TLC Summons Deadline Calculator (OATH Dates)

In short: A TLC summons starts several clocks at once, and missing any of them can cost you. Pick the date you have — the hearing date on the summons, the date of an OATH decision, a hearing you missed, or a TLC unpaid-fine notice — and the calculator lays out every related deadline on a timeline, with the official source for each.

How the calculator works

The tool has four modes. Each one starts from a single date and applies the deadlines that OATH (the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, which hears TLC summonses) and TLC publish:

• Hearing date. You can request a phone hearing at least 3 business days and no more than one month before it. You can ask for an in-person hearing by emailing LiveHearings@oath.nyc.gov at least 5 business days before it. If you want to pay instead, payment must be made before the hearing date. An online written defense (if your case is eligible) must be submitted on or before the hearing date. If you do nothing, OATH can find you in violation by default, and a higher fine may be imposed.
• Decision date. A TLC fine is due within 30 days of a guilty finding under TLC rule §80-02(c). An appeal is due within 30 days, or 35 days if the decision was mailed to you (OATH).
• Missed hearing. Under OATH's rule, a first request for a new hearing submitted within 75 days of the date the default decision was mailed or handed to you is granted; OATH's FAQ describes the same window counted from the missed hearing date, so to be safe, count from whichever date is earlier. After 75 days you must show a reasonable excuse (48 RCNY §6-21). For TLC summonses, OATH's TLC chapter allows a written motion to vacate within two years of the default decision (48 RCNY §5-03) — but don't wait; early requests are the ones OATH grants automatically.
• Unpaid-fine notice. If a fine isn't paid by its due date, TLC sends a written notice. Your license is suspended 10 business days after the notice date until the fine is paid, unless you show TLC it was paid (§80-02(c)(2)).

Assumptions you should know about

Business days skip weekends only. The tool does not know about public holidays. For deadlines before a hearing, a holiday inside the count means the true last day is earlier than shown. Treat every business-day date as the absolute latest and act sooner.

The month limit for phone hearings is counted as one calendar month back from the hearing date.

"Paper wins." If your summons, decision or notice prints a different date or instruction, follow the paper. Some charges can't simply be paid and need a hearing — check the summons for an "appearance required" box or look the code up in the TLC fine lookup.

Worked example: a hearing the Monday after Thanksgiving

Say your summons gives a hearing date of Monday, November 30, 2026. Enter it in "Hearing date" mode and you get:

This example shows why the holiday caveat matters: the tool's raw business-day count lands on the day before Thanksgiving, but the safe date is a day earlier. A second example in "Unpaid-fine notice" mode: a notice dated Friday, October 2, 2026 gives Friday, October 16 as the suspension date by weekend-only counting. Columbus Day (October 12) may push the real date later — but don't wait to find out. Pay, or show TLC proof you paid, right away.

When to use a different tool

If you already have a decision and only need the appeal date, the OATH appeal deadline calculator explains the pay-before-appeal rule in more detail. If you missed a hearing, read what happens after a default and how a motion to vacate a default works. If you just need to move your hearing, see rescheduling an OATH hearing: TLC says you can call OATH at (844) 628-4692 to ask for a new date if you haven't already rescheduled once.

You can also confirm your hearing date against the official OATH record with a summons lookup.