Every violation Licenses & Inspections has ever logged against a Philadelphia property is public record. Here's how to pull it, read it, and verify it.
When a Philadelphia Licenses & Inspections inspector finds a property out of compliance with the City's building, fire, or property maintenance codes, they issue a violation — a dated, numbered citation naming the code section and what was found: no heat, unsafe wiring, structural problems, pest infestation, missing smoke detectors, and so on. Each violation carries a case number and a status, and the whole history stays on the property's public record.
For a renter, that history answers a question no listing photo can: what has the City already caught at this address, and did the owner fix it?
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| OPEN | Unresolved as recorded. The City cited the condition and has not recorded compliance. |
| COMPLIED | Compliance was recorded in the system. Important caveat: that is not the same as an inspector physically re-visiting — a violation can be closed administratively. COMPLIED means "currently uncontested in the record," not "verified fixed." |
A pattern is more informative than any single entry. A building with a long history of violations that each took months to close tells you something the current snapshot doesn't.
An Unfit Structure designation (code PM15-109.1) means an inspector determined the building is unfit for human habitation or use — the most serious finding L&I can issue for a residential property. Common triggers: structural failure, no running water or working sanitation, no heat in winter, severe fire-safety deficiencies, hazardous electrical conditions. If an address shows an open Unfit Structure citation, a current tenant should contact Community Legal Services immediately (215-981-3700) and may have grounds to break the lease without penalty — that's a question for a lawyer, not a website.
Philadelphia publishes violations through two pipelines, and they don't move at the same speed:
Practical rule: use scans to find candidates, then confirm any specific address with a direct lookup — and for anything you'd put in front of a landlord, lawyer, or judge, verify against the City's own systems.
Public data only contains what was reported and inspected. It won't show unreported problems, the inspector's identity or notes, who filed a 311 complaint (that's anonymized by design, and retaliation for reporting is illegal under PA Landlord-Tenant Act § 5720), or whether a re-inspection physically occurred. A clean record is a good sign, not a guarantee — and a bad record is a documented starting point, not a verdict on any person.
Related reading: How to Check a Landlord's Rental License in Philadelphia · Unlicensed Landlord: Your Rights Under § 9-3902 · Before You Sign a Philadelphia Lease, Run This Free Search