838 Hicks Street

Brooklyn, NY

BBL 3-00580-0024BIN 3413671Plain-text version

Concern level4 of 4

Severe

014 open class-C HPD violations (immediately hazardous) — about 1 per 2 apartments
024 of those issued in the last 3 years

How this is set: open hazardous violations measured against the building's size, then raised by strong distress signals — HPD's enforcement program, court harassment findings, recent evictions, unpaid OATH/ECB fines, open housing-court cases, and a sold tax lien. Neighborhood noise and crime are not part of it. It describes the public record, not the condition of any one apartment, and a quiet record is not proof of a good building.

Rent regulation

Likely rent-stabilized

The owner registered 8 stabilized units with New York State for 2023 — essentially all of the building's 8 apartments.

2018 — 8 units registered2023 — 8

421-a tax benefit · expires ~2028

A 421-a building's rent stabilization is tied to this tax benefit and generally ends when it expires — here, around 2028 (approximate, from DOF exemption records). Confirm your unit's status with NYS HCR.

No public data says which specific apartment is stabilized.

Registration counts apply to the building, not to unit numbers. To confirm your own apartment, request your rent history from New York State Homes and Community Renewal — it is free and takes a few weeks.

How to request your rent history →

Rent regulation

The building

2008

Built

Floors

Residential units

Walk-up apartments

Type

The building

This building and the landlord's others

This building30 others linked to the same owner

HPD housing-maintenance violations

Open now

On record

Open Class C

Open Class B

Open Class A

Class C is immediately hazardous, Class B is hazardous, Class A is non-hazardous. A violation stays open until HPD certifies the repair, so some open items may already be fixed. HPD writes a separate violation for each room or spot, so one inspection can produce several near-identical entries; those are grouped below by apartment and date. This tax lot has 4 buildings; these counts are for this building only.

CLASS C · IMMEDIATELY HAZARDOUSApt 2Issued 2026-08-052 violations

§ 27-2031 ADMIN. CODE: PROVIDE HOT WATER AT ALL HOT WATER FIXTURES IN THE ENTIRE APARTMENT LOCATED AT APT 2, 2nd STORY
§ 27-2073 ADM CODE - PROVIDE AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF GAS TO THE FIXTURES AT THE KITCHEN IN THE KITCHEN LOCATED AT APT 2, 2nd STORY, 1st APARTMENT FROM EAST AT SOUTH

Status: Certified late

HPD housing-maintenance violations

311 complaints from tenants

All time

Last 12 months

Plumbing2

Door/Window1

Water Leak1

PlumbingWater Supply2023-05-30 · closed

PlumbingWater Supply2022-09-24 · closed

Door/WindowDoor2021-09-04 · closed

Complaints record what a tenant reported, not a finding by the city. "Closed" often means the inspector could not gain access.

311 complaints from tenants

Neighborhood noise

Higher than averagevs. NYC apartment blocks

569

Noise reports · last 12 mo

≈ per month

% from neighbors

Residential469

Street/Sidewalk82

Unspecified9

Vehicle6

Commercial2

Helicopter1

311 noise complaints within about 1,000 ft (a few blocks) in the last year. Most reports here are about noise from inside buildings — neighbors, not the street. This counts how often people call 311, which tracks how densely populated and busy an area is as much as how loud it is — it is not a sound measurement.

Neighborhood noise

Neighborhood crime

Higher than averagevs. NYC apartment blocks

389

NYPD reports · last 12 mo

≈ per month

Felony114

Misdemeanor190

Violation85

NYPD complaints reported within about 1,000 ft (a few blocks) in the last year, by severity. This reflects what gets reported and where police are active as much as actual safety, and busier, denser, higher-foot-traffic blocks log more. Locations are approximate — the NYPD shifts each report to the nearest corner for privacy — so read this as rough context, not a safety score.

Neighborhood crime

Bedbug history

No bedbugs reported

The owner filed 3 annual bedbug reports and reported no infested units. Filing with zero infestations is the compliant, reassuring case.

Bedbug history

DOB building violations

Active

On record

Active, last 3 yrs

Violations issued by the Department of Buildings that the owner must correct. Most don't carry a fine on their own; summonses that go to a hearing and can be fined are listed separately under OATH/ECB.

No active DOB violations.

DOB building violations

OATH/ECB violations and fines

Balance due (active)

Active violations

Lost by default

These are separate from DOB violations. They are summonses written by DOB inspectors and decided at a hearing before OATH, the city's administrative court (formerly the Environmental Control Board), and they can carry a fine. "Lost by default" means the owner never appeared at the hearing. An unpaid balance is a stronger "ignoring the city" signal than a raw violation count.

OATH/ECB violations and fines

Evictions

No marshal-executed evictions on record for this building. Eviction cases filed in court but not carried out aren't included.

Evictions

Housing court: repair & harassment cases

Cases on record

Open now

Tenant-brought

Harassment found

With a judgment

Most cases are tenants taking the owner to court to force repairs. A case is not proof of wrongdoing; a harassment finding or judgment is a court ruling against the owner.

CLOSEDOpened 2015-12-23

Heat / hot water

CLOSEDOpened 2014-05-23

Tenant action

These are cases HPD is a party to, mostly tenants suing to force repairs or stop harassment. Eviction cases landlords file against tenants are not in the city's open data, so they don't appear here; the Evictions section shows only evictions a marshal carried out.

Housing court

Landlord and related buildings

Registered owner

838 HICKS ST LLC

Head officer

JOSEPH LAX

Managing agent

GREAT CAPITAL REALTY LLC

30 other buildings share this owner's registration contacts. Shared contacts suggest common control, but they are not proof of ownership.

1021 DECATUR STREETBROOKLYN 1027 HALSEY STREETBROOKLYN 104 CORNELIA STREETBROOKLYN 1075 DEKALB AVENUEBROOKLYN 1140 DE KALB AVENUEBROOKLYN

Landlord and related buildings

Ownership & money

Recorded sales

Mortgages / refinances

Last recorded sale2014-07-31 · $10

Sale2014-07-31$10

82-96 LORRAINE STREET LLC → 838 HICKS ST LLC

From ACRIS recorded documents. Amounts are often $0 or nominal for transfers between related parties, and LLCs can obscure who is really involved — treat this as public-record context, not a valuation.

Ownership & money

City debt & tax-lien sale

Not on the city's tax-lien sale list (2019–2025). The owner has not fallen far enough behind on property tax or water charges to be flagged for a lien sale.

City debt & tax-lien sale