What an OATH default costs on a DOB summons.
An OATH default is entered when nobody appears to answer the summons, so the case is decided on the inspector's paperwork alone and the penalty is set with no account from the building.
34,907 DOB summonses heard at OATH/ECB were decided Default, 22.4% of the 155,556 matters on this record carrying an outcome. 100.0% carry a penalty of record, 7,313 dollars per matter across every one of them.
See what is open on one building.
What each outcome costs
| Hearing outcome | Relative cost | Dollars per matter | Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Default | 7,313 | 34,907 | |
| Pending | 3,451 | 21,868 | |
| In Violation | 2,194 | 46,309 | |
| Pop/In-Vio | 1,916 | 11,788 | |
| Admit/In-Vio | 1,841 | 10,907 | |
| Stipulation/In-Vio | 783 | 2,514 | |
| Cured/In-Vio | 2 | 11,947 | |
| Dismissed | none | 15,316 |
Penalty of record divided by every matter in that outcome, rounded to the dollar, over 155,556 matters carrying a recorded outcome, issued September 16, 2023 through September 10, 2026. A penalty of record is the amount a decision set on the day it was decided, not a running figure and not what the city’s books show today. Matters the city leaves unclassified carry no outcome and are not counted here.
What the record shows next
A defaulted matter had no hearing, so the appeal route is not the one open to it. OATH's rules provide instead for a motion to vacate the default, which asks the hearing office to undo the decision and give the matter the hearing it never had.
What to do
Check whether the summons reached the right mailing address, because the decision was entered on the city's service record regardless of who read it. The cost of not appearing is on this record and it is the largest gap between any two outcomes here.
Why is a default more expensive than losing a hearing?
A default is decided without the respondent's account, so nothing in the file argues the penalty down. The gap on this record is measured on the ladder above and it is not small.
Can a default judgment be vacated?
OATH's rules provide for a motion to vacate a default, filed with the hearing office, on a showing of a reason for not appearing and a defense to the charge. It is a different application from an appeal. This page files neither and advises on neither.
Does a default close the matter?
It decides the summons. It does not correct the condition, and on this record most defaulted matters carry no recorded payment, which is the state that blocks a sale, a refinance or a permit until it is resolved.
If this is on your building, the correction is filed with HPD directly. Read how it works, and check your own record on the city's sites.
Check your buildingAggregates only. No building and no respondent is named on this page, and nothing here is legal advice: confirm a matter on the city’s own record by summons number before acting on it. Figures queried at this deploy from our own copy of the DOB ECB Violations dataset. Source: NYC Open Data. All status codes, how a DOB violation reaches OATH, what a default costs.