No heat and pests galore: The top 5 NYC renter complaints of 2024 and how to fix them

On one of the coldest days this winter, I attempted to take a shower. I say attempted because after enduring five minutes of freezing cold water spewing from the tap, I realized the water wasn’t going to get any warmer.

My apartment’s hot water was out—an experience commonplace for thousands of New Yorker City renters each year. Renters filed more than 265,000 complaints of a lack of heat or hot water to 311 in 2024, making it the number one complaint to the Housing Preservation & Development Department (HPD), according to NYC Open Data. 

Just last week, more than 3,000 tenants across NYC Housing Authority buildings lacked heat or hot water in an unexpected outage, Gothamist reported.

NYC landlords are required to keep their buildings safe and livable under the warranty of habitability, a set of basic standards guaranteed by every lease—even if they are not explicitly spelled out. Violations of these requirements can be obvious—think a caved-in ceiling—or subtle, like scaffolding blocking your windows. You may not realize it, but a faulty intercom, broken door lock, or missing carbon monoxide detector are all examples of warranty of habitability violations.

Thankfully, there are plenty of steps you can take to get your landlord to make repairs—or even do the repairs yourself in some cases. Read on for an overview of how to fix the five most common 311 complaints across the five boroughs.

1. No heat or hot water

In NYC’s frigid winters, your landlord is legally required to keep your apartment warm. But every year, thousands of renters across the city complain about a lack of heat.

So how cold is too cold? Under city law, your landlord must heat your apartment to at least 68 degrees during the day (from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.) when outdoor temperatures drop below 55 degrees between Oct. 1st and May 31st, known as heat season. At night, your apartment must be at least 62 degrees—regardless of the temperature outside.

If your building’s heat goes out, or drops below that legal threshold, you should contact your landlord right away to let them know they need to turn up the temperature. If they fail to respond, you can file a complaint with the city by calling 311 or through the 311 website. 

A city inspector from HPD should come to your apartment to investigate your complaint, and can issue fines of $350 to $1,250 per day on your landlord. But if HPD delays, you can encourage your fellow tenants to complain, make multiple reports, schedule an inspection with HPD, or call your local branch of HPD to get an inspector to your door.

If your landlord still refuses to fix your heat, you can consider a more extreme option: taking your landlord to court. You can file an HP action in housing court to force your landlord to make repairs, and you may also be able to get a discount on rent while your heat and hot water are out. But it’s worth noting that an HP action shouldn’t be filed lightly, and it’s best to do so with a lawyer’s guidance.

For more tips, be sure to check out: "No heat in your NYC apartment or radiator too hot? Here's what you can do."

2. Unsanitary conditions: mold, rats, and creepy crawlies

New Yorkers, particularly those in the Bronx, made 121,043 complaints to 311 about unsanitary conditions, including renter favorites such as mold, rats, and other pests. 

Your landlord has an obligation to keep your apartment building infestation-free under the warranty of habitability. You can report pests to 311, but you also may want to take some protective measures yourself.

Run your faucets twice a week and set up glue boards near areas where there’s water, such as your bathroom, to protect against roaches. When traveling, you can keep your clothes in ziplock bags and unpack in your bathroom after you return to avoid tracking bed bugs into your apartment. You can also keep tabs on your building’s annual bed bug reports, but know that landlords don’t have to report bed bug infestations in a building’s common areas and, in rare cases, file false reports, a Brick Underground investigation found).

Rats have become something of an NYC mascot at this point, after embattled Mayor Eric Adams’ declared war on the city’s rat population. (As part of that war, small apartment buildings are now required to put trash in containers, rather than in trash bags).

Your landlord should eliminate any mice or rat infestation, but you can work to rodent-proof your apartment too. For example, don’t leave food exposed in your apartment and avoid keeping dog or cat food out. 

You can also learn more about curbing NYC’s rat population by joining what the city describes as an “elite squad of dedicated anti-rat activists” dubbed the Rat Pack. (Yes this is real).

For more tips, be sure to check out: "Brick’s best advice on getting rid of pests in your NYC apartment.”

3. Busted pipes

Plumbing problems are usually your landlord’s responsibility—but that doesn’t mean you can flush just anything.

Your landlord needs to fix structural damage to your building’s plumbing system and should handle serious repairs. Tenants, however, should avoid causing clogs. 

Use drain covers, keep a plunger around, and don’t pour grease down your drains (no matter what those TikTokers tell you). Cooking grease and wipes can cause huge backups in NYC’s sewer system, congealing into gigantic, monstrous clots called “fatbergs.”

For more tips, be sure to check out: "A basic guide to NYC plumbing: How to keep your apartment's pipes flowing."

4. Cracked plaster or peeling paint

Any NYC renter is probably familiar with that classic, bleached shade of “landlord white” that seems to dominate apartment walls…and doors, and electrical sockets. But when that paint chips—or worse, cracks appear in your plaster—there are a few steps you can take to patch up your walls.

First off, you should know your landlord is required to repaint or recover your walls once every three years, under the Housing Maintenance Code. If your landlord is slow to act, you can offer to paint yourself, but make sure to ask your landlord to reimburse you with a rent credit if you plan to buy the paint yourself.

For more serious issues, like cracked walls, let your landlord know you’d like a repair right away. If they are slow to act, you can send them a formal letter to pressure them into making a fix. (Check out a few sample letters here). And remember, you can always call 311 to get an inspector to examine your unit’s damage.

5. Broken doors or windows

Most NYC buildings must have a lockable building door and front door. Properties with more than three apartments also need a heavy-duty deadbolt and a chain door guard.

Your landlord is usually responsible for repairing broken doors, door locks, or windows, as long as you didn’t cause the damage yourself.

If you’re living in a rent-stabilized apartment, you can file a reduction of services complaint with the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, which could land you a cheaper rent bill while you wait for your landlord to make a fix to your door or window. 

Market-rate tenants can complain to 311, organize with their fellow tenants, and even file an HP proceeding in court to force your landlord to perform repairs.

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