HPD registration and nonpayment cases

Without a valid registration: No nonpayment case in Housing Court
State law: Multiple Dwelling Law section 325
For your case: Talk to your attorney

If a tenant stops paying rent, the building's HPD registration matters before the case starts.

What HPD says

HPD's main text says that without a valid registration, an owner cannot start a court case to get an apartment back for nonpayment of rent. HPD's questions section says the same for buildings with 3 or more apartments: you will not be allowed to bring a nonpayment case against a tenant in Housing Court.

What New York State law says

Multiple Dwelling Law section 325 says that in a city of over one million people that requires owners of multiple dwellings to register, an owner who fails to register cannot recover rent until the owner registers.

Talk to your attorney

Woodpecker is not a law firm and cannot advise on your case. Your attorney can tell you how the registration affects it.

How Woodpecker handles it

The registration is the part we take care of. We prepare it from the city's records and your details and mail it to you with every line to sign marked. You sign it and mail it to HPD with the address label from the packet. We track it until the city records it. Check whether your registration is valid.

Check your building

Sources: HPD, Register Your Property and Multiple Dwelling Law section 325.

HPD's pages behind this guide were last checked on November 10, 2026.