HPD Property Registration: A Landlord’s Guide

Every NYC building with three or more apartments, and every one- or two-family home where neither the owner nor the owner's immediate family lives, must be registered with HPD each year by September 1. Registration costs $13 a year, billed by the Department of Finance, and you also file a signed form naming the owner and a NYC managing agent.

Skipping it is expensive: an unregistered building can't bring a nonpayment case in Housing Court, can't certify that HPD violations are fixed, and faces civil penalties of up to $5,000. Here is who must register, how, and how to check that your registration is valid.

Do I need to register?

How to register, step by step

1. 1

   Gather the owner details

   Owner name, business and residence addresses, and phone numbers. For a corporation or LLC, list anyone with more than a 25% stake; for a partnership, limited partners over 25%. PO boxes and private mailbox services are not accepted as business addresses.
2. 2

   Choose a managing agent

   A natural person over 21 who lives in NYC or regularly works from a NYC office, with a NYC business address. They are responsible for running the building and can authorize emergency repairs. You can be your own managing agent if you qualify.
3. 3

   Fill in the form in PROS

   Use HPD’s Property Registration Online System (PROS) to create, update or review the registration. Give a phone number in the metro area where the owner or agent can be reached at all times; HPD uses it in emergencies.
4. 4

   Print, sign and mail it

   The owner and the managing agent each sign and date it (any corporate officer can sign for a corporation). Mail to HPD, Church Street Station, PO Box 3888, New York, NY 10008-3888. Don’t send the fee with the form; HPD says that delays processing.
5. 5

   Pay the $13 to DOF

   The fee appears on your Department of Finance Statement of Account, due July 1. Pay online at nyc.gov/payonline, at a DOF Business Center, or by check to the NYC Department of Finance marked “Housing-Property Registration charge” with the borough, block, lot and registration number.
6. 6

   Confirm it is valid

   A registration is valid only when both the fee is paid and the form is accepted. If you get no receipt or correction notice in 2–4 weeks, check HPD Online or your PROS account.

What happens if you don't register

HPD can also issue an order requiring the information. Registering clears it; HPD then removes the violation administratively. For how the nonpayment bar plays out in court, see nonpayment cases in NYC Housing Court.

Posting and related filings

HPD's signage rules don't require a separate sign with the owner's name, but two required signs tie back to your registration:

• Rent-stabilized notice (if any unit is stabilized): posted in a common area in English and Spanish, showing the building address and HPD property registration number (HMC §27-2104).
• Serial number sign in the entrance hall, with the HPD building serial number, street address and super or janitor information (HMC §27-2107).

HPD registration doesn't replace the state's rent registration. Owners of rent-stabilized units must also register them with NYS Homes and Community Renewal by July 31; HPD notes the fine for delinquency is $500 per unregistered unit per month. See DHCR annual rent registration.

How your registration looks to the public

Registration data is public. Tenants, buyers and lenders see the owner, the managing agent and the registration dates on HPD Online, and the registration details on the building's page on Roofy. An expired registration is one of the first things a careful renter or buyer notices. Our guide to HPD registration records walks through each field, and finding who owns an LLC building shows how others use it.

Registration checklist

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Add September 1 and the other yearly deadlines to the landlord compliance calendar.