Title issues
OATH (formerly ECB) judgment lien
An unpaid summons from OATH, formerly ECB, becomes a docketed judgment the City enforces against the property. How it is found, cured, and who pays it.
Does an unpaid OATH judgment have to be cleared before closing?
Quick Answer
Compliance · Blocks the closing until it is resolved
How is it found?
- The municipal search returns docketed OATH judgments against the block and lot or against the owner of record
- The DOB record shows an open violation with a hearing that was defaulted rather than heard
- A violation was cured at the property but no certificate of correction was ever accepted, so the penalty stands
- The judgment was entered against a prior owner and never satisfied, so it still reads against the parcel
How is it cured?
- Pull the summons history and separate the live items from the ones already satisfied or dismissed, because City records lag
- Where the hearing was defaulted, move to vacate the default within the window OATH allows and get the matter heard
- Where the condition was corrected, file the certificate of correction with proof and ask that the penalty be reduced or waived
- Where the penalty is owed, pay it and confirm the satisfaction posts to the docket rather than assuming payment clears the record
- Where the hearing will not conclude before the closing date, escrow the exposure with a release condition tied to the docket clearing
What does clearing it cost?
Three separate costs travel together and they are worth pricing separately: the penalty itself, the physical correction the summons demanded, and the professional time to appear or to prepare the certificate of correction. A single defaulted summons on a cured condition is the cheap case. A stack of defaults on a building with live conditions is not.
Who pays for it?
The seller, because the summons was issued during the seller’s ownership and a standard New York contract requires the seller to convey free of liens. Where the correction and the hearing outrun the closing date, the practical answer is a seller-funded escrow rather than a price adjustment.
What is the difference between a violation and an OATH judgment?
The violation is the condition the City wrote up. The summons is the charge. The judgment is what happens when the charge goes unanswered or unpaid: OATH enters a default, and the City dockets it. A cured condition with an unanswered summons still produces a judgment, which is why correction alone does not clear the record.
Can a defaulted OATH summons be reopened?
Often yes. OATH allows a motion to vacate a default, and the tribunal weighs the reason for the missed hearing and whether there is a defense to the charge. The window is limited and the standard is not automatic, so the motion is filed as soon as the default is discovered rather than at the closing table.
Which DOB codes turn into these judgments most often?
The generic unlawful-acts charges written when an owner fails to comply with a law, rule or Commissioner order, the failure-to-certify-correction charge, and the failure-to-maintain-the-building charge. Work performed without a permit is the other frequent source, because it is a Class 1 item that carries a hearing rather than a cure.
Does the buyer inherit the judgment?
The docketed judgment is enforced against the property, so a buyer who closes without clearing it takes the exposure. The underlying condition transfers too: the new owner becomes the person the City looks to for the correction, and a stale uncorrected condition can draw a fresh summons after the deed records.
What else should you read before closing?
In the glossary
- OATH Hearings DivisionThe City tribunal, OATH (formerly ECB), that adjudicates summonses from most New York City enforcement agencies. Unpaid or defaulted summonses beco...
- ECB judgmentThe judgment entered on an unpaid or defaulted summons heard at OATH (formerly ECB). It is a collectible City debt tied to the respondent and to th...
- Violation (cited against the premises)An agency record that a condition at a property does not comply with a code or rule. It attaches to the premises and follows the property through a...
- Certificate of CorrectionThe filing that certifies to a City agency that a cited condition has been corrected. Acceptance by the agency, not the repair itself, is what clos...
- Municipal searchThe record search covering agency violations, municipal arrears and occupancy documents for a property. It runs alongside the land records search r...
- LienA claim against property securing payment of a debt. Liens rank by priority, and closing normally means paying or releasing every one ahead of the ...
- Escrow (at closing)Funds or documents held by a neutral party until stated conditions are satisfied. At a New York closing it usually means a holdback from proceeds u...
Questions this raises
- What happens if the title search finds a problem before closing?Schedule B-I requirements are the punch list, not a dead deal. How New York closings clear old liens, missing satisfactions and name hits before th...
- What is curative title work?Curative work clears Schedule B-I before closing: payoffs, missing satisfactions, heirship affidavits, ACRIS indexing fixes and escrow holdbacks in...
- What gets recorded after a NYC closing?Deed, mortgage, assignments and satisfactions record through ACRIS with the City Register, along with transfer tax returns. What is filed instead o...
Title issues
- Open permitAn open DOB permit is work the City still shows as unfinished. It rarely kills a NYC deal outright, but it moves the date and it follows the buyer.
- Judgment lien against the sellerA docketed money judgment attaches to New York real property the seller owns in that county. Here is how it surfaces, how it clears, and who pays it.
- Certificate of occupancy mismatchWhen the certificate of occupancy does not match how a NYC building is actually used, the lender reads it as a defect. How it is found, cured, and ...
- HPD emergency repair charge lienWhen HPD repairs a condition an owner did not, the cost becomes a lien on the building. How the charge is found, disputed, cleared, and paid at clo...
Building types
- Townhouse and 1-4 family condo declarationA small building divided into condominium units, where outdoor space, party walls, multiple-dwelling registration and the certificate of occupancy ...
- Mixed-use condo with commercial unitsA condominium holding both residential and commercial units, where the declaration allocates common charges, voting rights and use restrictions bet...
- Condo in a converted buildingA condominium created by converting an existing rental building, where non-purchasing tenants, the reserve fund and building-wide conditions carry ...
The violation code
- DOB violation b1g2 unlawful acts failure to comply with a law rule orWhat the code section requires and how it is cured
- DOB violation b187 unlawful acts failure to comply with commissionersWhat the code section requires and how it is cured
- DOB violation b263 failure to comply with the commissioners order to What the code section requires and how it is cured
- DOB violation b102 failure to maintain building in codecompliant mannWhat the code section requires and how it is cured
- DOB violation b101 work without a permitWhat the code section requires and how it is cured
- DOB violation b201 work without a permitWhat the code section requires and how it is cured
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