How to Read a Building Page on Roofy

Start with three things: open Class C (immediately hazardous) HPD violations, the date of the most recent violation, and whether the owner is registered with HPD. Those three tell you most of what you need to know about how a building is run. Then work down the page to heat history, Department of Buildings (DOB) items, the owner and sales, and the rent-stabilization signal.

Every Roofy building page is built from public New York City records, matched to the property by its BBL (borough, block and lot number). This guide walks through each section in the order it appears, says where the data comes from and how often the source updates, and tells you what is worth acting on.

The header: address, BBL, owner and counts

The top of the page shows the address, borough, ZIP code and BBL. The BBL is the city's tax-lot ID, and it is the most reliable way to match a building across city systems such as ACRIS (deeds and mortgages) and HPD Online. See BBL and BIN explained for how the number is built.

The owner of record comes from the Department of City Planning's PLUTO file, which takes it from city tax records. It is often an LLC, not a person. Click the name to see other buildings on Roofy with the same owner name. To find the people behind an LLC, use the HPD registration (below) and this guide to LLC ownership.

Below that are four counters: HPD violations, DOB violations, ECB violations and HPD complaints. A counter that says “Updating” means Roofy is re-importing that dataset so it links to the right buildings. As of October 2026 that applies to DOB violations, ECB violations and HPD complaints, and the matching sections lower on the page say “Being rebuilt.” Until they return, check those records on the city's own sites: HPD Online for complaints and the DOB website for DOB and ECB violations.

The Roofy building score

The letter grade in the side panel is a quick summary of HPD housing violations only. It starts at 100 and subtracts points for violations per apartment, with heavier penalties for violations that are still open and for Class C violations:

• 6 points for each violation per apartment
• 18 points for each open violation per apartment
• 25 points for each Class C violation per apartment

The open and Class C shares are estimated from the building's most recent violations (up to 50). A building with no HPD violations scores 96. Scores are capped between 3 and 99 and graded A (85+), B (70+), C (50+), D (30+) or F. A property with no residential units in city records (an office building or vacant lot, for example) gets no score.

“What to know”: the three signals

Right under the header, three cards summarize the record:

1. Open Class C. How many of the recent HPD violations are immediately hazardous and still open. Class C covers things like no heat or hot water, lead paint hazards and vermin. Any open Class C is worth asking about. See HPD violation classes explained.
2. Last violation date. The inspection date of the most recent HPD violation. A date in the last four months is flagged so you know problems are current, not historical.
3. HPD registration (or unpaid ECB fines). While ECB data is being rebuilt, this card shows whether the building is registered with HPD and when the registration was last renewed. Once ECB data returns, it will show unpaid ECB penalties instead.

If the building appears in rent-stabilization records, a note appears below the cards saying some apartments may be rent stabilized. That is a building-level signal, not proof about any one apartment. More on that below.

Violations

This section lists up to 50 of the most recent violations per agency, newest first. The first 10 show right away; click “Show more” for the rest. Each source means something different:

Update schedules are for the city's source data. Roofy refreshes its copy weekly, so it can be a few days behind. For anything you plan to rely on (for example, whether a violation was just closed), confirm it on HPD Online or the DOB website.

Reading an HPD violation row

Each row shows the class (A, B or C), a plain-English description, the apartment if one is listed, the inspection date and the current status. An open violation is not always an unfixed one. Owners close violations by filing a certification of correction, which HPD can audit by reinspecting, and HPD says some violations it has already seen corrected stay open until the owner files the required paperwork. So an old open violation can mean the owner never filed. Repeated violations of the same type across different apartments usually point to a building-wide problem such as the boiler or the roof. Status codes are decoded in HPD violation status codes explained.

DOB and ECB rows

DOB violations are about the structure and its systems. ECB violations come with penalties, and an unpaid balance is a sign the owner is not dealing with the city. While these sections say “Being rebuilt,” look the address up on the DOB website instead. Read more in DOB violations explained and ECB/OATH violations explained.

Complaints

Complaints are what tenants reported to HPD, usually through 311. This section is being rebuilt, so for now use HPD Online to see a building's complaints. Many never turn into violations, because the problem was fixed before an inspector came or the inspector could not get in. Look at the season and the category. Heat and hot water complaints between October and May, year after year, mean you should expect cold winters. For a step-by-step look, see how to check a building's heat complaint history.

