ECB Penalty Schedule: Tiers, Cure, and Hearing Response

The ECB penalty schedule is New York City’s master list of civil fines for violations issued by city agencies and heard at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). Fines run from as little as $50 for minor infractions up to $25,000 for the most dangerous building code violations, and missing your hearing multiplies the standard fine by five. What you pay in the end depends less on the ticket itself than on how, and how quickly, you respond.

What the Schedule Is and Who Uses It

OATH runs the hearings that used to take place at the Environmental Control Board, and multiple city agencies issue summonses that get resolved through this single schedule.¹ The Department of Buildings uses it for unsafe construction, elevator and facade maintenance failures, and work without permits. Sanitation issues summonses for improper waste and dirty sidewalks. The Department of Environmental Protection handles air quality and noise. The Fire Department cites blocked exits and faulty alarms. Transportation uses the same framework for street and sidewalk issues. Each agency has its own section inside the schedule, but every summons flows into the same OATH hearing process.

The Four Fine Tiers

Each violation in the schedule carries several possible dollar amounts. Which one applies depends on what you do with the summons.

Standard penalty. The base fine for a first-time offense. Pay this amount before or on the hearing date and you skip the hearing.²
Mitigated penalty. A reduced fine, generally half the standard amount, available when you attend the hearing, admit the violation, and show you already fixed the condition.³
Default penalty. If you fail to appear, OATH finds you in violation automatically and imposes five times the standard amount. A $500 standard fine becomes $2,500. A $2,000 fine becomes $10,000. This is the costliest mistake people make with these summonses.²
Aggravated penalty. Higher fines for repeat offenders. Aggravated I applies when the same condition was charged against the same owner or responsible party within the previous three years. Aggravated II applies in more serious situations, such as a violation involving an accident, serious injury, or a pattern of non-compliance.⁴

Building Violation Classes

Department of Buildings violations are also sorted into severity classes that set the floors and ceilings for what the schedule can impose:

Class 1 (Immediately Hazardous): $1,000 to $25,000 per violation, plus up to $1,000 per day the condition goes uncorrected.⁵
Class 2 (Major): Up to $10,000 per violation, plus up to $250 per month uncorrected.⁵
Class 3 (Lesser): Up to $500 per violation.⁵

Other agencies set their own ranges inside the schedule. Landmarks Preservation Commission first offenses, for example, run from $100 to $3,500 depending on the violation type, with defaults climbing to $3,000 or $5,000.⁶ The exact fine for any one violation always traces back to the specific law or rule cited on the summons.

Finding Your Fine on the Summons

Two things on your ticket tell you what you owe. The infraction code is a unique identifier that maps directly to a row in the OATH penalty schedule. The citation to the NYC Administrative Code or the Rules of the City of New York tells you which rule you are accused of breaking. With both, you can look up the standard, mitigated, default, and aggravated amounts for your specific violation.

The OATH Summons Finder lets you search by name, address, or summons number to pull up the summons and confirm the hearing date.⁷ Worth doing even if the paper ticket is in front of you, because the online record carries the current hearing date and case status.

Cure and Stipulation

Two mechanisms built into the schedule can wipe out or sharply cut the fine. Both have deadlines.

Cure

If your summons shows a date in the “Cure Date” box, you can skip the fine entirely. Correct the condition and submit a valid Certificate of Correction on or before that cure date. If the issuing department approves it, no hearing, no fine.² This is the best possible outcome, and people miss it because they don’t read the summons closely.

Stipulation

For certain violations, OATH mails a stipulation offer before the hearing. Accept it and you admit the violation in exchange for a reduced penalty, usually half the standard, and 75 days to correct the condition. No hearing required.² A different stipulation is available at the hearing, where you admit guilt and get 75 days to fix the problem, but the penalty is typically the full standard amount instead of the reduced rate. Either stipulation must be accepted before the hearing starts.

