Most OATH summonses let you appear by phone, online, or in writing instead of in person, and you can ask to reschedule once if you request it before the hearing date. Your summons states which options apply. Miss the date without doing any of them and the case defaults; you then generally have 75 days to file a motion to vacate.
Your summons decides which options you have
Every OATH summons lists the hearing date, the place, and the ways you are allowed to respond. Read that block first. The options below are the ones OATH offers for most summonses issued to property owners, but a summons can restrict them, and the date on the paper is the deadline for all of them.
Hearing by phone
OATH allows telephone hearings for many matters. You participate from wherever you are, the hearing officer takes your defense and the agency's evidence by phone, and the decision is mailed to you afterward. It is the most common way our clients appear, because a phone hearing removes the trip to the hearing center and the half-day off work.
What to have in front of you: the summons, any photographs or documents that show the condition was corrected or was never as described, and a quiet place to talk for the length of the hearing. If you are represented, your attorney appears on the call and you generally do not need to be on it.
Hearing online
OATH also offers remote video hearings. The mechanics are the same as a phone hearing with a camera added: you appear from home or your office, the hearing officer runs the hearing, and the decision follows in writing. Choose online over phone when your defense depends on showing something, such as the actual condition of a doorway, a sign, or a repair.
Written defense by mail or online
For eligible violations, you can submit a written defense with your documentation instead of appearing live. The hearing officer decides on the paper alone. This works when the facts are simple and fully documented, and it works badly when the inspector's account needs to be tested, because nobody is there to test it. If the penalty is significant, or the violation could follow the property into a sale or refinance, a live hearing, by phone if nothing else, is usually the safer choice.
How to request a phone or online hearing, and the deadline that catches people
A remote hearing is not automatic. You have to ask for it, and OATH has to receive the request by 12:00 noon, three business days before the hearing date. There are two ways to ask:
- 1OATH's remote hearing request page. Submit the online form with the summons number and the hearing date.
- 2Email the remote-hearings address for the borough where the hearing is scheduled, for example the Manhattan address (remotemanhattan@oath.nyc.gov); the other boroughs follow the same pattern and the right address is on OATH's remote-hearings page. Put the summons number in the subject line.
Two things trip people up. First, the deadline counts business days and stops at noon, so a Monday hearing needs the request in by noon the previous Wednesday. Second, a court holiday does not count as a business day, so if one falls inside the window you need to file a day earlier, four business days out. When in doubt, send the request the day you decide to contest. There is no advantage to waiting.
If the deadline has already passed, you can still appear in person on the date, and an attorney can still appear for you.
Sanitation tickets: pay, one-click, or contest?
A large share of the calls we get are about DSNY sanitation summonses, and most of those carry a $50 or $100 penalty. For a ticket at that level, the honest answer is often that hiring an attorney costs more than the penalty. You have three routes:
- Pay it. The fastest option, and for a one-off $50 ticket where the condition was real, frequently the right one. Paying is an admission, so do not pay if the violation could matter later (repeat-offender pricing, a building with an open enforcement history, or a commercial tenant fight over who was responsible).
- The one-click list. OATH maintains a list of summons types that can be resolved online with a one-click submission instead of a hearing. If your code section is on it, you can dispose of the ticket without arranging a hearing at all. Check your summons against the list before you do anything else.
- Contest it. If the ticket is wrong, or you have a pattern of them, request a remote hearing using the steps above and get your photographs and any receipts together. A $100 ticket is rarely worth an attorney's time; a fourth $100 ticket on the same property in a year usually is, because the pattern is the problem, not the ticket.
If you are not sure which of the three you are looking at, send us the summons. We will tell you if it is a pay-it case; we would rather say so than take a matter that does not need us.
Rescheduling an OATH hearing
You can ask to reschedule, but the request must be made before the hearing date. OATH grants one adjournment relatively easily; later requests are harder and need a reason. You do not need to appear in person to request one, and an attorney can make the request for you.
The one thing a reschedule request does not do is protect you if it is denied or never confirmed. Until you have confirmation of a new date, treat the original date as live.
What happens if the date passes
If you do nothing, no phone or online hearing, no written defense, no reschedule, no attorney, the case goes into default. The violation is sustained and the penalty is imposed, often at the maximum. A default can still be reopened: you generally have 75 days from the mailing of the default decision to file a motion to vacate, and you typically need both a reasonable excuse for missing the hearing and a defense on the merits. After that window it becomes much harder.
If you think a date may already have passed, look the summons up first, using the OATH Summons Finder or NYC Scope, so you know whether you are rescheduling a hearing or vacating a default.
Having an attorney appear for you
An attorney can appear at an OATH hearing on your behalf, in person, by phone, or online. The attorney presents the defense, handles the inspector's testimony, and you do not need to attend. For property owners with a business to run, this is usually the point: the hearing happens, on the date, with someone who does this every week, and you find out the result.
Send us the summons using the form above. An attorney reviews it and calls you back, usually the same business day, to tell you which option fits your case and what the date on the summons actually gives you time to do.