Sales history

Sales come from the Department of Finance's rolling sales files, which cover the last 12 months. This section is also being rebuilt; when it is live, a row with no price is shown as a non-market transfer. The Department of Finance says a $0 sale means ownership changed without a cash payment, for example from parents to their children. For now, and for the full chain of deeds, mortgages and liens, search ACRIS, which covers Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx from 1966 onward (see how to search ACRIS). A recent sale matters to renters: a new owner sometimes means renovations, buyouts or a change in management, and your lease stays in force after a sale (see what happens when your building is sold).

Building details

This grid comes from PLUTO: building class, year built, floors, residential and total units, building and lot area, zoning, community board, council district, block and lot, assessed value, and any landmark or historic district. Two fields do the most work:

• Building class tells you the type: walk-up (C), elevator (D), two-family (B), condo (R) and so on. See NYC building class codes.
• Year built and residential units are the first test for rent stabilization. HCR says stabilization generally covers buildings built after 1947 and before 1974, apartments that left rent control, and buildings receiving J-51, 421-a or 421-g tax benefits. In practice, the Rent Guidelines Board points people with six or more units in a non-condo, non-co-op building to HCR.

The details section also shows the HPD registration number and last renewal date. Owners must register buildings with three or more apartments, and one- or two-family homes where neither the owner nor immediate family lives, every year by September 1. Without a valid registration an owner cannot bring a nonpayment case in Housing Court.

The rent-stabilization note

When a building shows up in rent-stabilization records, Roofy says some apartments may be stabilized. The Rent Guidelines Board's own building lists carry the same warning: they include only buildings whose owners registered with HCR, and they do not say which apartments are stabilized. A building missing from the list can still have stabilized units if the owner never registered. The only authoritative answer for a specific apartment is its rent history from HCR, which is free. See how to request your rent history and the rent-stabilized checker.

What is not on the page yet: the Certificate of Occupancy

The Certificate of Occupancy (CO) states the building's legal use and how many apartments it may have. Roofy does not show it, so look it up on the DOB website: BIS for COs issued before March 1, 2021, and DOB NOW for those issued after. Compare the CO to what you see. A two-family CO on a house with three doorbells, or a basement being rented as an apartment, is a red flag. Buildings built before 1938 generally are not required to have a CO unless a later change in use, exits or occupancy required one. See how to read a certificate of occupancy.

A 10-minute review, in order

1. 1

   Search the address

   Use the building lookup. Note the BBL so you can match records elsewhere.
2. 2

   Read “What to know”

   Open Class C count, last violation date, registration or unpaid fines.
3. 3

   Scan violations by type and date

   Look for repeats (heat, leaks, mold, vermin) and anything open from the last year.
4. 4

   Check heat history

   Heat and hot water violations on the page, plus winter complaints on HPD Online, season by season.
5. 5

   Check DOB/ECB items

   Open DOB violations, unpaid ECB penalties, elevator or boiler problems. Use the DOB website while these sections are being rebuilt.
6. 6

   Match the CO

   Pull the CO from DOB and compare the legal unit count to the listing.
7. 7

   Look at owner and sales

   Owner name, other buildings, the HPD registration contacts, and recent deeds in ACRIS.
8. 8

   Confirm stabilization

   If the building is a candidate, request the apartment’s rent history from HCR.

Building page review checklist

Tick each item as you go. Your progress stays in this browser.

Common mistakes when reading a building record

• Judging by raw count. A 300-unit building will have more violations than a six-unit walk-up. Look at violations per apartment, the class mix and the dates.
• Treating “no violations” as a clean bill of health. HPD cites conditions only after an inspection. Tenants in small buildings sometimes never call 311.
• Assuming open means unfixed. It may be fixed but not certified. Ask, and check whether it closes.
• Assuming listed means stabilized. Building lists are a starting point. Only HCR records answer it for your unit.

Once the building checks out, run the numbers with the move-in cost calculator, and use the 10-minute pre-rental check for the questions to ask at the viewing.