Philadelphia is one of the few cities in the country with genuinely rich, publicly accessible property records. The Office of Property Assessment (OPA), the Department of Licenses & Inspections (L&I), and the city's 311 system together contain decades of data on every permitted structure in the city: what work was done, what was flagged, and what's still open.
The problem isn't access. The problem is that the data is scattered across three separate systems, each with its own search interface, its own terminology, and its own quirks. Most buyers, renters, and investors either skip this step entirely or spend hours trying to piece things together manually.
This guide walks you through exactly how to do it yourself: what to check, where to check it, and what the results actually mean.
A property violation in Philadelphia is a legal notice from the city that something is wrong. It might be structural, electrical, related to unpermitted work, an exterior maintenance issue, or a zoning problem. The violation is attached to the property, not the owner.
That distinction is critical. If you purchase a property with open violations, you become responsible for resolving them. The previous owner's problem is now yours, and the city can issue fines, stop-work orders, or in severe cases, condemn the building while you own it.
A property in South Philly closed with two "Occupied without Certificate of Occupancy" violations that were never flagged during the transaction. The new owner discovered them when she applied for a renovation permit and L&I flagged the open cases. She couldn't pull a permit until the violations were resolved, which required hiring a licensed contractor to bring the electrical up to code and paying reinspection fees and remediation costs totaling over $1,200.
This happens constantly. And it's entirely preventable if you check before you commit.
The OPA is Philadelphia's property tax authority. Their public database has the authoritative record of every property in the city: parcel ID, ownership history, assessed value, building type, zoning, and physical characteristics.
Go to property.phila.gov and search by address.
What to look for:
Copy the parcel number from OPA. You'll use it to cross-reference in L&I and when calling the city directly if you need to follow up on anything.
The Department of Licenses & Inspections is where the real due diligence happens. L&I tracks every permit application and every violation opened on every property in Philadelphia.
Go to li.phila.gov and search by address. You'll get two separate tabs: Permits and Violations.
This shows every case L&I has opened against the property. Each case has a status: Open, Closed, In Violation, Complied, or SVN Issued (Summary Violation Notice, meaning L&I has formally cited the owner and set a court date).
Focus on cases with these statuses:
For each open case, note the violation code and description. The most consequential ones are:
This shows every permit application ever filed. A healthy permit history is actually a positive sign. It means work was done through proper channels and inspected.
What to flag:
10 permits on a 1930s rowhouse isn't alarming. That's a 95-year-old building that's been maintained. 0 permits on that same building is actually more concerning. It means either nothing has been touched (plumbing, electric, HVAC are all original) or work has been done without permits.
Philadelphia 311 is the city's service request system. Residents and inspectors use it to report issues. Every request is logged publicly, including the address, the type of complaint, the date, and the resolution status.
Go to the city's open data portal or search directly at data.phila.gov.
What to look for:
Also check the surrounding block. 311 patterns on nearby properties tell you about the neighborhood conditions your property is embedded in. A block with 40 open complaints is a different situation than one with 3.
The goal isn't to find a property with zero history. That's actually unusual and can mean different things. The goal is to understand what you're dealing with before you commit.
A rough framework:
After looking at hundreds of Philadelphia properties, these are the patterns that consistently indicate real problems:
Finding violations doesn't automatically mean walk away. It means negotiate from a position of knowledge.
Call L&I at 215-686-2463 or email them to get the specific requirements for each open violation. You need to know exactly what compliance requires before you can price it.
Before you negotiate price or walk away, know what it actually costs to fix. A CO violation might require $3,000 in electrical work. Or $40,000 in structural remediation. Know before you decide.
The cleanest path is requiring the seller to resolve all open violations before closing, with documented proof. Many sellers will agree rather than lose the deal.
If the seller won't resolve them, negotiate a reduction equal to the cost of resolution plus a margin for your time and risk. Get this in writing in the agreement of sale.
For anything involving SVN violations, open code enforcement cases, or CO issues, a real estate attorney who knows Philadelphia municipal code is worth the $300-500 consultation fee.
Flagstone pulls OPA, L&I, 311, and nearby signals together into one plain-English report in under a minute. See exactly what we found for a real Philly property with open violations.
View a sample reportPhiladelphia's property records are public, free, and genuinely useful, but using them well takes time and context that most buyers don't have. The data is there. The work is in knowing what to look for.
Do this research before you make an offer. Do it again before you close. The violations that matter most are the ones that become your problem the moment the deed transfers.
Data sources: Philadelphia OPA (property.phila.gov), L&I (li.phila.gov), Philadelphia 311 open data. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed professional before making any property decisions.