit walk-up.
- Cross-check violations. Cases usually follow violations. Search the address on Roofy to see HPD violations, and read HPD violation classes.
What these records don't show
- Eviction (nonpayment or holdover) cases between landlords and tenants. HPD is not usually a party to those.
- Details of settlements, the full court file or what repairs were ordered. For that, use the court's own records.
- Cases in other courts, and complaints that never reached court.
If you need to go to court yourself
HPD says you don't need a lawyer to start an HP action to force repairs. You start one at the Housing Court clerk's office. Housing Court Answers runs a hotline at 212-962-4795 and information tables in the courthouses. Our HP action guide walks through the steps, and tenant harassment in NYC covers harassment claims. For citywide patterns, see HPD Housing Court cases by type and tenant harassment findings.
Independent re-check 2026-10-12. Re-read the HPD Housing Litigations data dictionary PDF (case types, Open Judgment, After Trial/After Inquest, respondent caveat, CONH three-year rule, coverage since August 2006, monthly replacement). Re-ran SoQL on 59kj-x8nc: 241,562 rows; every case-type, status, judgment and harassment count in the tables matches (13 rows of HLD - Other Case Type not listed). HPD Housing Court page: no lawyer needed for HP case, start at the clerk, Housing Court Answers 212-962-4795. HPD penalties page: false certification $50–$250 (A), $250–$500 (B), $500–$1,000 (C). No corrections needed.
Sources
- Housing Litigations (dataset 59kj-x8nc) · NYC Open Data / HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
- HPD Housing Litigation Division Open Data: data dictionary · NYC HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Housing Court (HP actions) · NYC HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Penalties and Fees · NYC HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Tenant Harassment · NYC HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change; confirm with the agency or a professional before you act.