Renter Shield — Check Your Landlord Before You Sign

How It Works

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1. Search an address

Enter a street address. We'll look it up across 12 cities and federal HUD data.

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2. See the record

View housing code violations, severity ratings, and what's still unresolved.

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3. Check the landlord

See how the landlord compares to others in the same city — across all their buildings.

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4. Download a report

Get a printable PDF summary to bring to housing court or share with your tenant association.

What the Ratings Mean

Rating	Level	Description
	No issues found	Zero violations on record
	Minor issues	Low-severity violations, all resolved
	Some concerns	Open violations or moderate severity
	Significant issues	Critical violations present
	Severe issues	Critical violations + many unresolved

Cities Covered

New York City Boston Philadelphia Chicago San Francisco Seattle Pittsburgh Los Angeles Austin Miami-Dade Detroit HUD REAC (Federal — all 50 states)

More cities coming. Data is updated regularly from official government open-data portals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the data come from?

All data is from publicly available government open-data portals — NYC HPD, Boston ISD, Philadelphia L+I, Chicago Buildings, SF DBI, and others. Federal inspection scores come from the HUD REAC Multifamily Assisted Properties database. We don't collect or generate any data ourselves.

Is this a legal finding?

No. Scores are derived from algorithmic analysis of public records. They do not constitute legal findings, may not reflect current conditions, and may contain errors due to name-based ownership resolution. Always verify independently before taking action.

How often is the data updated?

Data is refreshed periodically from each city's open-data API. The analysis window covers January 2022 to the most recent download.

What does "owner unknown" mean?

Some cities (e.g. San Francisco, Seattle) don't publish landlord/owner records in their open data. In those cities, you can still see the building's violation history, but no landlord score is available.

Can I use this in housing court?

You can download a PDF report of any property's violation history. While the report itself is not a legal document, it summarizes public records that may support your case. Consult a tenant rights attorney or legal aid organization for guidance.

Who built this?

Renter Shield is an open-source public-interest project. The source code and dataset are publicly archived on GitHub and Zenodo.

Disclaimer: Scores are derived from publicly available government records and algorithmic analysis. They do not constitute legal findings, may not reflect current conditions, and may contain errors due to name-based ownership resolution. Independent verification is required before any legal, administrative, or public action.

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