Frequently Asked Questions

Just create an account and enter your NYC property address — house number, street name, and borough. That's it. DOBGuard immediately begins pulling your property's full violation history and enrolls it in live monitoring across all 15+ NYC agencies.

No. All plans, including Starter, are billed immediately at signup — there is no free trial on any plan. You can cancel anytime from your account settings, and you'll keep access through the end of your current billing period.

Monitoring begins immediately. Once you add a property, DOBGuard starts a full data backfill — pulling the complete violation and complaint history for that address from all covered NYC agencies. This initial sync typically completes within a few minutes. From that point, your property is checked for new activity continuously.

DOBGuard monitors 15+ NYC agencies including:

• DOB — Department of Buildings violations
• ECB / OATH — Summonses and hearings
• HPD — Housing Preservation & Development violations
• FDNY — Fire Department violations
• 311 — Citizen complaints
• Stop Work Orders
• Building Permits (DOB & DOB NOW)
• OATH Case Status
• HPD Housing Litigation
• HPD Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP)
• DOT, DSNY, and additional NYC enforcement datasets

All paid plans — including Starter — monitor all 15+ NYC agencies. Starter is limited to 1 property with email alerts only. Higher plans add more properties, text alerts, deeper monitoring features, and premium tools.

The NYC DOB (Department of Buildings) is the city agency responsible for enforcing the NYC Construction Codes and Zoning Resolution. It reviews and approves construction plans, issues building permits, conducts inspections, and issues violations for unsafe conditions, work performed without a permit, and other code non-compliance. The DOB is distinct from other enforcement agencies you'll see referenced alongside it: HPD handles housing maintenance code violations inside occupied residential units, FDNY handles fire code and life-safety violations, and ECB/OATH is the tribunal that adjudicates civil penalty hearings for violations issued by DOB, HPD, FDNY, and other agencies. DOBGuard monitors all of these agencies together so you don't have to track each one separately — see our complete guide to NYC DOB violations for more detail.

For general questions, call 311 (NYC's non-emergency line) and ask to be routed to the Department of Buildings, or visit the DOB's official customer service page at nyc.gov/buildings for borough office addresses, walk-in hours, and department-specific contact info. To check the status of a specific violation, permit, or complaint instead of contacting DOB directly, use DOBGuard's free address lookup — it's usually faster than calling.

Properties are checked continuously across all covered agencies. Most agency feeds are scanned every 60 minutes or less, so you'll typically receive an alert within an hour of a new violation being filed — often sooner. DOBGuard runs 24/7 with no gaps.

Alerts are delivered by email on all plans. Text message alerts are included on Landlord, Pro, and Enterprise plans. Each alert includes the property address, agency, violation type, date filed, and a direct link to the full record in your dashboard.

Yes. You can add up to 4 additional recipients per property (5 total including yourself). This is useful for building managers, contractors, compliance staff, or anyone else who needs to stay in the loop. Each recipient gets the same alerts you do.

Generally yes — no alerts means no new violations or complaints have been detected. Your dashboard will always show the current state of each property. You can also do a manual lookup anytime using our DOB lookup tool or check directly on NYC.gov.

A Stop Work Order (SWO) is issued by the NYC Department of Buildings to immediately halt all construction or work at a property. Ignoring one can result in significant fines and legal liability. DOBGuard alerts you the moment an SWO is issued so you can act immediately. Our in-house network of attorneys, architects, and engineers can also represent you to help resolve the issue before penalties compound.

Yes — inspectors can show up unannounced. DOBGuard is not a prevention tool; it's a monitoring tool. We alert you as soon as a violation or complaint appears in NYC agency records, which typically happens within hours of an inspection. The faster you know, the faster you can respond.

We offer four plans:

• Starter — $14.99/month, billed immediately. 1 property. All 15+ agencies. Email alerts.
• Landlord — Multiple properties. All 15+ agencies. Email & text alerts. 30-day lookback on signup. PDF reports.
• Pro — Larger portfolios. All agencies. Email & text. Priority support. Calendar sync for hearings. 90-day lookback on signup.
• Enterprise — Large portfolios. All features. Dedicated success manager. API access. SLA guarantee. 6-month lookback on signup.

