DOB vs ECB vs OATH Violations: What Each One Means in NYC

If you've pulled a NYC building report and seen the same incident appear three times — once as a "DOB violation," once as an "ECB violation," and once as an "OATH judgment" — that's not a duplicate, it's the lifecycle. Three agencies touch most enforcement actions. Knowing which one means what is the difference between dismissing a $750 line as routine and missing a real lien.

Quick reference

• DOB violation — the Department of Buildings flagged a code issue at the property. Issued by an inspector or auto-generated when a permit expires.
• ECB violation — DOB referred the violation to the Environmental Control Board for hearing and fine. ECB is the older name for the hearing tribunal; the case lives there until adjudicated.
• OATH judgment — the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings absorbed ECB in 2008. OATH is now the agency that actually rules and assesses penalties. An "OATH judgment" is the dollar amount you owe the city after a hearing or default.

How a single issue becomes three records

Picture a contractor doing facade work without a permit. Here's what each agency adds:

1. Day 1 — DOB inspector arrives. The inspector writes up a violation: "Work without permit, BC §28-105.1." The DOB Violation Number is generated. The lot now shows one open DOB violation.
2. Day 1 (same day) — ECB violation referenced. The DOB inspector also serves an ECB summons with a fine schedule. Same incident, but now you have an ECB Violation Number tied back to the DOB number.
3. Days 30-90 — OATH hearing. The owner either pays the fine, contests at OATH, or defaults. If they default, OATH enters a judgment — the dollar amount that becomes a real legal debt the city can pursue.
4. Days 90+ — judgment becomes a lien. If left unpaid past the grace period, OATH judgments can be docketed against the property tax bill. Now it's a real cloud on title.

Which records actually matter for a buyer or renter

For a renter screening an apartment: the open DOB violations tell you what's wrong with the building right now. ECB and OATH are mostly the financial trail — if a landlord has six unpaid OATH judgments, that's a sign of a chronically inattentive owner, but it doesn't directly affect whether your shower works.

For a buyer doing diligence on a closing: the OATH judgments are the ones to flag. Open DOB violations might cure quickly with a sign-off; an unpaid OATH judgment from 2019 is a hard liability that transfers with the property unless explicitly handled at closing.

What "cured" / "resolved" means in each system

• DOB cure means the inspector verified the underlying code issue is fixed. The DOB violation flips to "Resolved." But the ECB/OATH penalty remains owed unless separately settled.
• ECB cure generally means the case has been formally closed at the hearing tribunal — adjudicated, dismissed, or settled.
• OATH paid means the dollar judgment is satisfied. This is the only one that removes the lien threat. A "paid OATH" line on a report is the strongest "fully closed" signal.

Reading the violation numbers

DOB violation numbers are 9 digits with a check character. ECB/OATH violation numbers are 10 digits and start with the year (e.g. 35100123Z). On most reports the agency name is in its own column — but if you ever see a 10-digit number in a database without an agency tag, the leading digits ("35", "34", etc.) are an OATH/ECB signature.

See all three on your building

Every NYC Property Audit report pulls DOB, ECB references, and OATH judgments side-by-side, with the dollar totals separated from the operational issues so you can see at a glance which problems are technical and which are financial: run a free audit →