Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings
NYC OATH violations. Find the hearing before it finds you.
OATH is where summonses from DOB, Sanitation, FDNY, DEP and others get decided. Search a building to see its DOB-issued cases, hearing results and balances.
- ECB
- DOB
- + 8 more agencies in the full search
What NYC OATH violations are
OATH is the city's administrative court. When an inspector from almost any agency writes a summons with a penalty, the case goes to the OATH Hearings Division. A hearing officer decides whether the violation happened and what you owe. There are more than 21 million OATH cases on record, from sidewalk sanitation tickets to $25,000 building violations.
For building owners, two kinds matter most:
Construction, elevators, boilers, facades, illegal conversions. Detail on the ECB page.
Sanitation (dirty sidewalk, recycling), FDNY (fire safety), DEP (noise, backflow), Health (rodents, cooling towers). These are tied to the respondent and address on the ticket, not a BIN, so they don't line up neatly by building. ViolationWatch's full search matches them by address.
The OATH hearing, step by step
- The summons. It lists the charge, the penalty range and a hearing date, usually several weeks out.
- Before the hearing. Fix the condition and collect proof: photos, invoices, filings. For eligible DOB violations, an accepted Certificate of Correction before the cure date ends the case with no penalty.
- The hearing. By phone, video, online in writing, or in person. You (or a lawyer, expediter or registered representative) present your side.
- The decision. In violation, dismissed, or a stipulation. Penalties are due within 30 days of the decision, and unpaid ones become judgments.
Defaults: the expensive mistake
If nobody shows up, OATH decides against you by default and imposes the maximum penalty. 161,826 ECB cases on record ended in default, and a lot of them came down to a summons mailed to an old managing agent. Run a free lookup on the building before the hearing date: every DOB-issued ECB case shows with its hearing status and balance.
Last checked against nyc.gov/oath: October 23, 2026 (311: agencies heard at OATH, You Received a Summons, Payments, default rules, Case Status).
From the team behind this tool
Hearing dates on a calendar, not in a mail pile
ViolationWatch tracks every new summons on your buildings and puts OATH hearing dates on a calendar with reminders. That's how our customers stop defaulting.
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Common questions
OATH violations: common questions
Short answers first. Still stuck? Call (347) 201-2336 and a person picks up.
What is an OATH violation in NYC?
An OATH violation is a summons from a city enforcement agency that gets decided at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, the city's independent administrative law court. OATH's Hearings Division hears summonses from more than 25 agencies, including Buildings, Sanitation, Environmental Protection and Health. OATH doesn't write violations itself. The agency that inspected you does, and OATH decides whether the charge holds and what you owe.
How do I look up an OATH violation?
Use OATH's Summons Finder, which searches by name, address or summons number and shows the hearing date, the result, a copy of the summons and how much may be owed. For DOB-issued ECB cases on one building, the search on this page is quicker and shows the balance due. Summonses issued to restaurants or for-hire vehicles, and Department of Consumer Affairs summonses, aren't in the Summons Finder.
How do I look up a NYC sanitation ticket?
Sanitation (DSNY) summonses are heard at OATH, so look one up in OATH's Summons Finder by ticket number, name or address, where you'll see the hearing date, a copy of the summons and any amount owed. To pay it, use OATH's online payment page with the summons number before the hearing date, which admits the charge. If it isn't in the Finder, call the OATH Hearings Division at 844-628-4692. The search on this page covers building summonses only.
How do I check the status of an OATH violation?
Look the summons up in the Summons Finder or in the OATH Hearings Division Case Status dataset on NYC Open Data, which shows the charge, the issuing agency, the current case status, the hearing outcome and any penalty. If neither answers it, call the OATH Clerk's Office at 844-OATH-NYC (844-628-4692). To get hearing reminders by text, text OATHReminder to (917) 451-8829.
How do I pay an OATH violation?
Pay online through OATH's CityPay page with a credit card, debit card or electronic check, or pay by mail or in person, with the summons number ready; online payments add a service fee. Payment must reach OATH by the hearing date, and paying without a hearing admits the charge. TLC and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection cases are paid to those agencies directly. If you lose at a hearing, you still have to pay, even while you appeal.
What does OATH-adjudicated mean?
OATH-adjudicated simply means OATH has issued a decision on the violation, either after a hearing or by default when nobody responded. Unpaid penalties can become judgments that the Department of Finance collects. If yours is a default judgment and the violation is now in compliance, DOF's OATH-Adjudicated ECB Judgments Settlement Program can waive half of the default penalty.
I was served an OATH summons. What do I do?
Respond before the hearing date printed on it: have the hearing by phone or video, submit a written defense online or by mail if the summons is eligible, or admit the charge and pay. Doing nothing means a default and a higher penalty. Each summons can be rescheduled once before the hearing date, and the OATH Help Center at (212) 436-0845 explains the process for free.
I missed my OATH hearing. What now?
Ask for a new hearing right away: if it's your first request for that summons and OATH receives it within 75 days, OATH grants it. After 75 days and up to one year from the default decision you need a reasonable excuse, and after a year only exceptional circumstances will do. Use OATH's online Request to Reopen a Default form. Until then, the default decision and its higher penalty stand.
Which agencies send cases to OATH?
More than 25 city agencies send summonses to OATH, including Buildings, Sanitation, FDNY, Environmental Protection, Health, Transportation, Parks and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. If a city inspector wrote you a summons with a hearing date, it's almost certainly going to OATH. The summons names the issuing agency at the top.
Can I do an OATH hearing online or by phone?
Yes. OATH currently holds hearings by phone, video, online and by mail, and allows in-person appearances only in pre-approved cases. Book a phone hearing with OATH's Phone Hearing Request Form at least three business days before the hearing date, or see if your summons qualifies for a written defense online. The summons explains your options.
Does paying an OATH penalty close the violation?
It closes the money side only. If the underlying condition needed fixing, as most DOB violations do, the violation stays open with the issuing agency until you file proof of correction, which for DOB means an accepted Certificate of Correction in DOB NOW: Safety. See removing a violation.