March 25, 2025

With 250 buildings facing stricter enforcement through the Alternative Enforcement Program, HPD debuts its first-ever watchlist to crack down on false repair certifications

New York, NY – The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is ramping up enforcement against 250 of the city’s most poorly maintained buildings through it’s annual Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP), now in its 18^th year, while also launching a new Certification Watchlist to better hold those who falsely certify the correction of violations accountable. The building owners on this year’s AEP list now face additional oversight and pressure to address nearly 54,000 open violations and pay almost $3 million owed to the city for repairs.

These actions are part of the Adams administration’s broader commitment to holding landlords accountable and ensuring New Yorkers have safe, well-maintained homes. By combining targeted enforcement with stronger oversight, the city is working to improve living conditions in some of the city’s most distressed buildings.

“One of our most important priorities as an administration is to ensure all New Yorkers have safe and healthy affordable housing,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce Adolfo Carrión Jr. “The Alternative Enforcement Program is a critical tool that holds landlords accountable to their tenants and ensures the city’s most troubled buildings get back on the right track.”

“Every New Yorker deserves safe and affordable housing,” said Executive Director for Housing Leila Bozorg. “The Alternative Enforcement Program is one of our most powerful means to hold landlords who unnecessarily threaten the health and safety of New Yorkers accountable. Every day, HPD’s enforcement team is hard at work ensuring that the living conditions of tenants are improved and that all residents have access to safe and healthy homes.”

“At HPD, we’re sending a clear message: neglect has consequences,” said Ahmed Tigani, Acting Commissioner of HPD. “The Alternative Enforcement Program is one of our strongest tools to drive real change in buildings where owners that regularly failed to meet even the acceptable standards. Using our ability to push more frequent inspections, additional emergency repair charges, and the issuance of Orders to Correct which require system replacements and significant fees we hope to improve conditions for those tenants. And with the launch of our Certification Watchlist, we’re making it even harder for bad actors who fail to correct violations and falsely certify repairs to dodge accountability. None of this would be possible without our enforcement team, who work every day to make our city’s homes safer for the people who live in them.”

The AEP program targets buildings with serious, unresolved violations that indicate landlords are failing to maintain basic living conditions. Each year, HPD designates a new round of buildings for AEP based on excessive housing code violations—such as mold, heat outages, and other hazardous conditions—as well as mounting emergency repair costs covered by the city. These violations directly impact tenants’ well-being, and landlords are required to repay the city for any emergency repairs HPD completes. Since its inception in 2007, AEP has improved conditions in thousands of New York City’s most distressed buildings and recouped millions in unpaid emergency repair costs.

This year’s AEP round includes 250 buildings across Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, impacting 6,830 homes. These buildings have 53,986 open housing code violations, including 15,463 classified as immediately hazardous, such as mold, evidence of rodents, lead-based paint, and inoperable self-closing doors. Another 29,075 violations involve hazardous conditions like leaks or damaged walls. The building in the current round with the highest number of open “B” and “C” violations issued in the past five years is 35-64 84^th Street, with over 900 of the most serious housing code violations. The building is registered to 35-64 84th Street, LLC. HPD initiated litigation against the property in August 2024 and has already spent $87,000 in emergency repairs in the past five years. A penalty of $110,000 may be imposed against the property if it fails to be discharged from AEP, in addition to the potential of an court order being issued for any systemic issues in the building. 

Building owners on this year’s AEP round owe the city nearly $3 million for failing to correct critical violations, triggering emergency interventions by HPD. Additionally, HPD’s Housing Litigation Division is pursuing legal action against the owners of 134 buildings in housing court to force compliance. This total includes various case types, including tenant-initiated actions, with 52 specifically related to open HPD-initiated comprehensive cases.

HPD holds property owners accountable through the AEP program by increasing oversight and enforcing swift action to improve building conditions. Owners who comply quickly, including by resolving the most serious issues, such as all heat and hot water violations and at least 80 percent of hazardous mold and pest violations, and completing necessary repairs, can be discharged from the program within months. However, those who fail to address violations within four months additionally face significant fees and Orders to Correct, which may require replacing building systems. To exit the program, owners must settle outstanding emergency repair charges or enter a payment agreement with the city. If an owner fails to comply, HPD may escalate enforcement by taking legal action in Housing Court.

HPD monitors buildings discharged from AEP for at least one year to ensure conditions remain stable. If a building fails to maintain compliance, it may be reselected for future rounds of AEP triggering immediate enforcement measures. In such cases, HPD can issue an Order to Correct shortly after selection, requiring owners to address violations without delay.

In addition to AEP, and as part of its enhanced enforcement strategy, HPD launched its first Certification Watchlist, identifying properties where the owners or agents have falsely certified correction of HPD-issued violations. Under Local Law 71 of 2023, HPD is required to compile a list of 100 multiple dwellings with more than 20 hazardous or immediately hazardous violations certified as corrected during the previous year where at least four such violations were found to have been falsely certified. Pest violations are excluded from this calculation. The buildings with the highest number of falsely certified violations that meet the above criteria are selected for the Certification Watchlist.

Buildings remain on the list for one year from selection. For the duration of the calendar year in which a building is on the Certification Watchlist, all certifications of correction for hazardous or immediately hazardous violations submitted for that building cannot be closed based on the owner’s certification without at least two reinspection attempts.  

“Landlords have a responsibility to provide safe homes for New Yorkers,” said Council Member Pierina Sanchez, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings. “Recent data from the University Neighborhood Housing Program shows that District 14 has the second-highest number of distressed buildings in the city. This is unacceptable. I applaud HPD’s enhanced enforcement efforts against NYC’s most at-risk buildings, which will bring stronger oversight to ensure the safety of our residents. Through the Alternative Enforcement Program, landlords could face legal action in housing court, in addition to penalties, if they fail to make timely repairs, correct violations and clear their buildings’ violations. After the recent tragic fires and partial building collapses that my district has experienced, it is more urgent than ever to fund enforcement programs and pass legislation like the , which holds negligent landlords accountable. Let’s get New Yorkers the dignified housing they deserve.”   

Property owners and agents who certify the correction of violations must do so timely and only after violations are corrected properly. Failure to correct, timely certify, and remove violations from buildings’ records increases the possibility of selection for programs like AEP, or other enhanced enforcement programs such as the Underlying Conditions Program or for HPD seeking civil penalties through an action brought on in Housing Court.

For a full list of buildings selected for Round 18 of the Alternative Enforcement Program or selected for the Certification Watchlist, visit the HPD website.

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The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and diverse, thriving neighborhoods for New Yorkers through loan and development programs for new affordable housing, preservation of the affordability of the existing housing stock, enforcement of housing quality standards, and educational programs for tenants and building owners. For full details visit www.nyc.gov/hpd and for regular updates on HPD news and services, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NYCHousing.