We want to De-Mystify 311 Complaints for you

When it comes to tracking 311 Complaints, the biggest challenge is that they aren't organized by block/lot because some of them are on the sidewalk or the street outside of the property boundaries. To ensure you don't miss any important violations, our tool includes a small radius outside of the property boundary.

Another challenge with the 311 violations, is that people can call 311 for a large variety of complaints - everything from graffiti to a trash can replacement to abandoned vehicles. People can even call to complain about a Muni driver. 

For Property Owners and Managers there are a few 311 violations you should definitely pay attention to:

• Blocked sidewalks - if you see this phrase written in the violation, you'll want to fix this ASAP. DPW charges hundreds of dollars per day when there is a blocked sidewalk, but it takes 311 a while to refer the complaint to DPW, so you can get ahead of it!

• Shared Spaces - these typically relate to Parklets and often require the parklets be modified in some way to comply with fire access. For some reason, 311 categorizes some of these calls under "child request" which makes no sense to us, but these violations do matter so keep an eye out for this phrase.

• Residential Building Categories - these calls typically get routed to another agency, but it can take 1-2 months for the new agency to pick up the complaint and send out an inspector, so keep an eye out for the 311 complaints in this category.

• Sewer complaints may be from something in the street, like a catch basin, or water main leak, so they won't all apply to you as the property owner directly, but it is a mix of private and public issues.

• Some Sidewalk and Curb complaints also may be the responsibility of the city, but property owners are responsible for damaged sidewalks, missing sewer vent covers, or other pavement defects. The same applies for "Street Defect(s)" categories.

• On the other hand, Tree Maintenance is no longer the property owner's responsibility, so if you see those violations, you can ignore them and let DPW take care of the issue.

• Waste of Water is also an important category. Leaks, runoff from irrigation, or outdoor washing can all indicate that your property is wasting water in some way. If it's coming from your tenants, this alert can help you lower your water bill.

311 Violations are also unique in that - there is no one you can contact at their department. They are more of a way-station between the public and the correct agency. So, if you see a complaint filed with 311, keep an eye on where they refer the complaint to. It may be DBI, or Planning, or DPW, or even the Department of Public Health (DPH). And it may take 2-3 months before you even hear about it unless you're subscribed to our Violation Alerts.

We hope this helps demystify the 311 Violations for you. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions! And contact us for a demo if you want to see how Property Atlas can help you.