We’re less than one month away from September 12th – the official launch date of the ECB Amnesty program run by the Department of Finance. We’ve put together your top two resources for taking advantage of this 90-day program, plus a summary of how the program will work:

• Forgiving Fines: The NYC Amnesty Program FAQ: The Department of Finance’s official website for the program
• RealFocus 2016: Don’t miss out – listen to the Department of Finance talk about the ins and outs of ECB Amnesty at this year’s RealFocus event on September 29th

The Amnesty Program – Breaking it Down

1. WHAT: A 90-day program that allows participants to resolve open penalties from various NYC agencies that are now in judgment.
2. WHEN: The program begins on September 12th, 2016 and ends on December 12th, 2016 – all violations that are in judgment must be paid on or before this end date.
3. WHO: Any business or individual who is named on a violation judgment (named respondent) that has been adjudicated by the Environmental Control Board (ECB) may participate.
   1. Except violations that are part of an installment agreement, resolution agreement, etc. for payments with the Department of Finance, City Marshall, Sheriff, or Law Department, or an outside collection agency
   2. Except any business or individual who applied for the 2009 Penalty Relief Program and neglected to resolve all their debt
4. HOW: Starting September 12th, named respondents can access open judgments via the Amnesty CityPay application on the Amnesty Home Page. From there, participants can select and pay for all their open violations. Only judgments filed in court prior to June 12, 2016, are eligible for the program.

Key Things to Remember:

Defaulted Penalties – When a hearing was unattended, the amount due will be the base penalty without default penalties or interest.

Non-Defaulted Penalties – When a hearing was attended, the amount due will be 75% of the base penalty without interest.

Schedule A Violations versus Schedule B Violations – Schedule A violations are infractions that require only payment (Sanitation, etc.), while Schedule B violations require both payment and correction (Department of Buildings, FDNY). At least 25% of each Schedule B violation must be paid by the end of the program. You then have 6 months from your initial payment date to correct the violation (submit a Certificate of Correction) and pay the remaining balance. You can also pay 100% of the outstanding fine before the program ends and still have 6 months to submit a Certificate of Correction. If you have already submitted correction for a Schedule B violation, contact the DOF with proof of correction to update their records.

Please note – In order to participate in the program, all outstanding judgments must be paid. Any payments for eligible violations will not be accepted if all eligible judgments are not paid during the program. The Department of Finance has stated they will send a list of outstanding judgments if all violations are not paid during the initial violation search.

Reach out to 212-440-5300 for any questions on ECB Amnesty or Amnesty-eligible violations. You can also contact 311 and ask for the NYC Department of Finance Collections Division for questions about the Forgiving Fines program.