Reading a Building’s HPD Registration Record

An NYC building’s HPD registration lists the people and companies the owner says are responsible for it: the owner (a person or a company), the company’s head officer, a managing agent who must be reachable in New York City, and often a site manager. Use it to find who to contact about repairs, who to send a legal notice to, and whether the owner is keeping up with a basic legal duty.

Owners of buildings with three or more apartments, and owners of one- or two-family homes where neither the owner nor immediate family lives, must register with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) every year.

Who is on the record

Each registration has a set of contacts. HPD’s data dictionary lists six contact types; the live dataset also uses a few more. Here is what each one means and how many contact records of each type were in the dataset when we checked.

Counts cover every contact in the current dataset, so one building can contribute several. HPD says co-op and condo boards register on behalf of their buildings, so the contacts on a co-op or condo are the board and its managing agent, not individual apartment owners.

The managing agent rules

HPD sets specific requirements for the managing agent, which is why this is usually the most useful contact for a tenant:

• It must be a natural person (a human, not just a company) over 21.
• That person must live in New York City or regularly attend a business office in the city.
• The agent needs a New York City business address. A P.O. box is not valid.
• An owner or corporate officer can serve as their own managing agent.

HPD also requires a phone number in the greater metro area where the owner or agent can be reached at all times, used for emergencies. That phone number is not in the public open dataset, which includes names and business addresses only.

What “expired” means

Every registration carries an end date. HPD’s data notes say that if the expiration date has passed, the registration is not current, and a registration must be valid and current for the property to be in compliance. When we checked the dataset, every registration still in force had an end date in September, matching the September 1 annual deadline.

An expired registration does not make the contacts useless. HPD’s data dictionary says the law requires HPD to mail violation notices to the owner at the last valid registration even when it is not current. It is still the best starting point, but people and addresses may be out of date.

How to look up a registration

1. 1

   Start on Roofy

   Search the address on Roofy’s building lookup. The building page shows whether an HPD registration was found, the registration number and when it was last renewed, next to the building’s violations.
2. 2

   Open HPD Online for the contacts

   Search the same address on HPD Online. Its registration information shows the registered contacts for the building.
3. 3

   Check the dates

   Note the last registration date and the end date. An end date in the past means the owner has not renewed.
4. 4

   Match it to the deed

   Compare the registered owner with the owner on the latest deed in ACRIS. If the building sold recently, the registration may still show the old owner. See ACRIS deeds: sale prices and owners.

Using the record to reach someone responsible

1. Repairs: write to the managing agent first, keep a copy, and file with 311 if nothing happens. See how to file an HPD complaint through 311.
2. Formal notices: send to the owner and the managing agent at the registered business addresses, by a method you can prove.
3. An LLC owner: the head officer and officers name the people behind it. Searching those names can reveal the owner’s other buildings. See how to find who owns an LLC building.
4. Organizing: tenant associations use the registration to identify the decision-makers. See starting a tenant association.

Limits of the registration record

• The owner fills it in, so it is only as accurate and current as the last filing.
• The open dataset is refreshed quarterly, so a filing made last month may not appear yet.
• “No registration found” can mean the building is exempt (an owner-occupied one- or two-family home), recently sold, or out of compliance.
• One registration can cover several buildings in a garden complex, so the same contacts can appear for many addresses.
• Owners: the filing rules and deadlines are in HPD property registration: a landlord’s guide.