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 10+ NYC agencies.

Yes. The Starter plan includes a 14-day free trial. A credit card is required at signup, but you won't be charged until the trial ends. You get full access to DOB violation monitoring for 1 property during the trial period. Cancel anytime before the trial ends to avoid any charges.

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 10+ 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)

The Starter plan covers DOB violations only. Landlord, Pro, and Enterprise plans cover all 15+ agencies.

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 — 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-day free trial (card required, no charge today), then $14.99/month. 1 property. DOB violations. Email alerts. 1 year of history.
• Landlord — Multiple properties. All 15+ agencies. Email & text alerts. 3 years of history. PDF reports.
• Pro — Larger portfolios. All agencies. Email & text. Priority support. Calendar sync for hearings. 5 years of history.
• Enterprise — Large portfolios. All features. Dedicated success manager. API access. SLA guarantee. 7 years of history.

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.

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.