Who actually owns the building, and how they run it.
Lead StoryOwnership Forensics
Three Crown Heights buildings sold at a sheriff's auction for just over $900,000 carrying 570 open violations, 387 of them written this year. The violations attach to the building, not the seller, and the new owner owns every one until they are cured.
Worst Landlords
We measured HPD violations written between January 2024 and March 2026 at NYC's 104 largest landlord portfolios, from the day each was issued to the day the owner certified it corrected. Median across 358,428 certified violations: 106 days. Between the fastest and slowest portfolios, the gap runs nearly 3.6 times.
Worst Landlords
The DeMatteis Organization built Battery Park City's first apartments. Three buildings remain in its portfolio — and one address in East New York carries nearly all 6,303 of its open violations.
Worst Landlords
We ranked every NYC landlord portfolio by open violations on the city record. These ten are the worst — and three of them appear on no official watchlist.
Tenant Rights
Deed theft complaints to the state tripled in two years. The crime is a forged signature, a notary stamp, and a filing nobody verifies. Here are the seven things we look for in the record, and what to do about each one.
Ownership Forensics
Mariah Carey has lived at 90 Franklin Street for 26 years. The deed says Franklin Views, LLC. Here is the full chain — every deed, mortgage, and consolidation — in city property filings.
Worst Landlords
Emerald Equity Group's East Harlem portfolio is all over the news. We mapped every building, traced every LLC, and scored every one. 27 of 30 buildings rate concerning. Here's what city inspection records show.
Worst Landlords
On day 16 of his administration, Mayor Mamdani announced a $2.1M settlement with A&E Real Estate covering 14 buildings. We pulled every building through Brix — violations, ownership chains, court orders, all of it.
Worst Landlords
The Public Advocate's watchlist ranks landlords one way. We ranked every portfolio in the city by open violations instead — and the two lists don't agree. Here are the biggest, and who the city missed.
Worst Landlords
The largest settlement in HPD Anti-Harassment Unit history covers 14 buildings. A&E manages roughly 180. We pulled the full portfolio through Brix — here's what tenants are still dealing with.
Lines pulled straight from NYC housing files. Nothing embellished.