For many New York City property owners and developers, the Certificate of No Harassment surfaces at the worst possible moment. It comes after a deal closes, when a permit application stalls and HPD flags the building for review. At that point, a certification that should have been a planned step in the development process becomes an emergency.
Know what this certification is, when it applies, and how the process unfolds is foundational knowledge for anyone pursuing a Certificate of No Harassment for NYC development projects .
What Is a Certificate of No Harassment?
A Certificate of No Harassment (CONH) is issued by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to confirm that no harassment of residential tenants or occupants occurred at a building during a defined lookback period, typically the three years prior to the application. The certification exists under NYC’s Anti-Harassment Law as part of the Zoning Resolution, and it was created to prevent property owners from using harassment as a tool to displace tenants and clear a building for conversion, renovation, or demolition.
In practical terms, the Certificate of No Harassment functions as a gating mechanism. Without it, certain building permits in NYC cannot be issued, and development cannot move forward.
When Is a CONH Required?
The CONH requirement doesn’t apply to every building in New York City, but the circumstances that trigger it are common enough that owners and developers across all five boroughs regularly encounter it. Knowing the specific building types, permit categories, and geographic designations that activate the requirement is the starting point for any pre-development analysis.
Building Type
The Certificate of No Harassment requirement applies to single-room occupancy hotels (SROs), class B hotels, and multiple dwellings located in designated anti-harassment zoning districts. These building types were specifically targeted because their residential populations, often long-term low-income tenants and vulnerable occupants, were identified as being at heightened risk of displacement through harassment. If your building falls into one of these categories and sits within a covered district, the CONH requirement is almost certainly in play.
Permit Triggers
Not every permit application at a covered building requires a Certificate of No Harassment, but the categories that do include demolition permits, substantial alteration permits, and applications for changes in use or occupancy. These are the permit types associated with repositioning a building, like converting an SRO to market-rate residential, gutting a multiple dwelling for luxury renovation, or clearing a site for ground-up development. If the scope of work requires any of these permit types at a covered building, the CONH is a prerequisite.
Anti-Harassment Zoning Districts
The geographic trigger is the anti-harassment zoning district designation, which is embedded in the NYC Zoning Resolution. These districts were established in neighborhoods where displacement pressures were acute and in many cases remain so. The map has expanded over time as the City has extended protections to additional areas. Owners and developers should verify a building’s district status as part of any pre-acquisition or pre-development review rather than assuming coverage doesn’t apply.
How the CONH Process Works
Obtaining a CONH for NYC is a multi-step administrative process managed by HPD. The sequence is relatively predictable, but the timeline and outcome depend heavily on the building’s history. Here is how the process unfolds in practice:
#1. Application
The property owner submits a CONH application to HPD along with supporting documentation. The application initiates HPD’s review and triggers the formal investigative period.
#2. HPD Investigation
HPD investigates the building’s tenant history during the lookback period. This includes reviewing court records, Housing Part (HP) proceedings, tenant complaints filed with HPD and other City agencies, building violation history, and in some cases direct outreach to tenants. HPD is actively looking for evidence of conduct that could constitute harassment under NYC tenant harassment law, including threats, service disruptions, illegal lockouts, and patterns of frivolous legal action against tenants.
#3. Determination
If HPD’s investigation finds no evidence of harassment, the Certificate of No Harassment is issued and the permit process can move forward. If HPD identifies evidence of potential harassment, the matter is referred to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) for a formal hearing.
#4. OATH Hearing
An OATH hearing is a contested administrative proceeding in which the owner has the opportunity to present evidence and challenge HPD’s findings. The OATH hearing process under NYC tenant harassment law is adversarial. HPD presents its case, the owner responds, and the outcome can include certification, denial, or a negotiated resolution reached during the proceeding. Owners appearing before OATH without experienced administrative law counsel are at a significant disadvantage.
#5. Resolution
Depending on the outcome at OATH, the certification is either granted, denied, or conditioned on agreed-upon tenant protections. A denial does not necessarily mean a permanent bar, but it does mean the project cannot proceed without resolving the underlying findings, which typically involves negotiation with HPD and a compliance plan.
What Can Derail Your Certification
Even owners who believe their record is clean can encounter obstacles in the CONH process. The most common issues that complicate or delay certification include:
- Open HPD violations and complaints: A pattern of unresolved violations can read as evidence of neglect that HPD treats as constructive harassment during the investigation, particularly those related to heat, hot water, repairs, or pest conditions.
- Prior Housing Part proceedings: HP actions filed by tenants, even if resolved or dismissed, appear in the court record and become part of HPD’s investigation. Multiple HP actions at the same building, raise questions that require explanation.
- Tenant displacement patterns: A significant reduction in residential occupancy during the lookback period is a red flag for HPD investigators. Vacancy patterns that look like systematic clearance are what the Anti-Harassment Law was designed to address.
- Inherited history: Buyers who complete real estate transactions involving covered buildings without conducting a thorough tenant history review inherit the prior owner’s record for purposes of the lookback period. A clean acquisition can carry a complicated CONH history.
- Inadequate documentation: Owners who cannot produce records of tenant communications, repair orders, rent payment histories, and court dispositions are limited in their ability to rebut HPD’s findings, even where the underlying conduct was lawful.
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The Acquisition Risk Most Buyers Miss
The Certificate of No Harassment requirement is certainly a development issue, but it is equally a due diligence issue, and the consequences of missing it at the acquisition stage are substantially more painful than encountering it with preparation. A buyer who closes on a covered building without investigating the prior owner’s tenant history, reviewing the violation and court records, and assessing the building’s likely CONH posture may find that the development project they underwrote is more complicated than the deal economics assumed.
This is a particularly acute risk in value-add acquisitions, where the business plan depends on repositioning a building and the CONH is a precondition for the permits. The lookback period doesn’t reset at closing. Whatever occurred at that building in the three years before your application is part of the record HPD will review, regardless of when you took title.
Buyers who treat CONH status as a post-closing problem are taking on a risk that is entirely avoidable with proper pre-acquisition counsel and a structured legal due diligence process. That should includes tenant history review, court record analysis, and a preliminary assessment of the building’s certification prospects before the deal is done.
Speak With a BBG Attorney About Your Project
If you are planning a development, conversion, or significant renovation at a building with residential tenants in New York City, understanding your CONH obligations before you are under contract is one of the most consequential steps you can take.
BBG’s administrative law attorneys represent owners and developers in CONH proceedings across all five boroughs, from initial application through contested OATH hearings and negotiated resolutions with HPD.
Reach out to your BBG attorney of record, or contact us directly to discuss how the Certificate of No Harassment requirement applies to your building and your plans.