How do I certify an HPD pest violation correctly?

The deadline, and how to deliver it

For an immediately hazardous violation, which is what a cockroach, mice or rat violation is, the certification must reach HPD no later than five days after the date set for correction. That is a different date from the correction date itself, and both are printed on your Notice of Violation.

The code is specific about delivery as well as timing. The certification is either delivered to the department with acknowledgment of receipt obtained, or mailed to the department by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. It must include the date each violation was corrected.

Why it has to be paper

HPD's current instructions state that for lead-based paint, mold and pest violations, certification of correction cannot be submitted through eCertification. So a pest certification is a paper filing, and the practical consequence is that the certification document mailed to you with the Notice of Violation is worth keeping somewhere you will find it.

Which form, and which one not to use

Use the pest Certification of Correction that arrived with the Notice of Violation. If it has been misplaced, HPD publishes a dedicated replacement: CIV 194 PEST, Certification of Correction of Violation(s), linked from its Indoor Allergen Hazards page.

Note that HPD's general paper certification form is scoped to non-lead, non-heat and non-pest violations, so it is not a substitute. If you cannot locate the pest form, call your Borough Service Center rather than filing on the general one.

Who may sign

The certification is made under oath by the registered owner, a registered officer or director of a corporate owner, or the registered managing agent. The form asks the signer to identify which of those applies, and, for a multiple dwelling, to affirm that they are currently registered with HPD's Division of Code Enforcement for the property.

There is a second sworn document contemplated in the same provision. Where the corrective work was performed by an employee or agent of the owner, the certification is to be supported by a sworn statement from the person who performed the work, saying the violation was properly corrected. If your building staff did the sealing and the plumbing repair, that is who the statute has in mind.

What you are swearing to

The form is signed under penalty of perjury, notarized, and carries the line: the making of a false certification is a crime punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment.

The second of those points at a specific list: debris removal, sealing entry and passage points, door sweeps to a quarter inch, and repairing the water sources. What HPD actually requires you to do sets it out in full. If that work was not performed, item 4 is not accurate, regardless of how thorough the treatment was.

The table asks for something people do not expect

For each violation, the form requires the NOV ID, the violation number, the date corrected, and the name and address of the agent or employee who performed the work. That is a filing-time requirement, and it is not something to reconstruct from memory on the day the certification is due. If the treatment and the physical repairs were done by different parties, both are relevant.

One certification per violation

Item 5 of the form states that the signature indicates a separate and distinct statement of correction for each violation listed, and that the signer is aware of the penalties for false certification for each violation certified. The exposure is per violation, not per form.

Before you sign

The code requires the certification. The checks below are ours, drawn from what the form and the rules ask for.

• The cited condition is actually corrected, verified by someone who looked rather than by a service ticket.
• Each item of §54-04(a) physical work identified during the inspection was completed, with photographs before and after.
• If pesticide was applied, the applicator held a current NYSDEC licence.
• You have the name and address of whoever performed the work, per violation.
• Where an employee or agent of the owner performed the work, their sworn statement is in hand.
• The signer is the registered owner, a registered officer or director, or the registered managing agent, and the registration is current.
• The form is notarized.
• You are inside the five days after the correction date, and you are delivering with acknowledgment or mailing certified or registered with return receipt.

A fuller evidence model is on what should be in the file before you certify.

If the certification period has passed

You cannot simply file late, and the route depends on the violation's current status on HPDONLINE. If HPD has already reinspected and observed the condition corrected, the violation shows as Defect and there is a free documentation route with no Dismissal Request fee. If not, a Dismissal Request with the applicable fee is required, together with AF-6.

Clearing an overdue pest violation covers both routes.

Correcting the condition is not the same as closing the violation

The code is direct about it: failure to file the certification establishes a prima facie case that the violation has not been corrected. A building that did the work and never filed is in a materially worse position than the record suggests.