A Tenant's Rights to Repairs
When a landlord rents an apartment or home to a tenant in New York City, the landlord must keep that apartment in good repair. The landlord is required to provide the following: heat, hot water, extermination, janitorial service, and adequate lighting. Landlords are also required, under the “warranty of habitability,” to maintain all units so that there are no conditions dangerous to life, health and safety.
What to do if you need repairs or services.
Tell the landlord or superintendent in detail what work needs to be done and ask them to do the work right away. If necessary, follow up with a letter, sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. Keep good records of the conditions in your apartment and of your complaints to the landlord about them. Good records include photographs (write the date on the back) and a written list or calendar noting the dates and times with service problems (such as no heat or elevator breakdowns). Note the dates and times when you spoke with the landlord or superintendent about the problems.
What to do if your landlord refuses to make repairs.
File an HP Action in Housing Court against your landlord. In Brooklyn, the office for filing HP Actions is located at 141 Livingston Street, Room 202/203. You will need a complete list of all your repair and service problems, as well as the full name and address of your landlord or managing agent. The clerk will help you fill out the papers and tell you how to serve them on your landlord . Usually the papers are sent by first class mail with certificate of mailing. The clerk will also tell you how to schedule an inspection so that a city inspector can check the conditions you claim need repairing. Finally, the clerk will tell you what day to return to court. On that date you must bring proof that you properly served your landlord with copies of the court papers. Usually your certificate of mailing and affidavit of service are good enough.
What happens when you get to court
On the day you go back to Housing Court, you should be prepared to tell the judge about the conditions in your apartment. There should be a lawyer in the courtroom from the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (“HPD”) to help you or to answer questions if you have them. An inspection report should be in the court file if an inspector came to your apartment, but you should have your own list of conditions and pictures if you can get them. If you served the court papers on your landlord properly, and if the judge believes that conditions need fixing in your apartment, the judge should order the landlord in writing to make repairs and provide services.
The court order will allow the landlord time to make repairs. For really bad conditions (for example, no heat or hot water) the landlord should only get 24 hours to restore the services; for hazardous, but not emergency, conditions (for example, a broken refrigerator or badly leaking faucet) the landlord will probably get thirty days to make the repairs; and for problems that are not hazardous (for example, painting or cracked tiles on the floor) the landlord may get as long as ninety days to do the work. Get a copy of the court order for your records, and ask the lawyer from HPD what to do next.
What if the landlord still refuses to make repairs?
If the landlord does not restore the services or make the repairs within the time periods given in the order, the judge can penalize the landlord by awarding the City “civil penalties,” or by holding the landlord in contempt of court. The court should explain how to “restore” a case (bring the case back to court). If you are confused about how to do this, ask the lawyer from HPD who is there to help you.
What if I have an emergency that the landlord won’t fix?
If the emergency is serious (for example, lack of heat or hot water, severe water leaks in your ceiling, backed up sewage in the basement), you may be able to get help from the City’s Emergency Repair Unit. Call 311 and explain your emergency. Be specific. Ask for an inspector to come out to your apartment immediately. Call repeatedly or get other tenants to call too. If the condition is bad enough, and if the landlord still refuses or is unable to do the work, the City may do the work and bill the landlord later.
Government agencies that can help:
Department of Housing Preservation and Development
(HPD) (repair and service problems)
24 Hour Complaint Hotline: 311
Information: Go to 210 Joralemon St., 8th Floor
Department of Buildings
(construction without a permit, structural problems, elevators, boilers, electrical wiring or plumbing):
Call 311 to make a complaint
Department of Health
(complaints about rodents, asbestos, lead poisoning or other health hazards):
Complaint Hotline: Call 311
Rent Stabilized and Rent Controlled Tenants
May file a written complaint with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (individual apartment or building-wide reduction in services, or tenant harassment)
Call (718) 739-6400 for forms, or call borough office (718) 722-4778
Or go in person to 55 Hanson Place, 7th Floor, for information
Department of Environmental Protection
(air, water, noise, and hazardous material problems)
Call 311
NYC Housing Authority Tenants
Call Project Manager or Central Office at 311
Withholding rent to force the landlord to make repairs or provide services.
You may also choose to withhold your rent to force your landlord to make repairs. If you do so, make sure to save your money. Otherwise, you will get evicted for nonpayment of rent. If you withhold your rent, your landlord will probably sue you for non-payment of rent. When you go to court, you should tell the judge about all the problems in your apartment. The judge should order the landlord to make repairs. You may even be entitled to a rent “abatement.” Abatements are partial reductions in the rent if landlords take a long time to make repairs after being notified of the repair problems.
Tenants who do not pay their rent to the landlord must be prepared to pay it when the judge orders them to do so, or they may face eviction. It is never a good idea to withhold rent because of repair problems unless you can keep all the money safely until the judge tells you how much you have to pay. You may be required to pay all your rent even if you need repairs. If you do not have it, you will be evicted.
Work with other tenants in the building to get the landlord to make repairs.
If there are other tenants in your building who are having problems getting the landlord to make repairs, work together with them to get the landlord to complete the work. Often landlords will respond more quickly if they believe there are many tenants willing to take action to get repairs done. It may also be helpful to contact a community group or block association in your neighborhood to get advice or assistance on how to proceed. This office has the names and phone numbers of community groups in the areas we serve.
This article was posted December 21, 2007
