Can you close on a NYC property that has open violations?
Quick Answer
Buyers and brokers tend to treat “open violations” as one thing. In a transaction they behave as three very different things, and the distinction decides whether you are negotiating an escrow, rescheduling a closing, or walking into an obligation you did not price.
The table below sorts the common ones. It is a starting framework for a conversation with your attorney, not a substitute for pulling the actual record on the actual property — two buildings with the same violation code can be in completely different positions depending on what stage the violation has reached.
How to read the three categories
Generally cannot be completed until the item is satisfied or escrowed. Almost always a money judgment, a lien, or a Certificate of Occupancy problem.
The deal can still close, but the date moves while a sign-off, inspection or approval is obtained.
The deal closes on schedule and the obligation stays with the property. The buyer inherits it.
The deal-killer table
Timing columns are typical observed ranges, not commitments. Agency backlogs, the condition itself, and how your contract allocates the cure all move these numbers.
| Issue | Agency | Effect on the deal | What it does | How it clears | Typical time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unsatisfied ECB/OATH penalty entered as a judgment | OATH / DOF | Blocks | Once a penalty goes unpaid or a hearing is defaulted, the City enters a judgment and pursues collection. Title companies routinely raise it as an exception and require it satisfied or escrowed at the table. | Pay the balance, or move to vacate the default and get a hearing on the merits before the closing date. | Payoff clears in days. A motion to vacate typically runs one to four months. |
| HPD emergency repair charges | HPD / DOF | Blocks | When HPD does the repair itself, the cost is billed to the property and collected as a property charge. It is a lien question, not a paperwork question, so title will not pass over it. | Pay or escrow at closing; dispute the charge separately if it is wrong. | Days, once the payoff figure is confirmed. |
| DEP water and sewer arrears | DEP / DOF | Blocks | Unpaid water and sewer charges attach to the property and are collectible through the lien sale. Title requires a payoff letter. | Order the payoff, satisfy at closing, adjust between the parties. | Days. |
| Property tax arrears or a sold tax lien | DOF | Blocks | Arrears are satisfied out of proceeds. If the lien has already been sold, the payoff runs through the lien servicer and takes longer to obtain. | Payoff letter from DOF, or from the servicer where the lien was sold. | Days for DOF; one to three weeks where a lien has been sold. |
| Occupancy that contradicts the Certificate of Occupancy (illegal conversion) | DOB | Blocks | The building is not legally what it is being sold as. Lenders commonly decline, and the mismatch is a title exception. This is the single most expensive item on this list to unwind. | Legalize the condition with a new or amended Certificate of Occupancy, or restore the building to its legal configuration. | Six months to two years or more, depending on what is being legalized. |
| Expired Temporary Certificate of Occupancy on new construction | DOB | Blocks | A unit in a new building cannot be conveyed without a valid TCO or final Certificate of Occupancy in place. The closing simply waits. | The sponsor renews the TCO or obtains the final Certificate of Occupancy. | Two to eight weeks per renewal cycle. |
| Active Stop Work Order | DOB | Blocks | Work is frozen, which stalls any sign-off the deal depends on — TCO renewal, a final Certificate of Occupancy, or a repair the contract requires before closing. | Correct the condition, then apply for rescission and pay the reinstatement fee. | Two weeks to two months. |
| Open work permits with no sign-off | DOB | Delays | An open permit means the City still considers the work unfinished. Title companies frequently except to it and lenders ask questions, particularly where the work touched egress, plumbing or structure. | Obtain final sign-off, or withdraw the permit where the work was never performed. | Two weeks to three months, driven by whether a re-inspection is needed. |
| Class 1 immediately hazardous DOB violation | DOB | Delays | The hazard classification draws lender attention and can hold up any Certificate of Occupancy action on the property until it is cleared. | Correct the condition and file a Certificate of Correction with supporting proof. | Three weeks to three months, including the acceptance review. |
| FDNY violation order | FDNY | Delays | Sprinkler, standpipe and alarm defects can hold up a Certificate of Occupancy sign-off and are the item most often missed until late in a commercial deal. | Correct, then schedule and pass FDNY re-inspection. | One to four months. |
