Under a provision of state law called the “Warranty of Habitability,” tenants are entitled to an apartment fit for human habitation without any conditions endangering or detrimental to their life, health, or safety.
Consequently, all tenants, regardless of rent regulation status, are eligible to seek repairs and rent abatements for violations of this Warranty of Habitability. Note, however that your landlord may not be responsible for the cost of repairs if the defects were due to your negligence or the negligence or abuse of someone else in your household. Regardless of whether the landlord or the tenant is ultimately liable for the cost of a repair or maintenance defect, the owner is obligated to keep the premises in good repair.
If your apartment has defects and needs repairs, we generally advise renters to follow the following steps:
If the owner still does not respond you can do any (or a combination of) the following:
Be careful to distinguish between a repair and an improvement/alteration. Most leases prohibit alterations to the apartment without the landlord’s permission. Also, a landlord is generally entitled to control repairs to an apartment. However, if you have notified the landlord of the need for a repair and they have failed to respond, making the repair yourself may be appropriate.
With respect to improvements/alterations, you may want to consider a few options:
There is no specific regulation on the amount of time a stabilized tenant may be without their refrigerator as long as the owner makes a good faith effort to replace that service. You should be aware of the following:
For additional information on how to deal with getting repairs accomplished, see the steps outlined in the first question at top.
Follow the same steps outlined in the first question at top.
The owner of the building should have a building permit for the work. Generally, permits specify the allowable hours of work. The NYC Department of Buildings is charged with enforcing the terms of the building permit. Find out more and file a Building Construction Complaint. If the company is not abiding by the terms of the permit you should document the company’s infractions and present this evidence to the Buildings Department.
Naturally, construction is a messy job, so you can reasonably expect somewhat dirtier conditions. However, if the building is a real mess and no effort is being made to clean up, or if you believe that the construction is resulting in exposure to hazardous materials, you should immediately contact the NYC Dept of Buildings.
You can file an individual apartment complaint of decreased services online with NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), the state agency which administers the rent laws. See HCR Fact Sheet #14: Rent Reduction for Decreased Services .
You can try and argue that prolonged noise and dirt in the building constitutes a failure by the landlord to provide adequate services and that you should receive some sort of rent reduction or other relief.
In apartment buildings with nine or more units the landlord must either:
In short, a super need not live in the building, but if they do not, the owner must make adequate provision for superintendent services. The name of the building owner, or super, or janitorial company (i.e. whoever provides janitorial services) must be posted in your lobby along with a telephone number for 24-hour contact.
If the repair is a severe emergency, and waiting to make it would have caused damage in the building or endangered others, then a super may enter the apartment to make repairs. However, in the absence of a clear emergency – such as a gas leak or water cascading through your floor into the apartment below – no one can enter your apartment without your permission.
Of course, if you have personal property missing or damage was done you may have a claim against the super and/or the owner.
According to the NYC Multiple Dwelling Law, tenants in multiple dwellings can install and maintain their own locks on their apartment entrance doors in addition to the lock supplied by the landlord. The lock may be no more than three inches in circumference, and tenants must provide their landlord with a duplicate key upon request. Note that “double cylinder” locks (with keys removable from the inside) are dangerous and unlawful. Nearly every year in NYC tenants die in fires because they cannot locate the inside key for a double cylinder lock in a smoke-filled apartment. Such locks are an extreme hazard and should never be installed.
The New York City Housing Maintenance Code requires that: In occupied dwelling units in a multiple dwelling, the owner shall:
To see the entire text, see the Housing Maintenance Code Chapter 2, Subchapter 2, Article 3 on painting. According to NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), the state agency which administers the rent laws, the cost of painting can only be passed on to the tenant if they request something special (like a particular brand or color), or if the tenant caused damage to the unit requiring the need to paint.
Typically, a 7A administrator is appointed after a judge determines that a building contains conditions “dangerous to life, health or safety” which the building owner has failed to remedy. A 7A administrator may be appointed after the petition of 1/3 of the tenants in the building or if the City’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development asks the courts to appoint an administrator. The administrator basically takes control of the building from the owner and uses the rents to remedy dangerous conditions in the building.
Buildings with 7A administrators are typically in very poor physical condition. However, if the 7A administrator does their job, the building can be brought back to good (if not excellent) condition. The removal of an administrator may mean one of two things: 1) The administrator is not doing their job correctly; or 2) The administrator has successfully completed their job and the building no longer needs their assistance. Obviously, you would have to check to see which is the case. For more information, see HPD’s 7A Management Program.