Search your OATH summons (formerly the ECB ticket) by summons number or address to see the hearing date, penalty and case status. Use NYC Scope to check OATH, DOB and HPD records for a property in one search, then send us the summons: an attorney reviews it and calls you back, usually the same day.
Start with one search
If you know the property but not the summons number, start with a single search that spans every agency. If you already have the summons number, go straight to the City's own finder and read the record.
NYC Scope: our tool, built for the search the city does not offer
[NYC Scope](https://nycscope.com) is not a city website. Nacmias Law Firm built it, because the City splits your answer across five separate agency databases, and checking them one at a time is how deadlines get missed. The deadline is usually the part that hurts, not the paperwork.
What it does that the official tools do not:
- One search, every agency. Type an address once and see OATH (formerly ECB) summonses, DOB violations, and HPD records in a single result set. Each city portal only shows you its own agency's slice.
- It watches, so you do not have to. NYC Scope can alert you when something new lands on a property you track. No city tool notifies you; the first official notice is often the summons itself.
- Free to search. No account required to look up a property.
Then confirm against the source. NYC Scope reads the City's data, but the City's own portals are where the record officially lives, and they are where a hearing date, a case status, or a payment is confirmed.
The official city tools, and what each one shows
| Tool | What it covers | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| OATH Summons Finder | The summons itself, the scheduled hearing date, and the current case status | You have a summons number, a respondent name, or an address |
| CityPay | Paying an OATH penalty or an entered judgment | You have decided not to contest, or the case is already decided |
| DOB BIS | The long DOB record: complaints, violations, applications, permits, equipment | You need a building's full history |
| DOB NOW Public Portal | Filings, permits, and safety submissions made in the newer DOB system | The work or the filing is recent |
| HPD Online | Housing maintenance code violations, complaints, and registration | Residential rental buildings |
| ACRIS | Deeds, mortgages, and liens recorded against the property | Confirming what is attached to title |
OATH Summons Finder
This is the City's official summons lookup, run by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. You can search by summons number, by respondent name, or by address, view a copy of the summons, and see the scheduled hearing date and the current status. Summonses issued by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection are not currently covered there, so a blank result on a Consumer and Worker Protection matter does not mean there is no case.
CityPay
CityPay is the City's payment portal and the place an OATH penalty is actually paid. OATH sets out the other routes, by mail and in person, on its payments and penalties pages.
One caution before you use it: paying is a decision about your case, not a housekeeping step. See "Contest it or pay it" below.
DOB BIS and DOB NOW
Two portals split by era. BIS holds the long record: complaints, violations, applications, permits, and equipment history for elevators, boilers, and cranes, searchable by address or by BIN. DOB NOW holds work filed in the newer system, along with DOB NOW: Safety submissions and Certificate of Correction filings. A complete picture of a building usually means checking both.
HPD Online
HPD Online covers residential rental buildings: housing maintenance code violations, tenant complaints, and property registration. HPD violations are classed A (non-hazardous), B (hazardous), and C (immediately hazardous), and each class carries its own correction deadline.
Looking for the ECB ticket finder, or where to pay an ECB ticket?
Both questions have short answers.
- The "ECB ticket finder" is the OATH Summons Finder. Search it here. Same tool, current name. Searching an address there returns the summonses on the property whether the paperwork in your hand says ECB or OATH.
- You pay an ECB ticket on [CityPay](https://a836-citypay.nyc.gov/). Have the summons number ready.
Why there are two names for one thing: the Environmental Control Board was folded into OATH's Hearings Division, and OATH now hears those cases. An "ECB violation" and an "OATH summons" are the same document under two labels. City systems, agency letters, and search results still use both, which is why the results you find do not always agree with each other. Nothing about your case changes based on which word you searched for.
What the record is telling you
A summons record shows the respondent, the cited code section, the hearing date, and the current status. Two of those fields decide what happens next.
