HPD Violation Classes Explained: Class A vs B vs C

HPD violations are graded into three classes — A, B, and C — based on how dangerous the issue is and how quickly the city expects it cured. The tier is on every NYC violation record but rarely explained in plain English. Here's what each one actually means for renters and buyers.

Quick reference

• Class A — Non-hazardous. Cosmetic or paperwork issues. 90 days to cure.
• Class B — Hazardous. Conditions that affect tenant comfort or health. 30 days to cure.
• Class C — Immediately hazardous. Heat, hot water, gas, lead, mold, vermin. 24 hours to cure.

Class A — Non-hazardous

Class A is the lowest tier. Examples: peeling paint in a public hallway, missing window-guard certificates of compliance, illegible smoke-detector signage, or a broken cabinet hinge. Annoying for tenants, mostly cosmetic, no immediate health risk.

Cure window: 90 days. Typical fine: $10-$250 if it goes to OATH judgment. A clean Class A line on a building's record means the landlord cured it. An open Class A older than 6 months suggests inattentive ownership but isn't a deal-breaker.

Class B — Hazardous

Class B is the middle tier. Examples: peeling paint in an apartment with kids under 6 (lead-paint risk), broken self-closing fire doors, defective stove burner, kitchen-sink leak, missing carbon-monoxide detector outside a bedroom.

Cure window: 30 days. Typical fine: $250-$1,000 at OATH. What to watch for: a building with multiple open Class B in a single unit usually points to a landlord who fights repair requests rather than fixing them.

Class C — Immediately hazardous

Class C is the city's "fix today" tier. Examples: no heat in winter, no hot water for 24+ hours, gas leak, lead paint in a unit with a child under 6, active vermin infestation, broken stairs, exposed electrical wiring.

Cure window: 24 hours after notice. Typical fine: $250-$1,500+ per violation. Most urgent signal: a landlord with multiple open Class C violations is statistically a landlord who's been ignoring tenant complaints for weeks before HPD got involved. For renters, this is the strongest red flag on a public record short of a critical safety order.

How violations actually resolve

Most HPD violations move through three lifecycle states:

• Open — issued, not yet cured. Counts in the open-violation total on the lot.
• Cured — landlord fixed it and HPD verified at re-inspection.
• Cured-NoVerify — landlord submitted a self-certification of cure but HPD didn't re-inspect. This is a softer "cured" — the issue is technically off the books but no city inspector confirmed it.

On the property report, "cured" lines are mostly informational. "Open" lines are the ones that matter for negotiation or walk-away decisions.

When the class actually matters for your decision

For renters: a single open Class A is a yellow flag at most. Three open Class C in a unit you're considering is a hard "negotiate or walk away." Buyers should care about all three classes because cured violations cost the next owner zero, but open ones at closing become their problem.

See your building's violation classes

Search any NYC address on the homepage to see the full open + cured violation list with class labels and lifecycle status: run a free audit →