| No Certificate of Occupancy (buildings predating 1938) | DOB | Delays | Many older buildings never had one. That is not itself a defect, but the lender or title company usually wants documentation of the legal use before funding. | Apply for a Letter of No Objection establishing the legal use of record. | Four to sixteen weeks. |
| Landmarks violation | LPC | Delays | An LPC violation can hold up the DOB approvals tied to the same work, so it stalls anything downstream of those permits. | Obtain LPC approval for the existing work, or restore the affected feature. | Three months to a year. |
| Facade filing overdue or filed unsafe (FISP / Local Law 11) | DOB | Delays | Penalties accrue while the cycle stays open and an unsafe filing usually means a sidewalk shed, which lenders and buyers price into the deal. | Complete the repairs and file an amended report moving the building off unsafe. | Six months or more on an unsafe filing. |
| Open ECB/OATH violation with a future hearing date | OATH | Survives | No judgment has been entered yet, so it usually does not stop the transfer. It attaches to the property and the hearing becomes the new owner’s problem — this is the item buyers most often close over without realizing it. | Resolve it before closing, or negotiate escrow and an allocation of responsibility in the contract. | One to three months to cure and certify. |
| Open HPD Class A or B violations | HPD | Survives | Lower-class housing maintenance violations rarely stop a closing, but they remain against the building and the incoming owner inherits both the correction duty and the certification deadlines. | Correct the condition and certify the correction with HPD. | Two to eight weeks. |
| DSNY and other agency summonses | DSNY / DOT / DOHMH | Survives | Individually small, but they accumulate quietly and follow the address. A stack of unaddressed summonses is usually a sign of how the building has been managed. | Answer or pay them; check the full OATH history rather than only the DOB record. | Days to weeks. |
The pattern underneath the table
Money is what stops a closing. Almost everything in the “Blocks” row is a lien or a judgment. Title companies are in the business of insuring that the buyer takes clean title, so an unsatisfied charge against the property is the one thing they will not pass over. Those are also, in practice, the easiest to solve — you order a payoff and adjust between the parties.
Paperwork is what moves the date. Open permits, uncleared violations and missing sign-offs rarely kill a deal outright. They add weeks while somebody obtains an inspection or a Certificate of Correction. The cost of these is measured in rate locks and moving trucks, not in dollars owed.
The Certificate of Occupancy is its own category. If what is physically in the building does not match what the City says is legally there, no amount of escrow fixes it, because the problem is the building rather than the file. That is why an illegal conversion sits at the expensive end of the table.
The quiet category is the dangerous one. Violations in the “Survives” row do not interrupt anything. The deal closes on schedule, and months later a hearing notice arrives addressed to the new owner. Buyers are rarely warned about this because nothing in the transaction flags it.
When to run the violation check
Before the contract is signed, not after. Once you are in contract, an open violation is a negotiation you are having from a weaker position; before you sign, it is a term. The searches worth running are broader than most buyers expect:
- DOB Building Information System and DOB NOW — violations, permits, sign-offs
- OATH/ECB hearing history — including matters already decided
- HPD violations and any emergency repair charges
- The Certificate of Occupancy, or a Letter of No Objection for older buildings
- FDNY, DEP, DSNY and Landmarks where the building type calls for it
- ACRIS for recorded liens and prior conveyances
Related reading
Closing Help Center
Every closing resource on this site in one place.
What Survives a NYC Closing
Which obligations follow the property to the new owner.
NYC Closings Glossary
CEMA, flip tax, TCO, BBL, ECB judgment — defined plainly.
Certificates of Correction
What NYC agencies accept as proof that a condition was cured.
Open violations on a property you are buying or selling?
Our firm handles both sides of this problem — the closing and the violations behind it. Tell us about the transaction and we will tell you which category you are in.
Legal Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Timing ranges are typical observations and not a prediction about any particular property or transaction. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. This is attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.