Vacate Orders in NYC: What They Mean

A vacate order means a city agency decided that all or part of a building was unsafe to live in and ordered people out until repairs were made. In NYC, HPD issues these orders for housing conditions, most often after a fire or because people were living in an illegal space. The Department of Buildings (DOB) can issue them too.

A past vacate order is not automatically a reason to avoid a building. What matters is why it was issued, how much of the building it covered, how recent it was and whether it has been lifted. This guide shows you how to read the record.

What an HPD vacate order is

HPD calls it an Order to Repair/Vacate. HPD says it issues one when a condition is or may be "imminently perilous, dangerous, or detrimental to life, public safety, or property." HPD's data dictionary lists the typical causes: lack of essential services, lack of proper exits, fire damage, illegal occupancy and other serious maintenance conditions.

The order is posted at the building, mailed to the registered owner and filed with the County Clerk. It lists the conditions to correct and the apartments affected. Nobody can live in an affected unit until the agency lifts, or rescinds, the order.

Reading the HPD vacate order record

You can see a building's orders on HPD Online, and the full list is on NYC Open Data as Order to Repair/Vacate Orders. HPD describes the dataset as covering orders issued since January 1, 2017, though some earlier orders also appear.

The three reasons, in plain English

• Fire Damage: a fire, or the water used to fight it, made units unlivable. This is about a past event. Ask what repairs were made and whether the building has had more than one fire.
• Illegal Occupancy: people were living somewhere that isn't legal housing, often a cellar, basement or an illegally subdivided unit. Repeated orders here point to an owner who rents out illegal space. See basement and cellar apartments.
• Habitability: other serious conditions. HPD's dictionary mentions lack of essential services, lack of proper exits and other serious maintenance problems.

The record has some entry errors, such as rescind dates earlier than the effective date and at least one effective date in 2040. If a date looks wrong, confirm the order's status on HPD Online. For citywide patterns, see our report on HPD vacate orders.

DOB vacate orders

DOB also issues vacate orders. They are not in the HPD dataset. DOB records them as the outcome (disposition) of a complaint after an inspection. They show up in DOB's Buildings Information System (BIS) on the building's complaint record, as disposition codes:

DOB complaint category 2B, "Failure to Comply with Vacate Order", means someone reported people still using a vacated space. To find these, search the address in BIS, open the property profile and look at its complaints. Our guide to reading DOB complaints explains the codes.

How an order gets lifted

After making repairs, the owner applies to HPD for a dismissal request inspection, which has a fee. The order must stay posted on the entrance door until HPD dismisses it. Re-renting a vacated unit before then brings a violation and civil penalties of no less than $5,000 for each re-occupied unit. Under Admin Code § 27-2142(d), HPD can require the owner to show a reasonable effort to notify vacated tenants before it rescinds the order, and HPD says owners must tell tenants who moved out, including those HPD rehoused, that they have a right to move back once the order is rescinded.

Should a past vacate order worry you?

• One old fire order, rescinded, partial: usually low concern. Ask what was rebuilt and check for open violations.
• Illegal occupancy orders, especially more than one: a red flag about how the owner uses the building. Make sure the unit you're offered is legal. Check the certificate of occupancy.
• An order with no rescind date: ask whether the order is still in effect and which units it covers. Never rent a unit under an active order.
• An entire-building order: find out what happened and what was repaired before you commit.

Start with the address on Roofy's building lookup for HPD violations and building facts, then check HPD Online for orders. Our building check before renting covers the rest.