See full pricing →

Yes. You can upgrade at any time from your account dashboard — your new plan takes effect immediately and pricing is prorated. Downgrades take effect at the start of your next billing cycle.

Yes — no contracts, no cancellation fees. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. Access continues through the end of your current billing period.

Yes — annual billing saves you 20% compared to monthly on all paid plans. The discount is applied automatically when you select yearly billing at checkout or in your account settings.

No. DOBGuard subscription plans cover monitoring, alerts, dashboard access, and plan-specific features. Violation removal, DOB NOW filing help, permit support, and Filing Representative coordination are separate quote-based services — not included in any subscription tier.

You can request a free violation review without creating an account. DOBGuard reviews the issue, then sends a fixed quote where applicable. No payment is required until a quote is accepted, and no outcome is guaranteed.

DOBGuard charges by plan tier rather than charging separately for every building. Starter covers 1 property, Landlord covers up to 5, and Pro covers up to 10 — all at a flat monthly or annual rate. If you manage multiple properties, flat-rate plan pricing can become more cost-effective than services that charge per building as your portfolio grows.

See the full plan breakdown on our pricing page.

Yes. Use our free property search on the homepage to instantly check open DOB and HPD violations for any NYC address — no account required. For ongoing monitoring and alerts across all agencies, a plan is required.

All five NYC boroughs — Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. DOBGuard pulls data directly from NYC agency systems which cover all boroughs uniformly.

An ECB (Environmental Control Board) violation is a summons issued by NYC agencies — typically DOB, FDNY, or DEP — for regulatory infractions. ECB violations carry monetary penalties and require a hearing at OATH (Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings). Fines range from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. You can look up ECB violations here.

Yes — DOBGuard offers violation review and filing coordination on a case-by-case basis. Submit your property details through the request a free review form. We'll review your situation and provide a quote before you commit to anything. No account required.

A Class C violation is the most serious category of HPD (Housing Preservation & Development) housing code violation, classified as immediately hazardous. Examples include no heat/hot water, lead paint hazards, and vermin infestations. Landlords must correct Class C violations within 24 hours. For a full explanation, see our HPD Violation Classes guide.

Heat and hot water complaints filed through 311 are treated as immediately hazardous (Class C) and are prioritized for the fastest HPD response times. Heat season runs October 1 through May 31; during this period HPD is required to inspect no-heat complaints promptly, often within hours for active complaints. Hot water complaints (required year-round) follow a similar expedited SLA. If HPD's own inspector confirms the violation, a Class C notice is issued to the landlord with a correction deadline that is effectively immediate — the violation is considered due at the time of inspection, not a future date. You can track the status of a heat/hot water complaint using DOBGuard's free violation lookup.

An LAA (Limited Alteration Application) is a NYC DOB permit for limited-scope work such as signs, sidewalk sheds, fences, and curb cuts. Unlike full alteration permits (ALT1/ALT2/ALT3), some LAA work can be filed by the property owner directly. See our NYC Permit Types guide for details.

Local Law 97 (LL97) is NYC's climate law that sets carbon emission limits on buildings over 25,000 square feet. Buildings exceeding their limits face annual penalties of $268 per metric ton of excess CO2. The first compliance period began in 2024, with stricter limits taking effect in 2030. See our Local Law 97 guide for the full breakdown.

An HPD violation is issued by NYC's Housing Preservation & Development department when a residential property fails to meet the Housing Maintenance Code. Violations are classified as A (non-hazardous), B (hazardous), or C (immediately hazardous), each with different correction deadlines. You can look up HPD violations here.

BIS (Building Information System) is the NYC Department of Buildings' public database for looking up building records, violations, permits, complaints, and property profiles. DOBGuard pulls from the same data sources and combines BIS data with ECB, HPD, FDNY, 311, and other agencies in one search. Try our free building search or read our BIS Search Guide.

Use DOBGuard's free address lookup to search any NYC address. It pulls 311 building complaints, DOB violations, ECB violations, permits, and more in one search. For a full walkthrough, see our DOB Complaint Lookup guide.