HPD registration

HPD registration is the annual filing through which owners of covered rental buildings identify themselves and a managing agent to the housing agency — names and addresses where enforcement, legal process, and emergencies can reliably land. Coverage follows the housing-maintenance regime: multiple dwellings generally, plus certain smaller non-owner-occupied rentals.

Registration's absence has teeth: it is a violation in itself, and it creates statutory obstacles for owners at moments of need — certifying corrections and pursuing rent-related relief among them. Analytically, the registration trail is the public record of who has claimed responsibility for a building over time; its staleness or absence correlates with the other signatures of disengaged ownership.