Responding Before the Hearing Date

You must respond on or before the hearing date on your summons. Miss it and OATH enters a default, with the five-times penalty attached.⁸ Your options:

Phone hearing. The default format. Request it at least three business days before the hearing date, and no more than one month ahead.⁸
In-person hearing. Available by email request to livehearings@oath.nyc.gov at least five business days before the hearing. The city agency representative will still appear by phone.
Online written defense. Eligible cases can submit a one-click written defense through OATH’s online form by the hearing date.
Mail. A written defense is accepted if it arrives before the hearing date.
Admit and pay. Pay the standard penalty through CityPay before the hearing date and the case closes.

OATH hearings are informal. You can hire a lawyer at your own expense, but no one is required to.

If You Already Missed the Hearing

A default judgment is not permanent. You can ask OATH to reopen the case, but only once per summons. Submit the request within 75 days of the missed hearing date and OATH grants it automatically.⁹ After 75 days, the request is governed by Section 6-21(e) of Title 48 of the Rules of the City of New York and is harder to win.

If you have a recent default, filing the reopening request comes before anything else, including worrying about the fine amount.

Appealing a Decision You Attended

If you went to the hearing and lost, you can file a written appeal with OATH’s Appeals Unit within 30 days of the decision, or 35 days if it was mailed to you. The appeal must set out specific objections to the hearing officer’s findings of fact and conclusions of law.¹⁰

Here is the catch most people don’t expect: you generally have to pay the fine in full before OATH will hear the appeal. Exceptions exist for financial hardship (you can request a waiver), for cases where the agency agrees to a payment plan, and where you opted for community service at the hearing.¹⁰ You cannot appeal a default decision or a decision entered on a guilty plea.

Paying

Pay online through the NYC CityPay portal using a credit card, debit card, or electronic check. A service fee applies.¹¹ You need the summons number to look up your balance, and the system will show any additional penalties that have accrued.

By mail, send a check or money order to the address that matches your violation type. For most ECB cases:

Finance Commissioner, City of New York
PO Box 2307
Peck Slip Station
New York, NY 10272¹²

Write the summons number on the check. Restaurant, day care, lead paint, and X-ray cases go to a different address (PO Box 4199, Church Street Station, New York, NY 10261-4199), and consumer cases go to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection at 42 Broadway, 8th Floor.¹² Payment sent to the wrong address can leave the violation open and accruing.

What Happens If You Don’t Pay

Ignoring an ECB judgment makes it worse. Under the NYC Administrative Code, ECB judgments for building code violations can be entered against the property and enforced as a tax lien. The lien reaches private dwellings and small residential buildings, buildings with illegal dwelling unit conversions, and larger buildings once judgments cross set thresholds: $60,000 for buildings with 20 or more units or mixed use, and $30,000 for residential buildings with 6 to 19 units.¹³ A lien clouds title and can block a sale or refinance until the debt clears.

Outside of liens, open ECB violations can lead to permit denials at Buildings and other agencies. A new construction permit or a place of assembly renewal will stall while unresolved violations sit on the record. Interest and additional penalties accrue on unpaid balances, and the Department of Finance runs a settlement program that can reduce default penalties for owners who apply.

A Note on Taxes

Business owners sometimes assume ECB fines are deductible as an operating expense. They are not. Federal tax law bars deducting amounts paid to a government in connection with a violation of law.¹⁴ The narrow exceptions, for restitution or amounts paid specifically to come into compliance, require explicit identification in a court order or settlement agreement, and a typical ECB fine does not qualify. Treat the full amount as a non-deductible cost.

1
Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. About ECB – OATH
2
NYC Department of Buildings. OATH Hearings and Penalties
3
NYC Buildings. OATH Glossary
4
NYC Department of Buildings. 1 RCNY 102-01 – Violation Classification and Certification of Correction
5
NYC Administrative Code. Article 202 – Civil Penalties
6
American Legal Publishing. Appendix A: Penalty Schedule
7
Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Homepage – OATH
8
Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Hearings and Defaults – OATH
9
Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Reopen a Missed Hearing (Default) Online – OATH
10
Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Subchapter D – Appeals – OATH
11
Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Pay Penalty Online – OATH
12
Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Pay Penalty by Mail – OATH
13
American Legal Publishing. NYC Administrative Code 28-204.6 – Enforcement of Environmental Control Board Judgments
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 162 – Trade or Business Expenses