The hearing date. OATH hearings are typically scheduled 30 to 60 days out from service. That date is not a suggestion. Missing it is what converts a summons into a default.
The violation class. DOB violations are Class 1 (immediately hazardous), Class 2 (major), or Class 3 (lesser). The class drives the penalty range and how quickly the City expects the condition corrected. Class 1 is the tier where the timeline compresses and the exposure climbs.
The progression, start to finish
- 1The summons is served. The clock starts on the date of service, not the date you found it.
- 2A hearing date is scheduled and printed on the summons.
- 3You choose: contest it, or pay it. Some violations add a third path, correct the condition and certify the correction.
- 4The hearing happens. OATH takes many cases by phone, online, by mail-in written statement, or in person, so appearing does not always mean traveling to a hearing office.
- 5A decision issues. Either the summons is dismissed, or the respondent is found in violation and a penalty is imposed.
- 6An unpaid penalty becomes a judgment, and the judgment attaches to the property.
Contest it or pay it
Contesting means putting a defense in front of a hearing officer: the condition did not exist, it was not yours, the summons is defective on its face, the cited section does not apply to the building, or the condition was already corrected. Defects in how a summons was written or served are real defenses, and volume enforcement produces them.
Paying ends the case, and for an OATH summons it generally counts as admitting that the violation occurred. That is why paying is not the neutral, clear-it-off-my-desk move it looks like. The admission stays in the property's record, and a record of prior violations is one of the things that pushes penalties higher the next time the same condition is cited. If you intend to contest, do not pay first.
If you miss the hearing
A default decision generally enters against the respondent, and the default penalty is generally higher than the penalty the violation itself carried, in some categories substantially higher. That is the mechanism behind the fine appearing to multiply. It is not interest accruing; it is a different and larger penalty for not appearing.
You generally have 75 days from the mailing date of the default decision to file a motion to vacate the default. To succeed on one you typically need both a reasonable excuse for missing the hearing and a defense worth hearing on the merits. Once that window closes, the routes narrow considerably.
Certificates of correction
Some violations can be resolved by fixing the condition and filing a Certificate of Correction instead of litigating the summons. Where that option exists, the deadline is set by the violation code and stated on the summons itself, it generally runs from the served date rather than the hearing date, and it can expire before the hearing ever happens. Read the summons for the date rather than assuming a standard period.
A Certificate has to be complete and supported: the correct form, proof the work was done, and, where the correction required them, the permits or sign-offs that made the work lawful. Agencies reject Certificates that arrive late or thin, and a rejected Certificate usually leaves you back at the hearing with less time than you had.
When it has already become a judgment
Unpaid penalties become judgments that attach to the property. That is the point at which a violation stops being a paperwork problem and starts being a title problem. It surfaces in a sale or a refinance, often at the worst possible moment, and clearing it then is slower than clearing it now.
What happens if you do nothing
Penalties do not stay still. A default carries a higher penalty than the underlying summons, judgments accrue, and an unresolved violation can block a Certificate of Occupancy, stall a permit, or hold up a closing. Buyers, lenders, and title companies run the same searches listed above, and they run them before they fund.
When it is worth talking to an attorney
Plenty of these you can handle yourself. If you found your summons, the facts are simple, and the hearing is still ahead of you, look it up, note the date, and calendar it.
These are the situations where the sequence matters and the deadlines are short:
- The hearing date has already passed and a default has entered.
- The violation is DOB Class 1, or HPD Class C.
- There is a stop work order on the property.
- Several summonses are open on the same property, or the same condition keeps getting cited.
- You are trying to close or refinance with something open.
- The cure deadline is close and you are not certain the Certificate of Correction will be accepted.
Talk it through
Nacmias Law Firm represents property owners, managing agents, and businesses in OATH, DOB, and HPD matters across all five NYC boroughs, from 592 Pacific Street, Brooklyn, NY. Every client works directly with their attorney.
- Free 15-minute case review: start the OATH violations intake form
- Call 347-392-6356
- Or reach the office through the contact form
