NYC Comptroller Lander’s Audit Exposes Racial Gaps in Building Code Enforcement Based on 311 Complaints

 

Audit finds that homeowners in Black and Hispanic, low- and moderate-income neighborhoods face the highest fines for DOB code violations

In a new audit of the Department of Buildings (DOB), Comptroller Brad Lander exposes significant racial disparities in the enforcement outcomes for one- and two-family homeowners. The audit found that in the 10 community districts with the highest assessed penalties, homeowners in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods faced high fines for building violations. Homeowners in these communities often faced fines for illegal conversions and default judgments as a result of DOB’s over-reliance on anonymous 311 complaints and DOB’s failure to account for systemic inequities in its enforcement practices.

“The Department of Buildings’ lack of strategic enforcement and overreliance on anonymous 311 calls directly contributed to inequitable levels of fines in New York City’s communities of color. We need a process that protects communities from overenforcement while also supporting compliance and safety, not arbitrary enforcement that unfairly impacts Black and Hispanic homeowners,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.

While auditors acknowledge DOB’s mandate to inspect all 311 complaints, the report urges the agency to reform its handling of anonymous 311 complaints by collaborating with the Office of Technology and Information to monitor complaint sources and implement safeguards to protect vulnerable communities and homeowners from targeted complaints.

Findings

Disproportionate Impact 

• The ten community districts with the highest accumulated fines (penalties of $20,000 or more) were disproportionately located in lower income communities: The districts include Queens Districts 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13, and Brooklyn Districts 3, 12, 15, and 18.

• District 12 in Queens – encompassing the neighborhoods of Hollis, Jamaica, Jamaica Center, North Springfield Gardens, Rochdale, South Jamaica and St. Albans – had the most properties with accumulated penalties over $20,000.

Lagging Review Times 

• Comparing the first quarters of 2022, 2023, and 2024, the DOB’s review time increased by 80% citywide. In Q1 of 2024 alone, the average approval time for major alterations in one- and two-family homes exceeded 5.5 months. To address unnecessary fine accruals caused by lagging review times, the Comptroller’s Office recommended establishing fair compliance timelines and halting “Failure to Comply” summonses while violation remediation plans were under DOB review. DOB rejected the recommendation, stating that time targets are already part of its MMR/PMMR metrics and that it lacks full control over the entire review process.

Homeowner Relief Programs 

• Despite the DOB’s efforts to create initiatives like the Homeowner Relief Program (HRP), to help small property owners navigate city code requirements and resolve issues without incurring violations, the agency provided little evidence of these programs’ effectiveness. Under HRP, eligible owners can receive a Request for Corrective Action (RCA) instead of an Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) summons for violations. The program would help owners who correct issues within 60 days of receiving the RCA avoid an OATH summons. To qualify, property owners must not have received a DOB-issued OATH summons in the past five years, and the violation cannot be a Class 1 (Immediately Hazardous) offense, such as illegal conversions or conditions linked to death or serious injury. However, like other initiatives, the DOB has not established performance metrics or conducted studies to evaluate HRP’s impact.

Additional recommendations include reinstating public reporting of plan review timelines and launching outreach campaigns in high-impact neighborhoods to educate residents on the safety risks of illegal conversions and the consequences of default judgments from unresolved violations.

“DOB’s enforcement practices risk targeting the same communities most impacted by the subprime mortgage crisis, decades of discriminatory housing and lending practices, and the current wave of deed theft,” Comptroller Lander continues. “Reforming the DOB’s enforcement process isn’t just about fairness—it’s about ensuring code enforcement doesn’t strip wealth from the communities that need it most.”