If your New York City apartment is cold, the law is specific about what your landlord owes you. During heat season, 1 October to 31 May, your apartment must be at least 68°F between 6am and 10pm whenever it is below 55°F outside, and at least 62°F between 10pm and 6am whatever the weather. Hot water must be at least 120°F, every day of the year. If it is not, call 311 — the complaint goes to HPD, and lack of heat or hot water is the most serious class of housing violation the city issues.
The four numbers
| When | Requirement | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| 6am–10pm, 1 Oct – 31 May | 68°F indoors | Only when it is below 55°F outdoors |
| 10pm–6am, 1 Oct – 31 May | 62°F indoors | Regardless of the outdoor temperature |
| All year | 120°F hot water | No condition |
| 1 June – 30 Sept | No heat requirement | Hot water requirement still applies |
Two details are worth holding on to, because they are the ones people get wrong. The daytime rule is conditional: if it is 58°F outside at two in the afternoon, no heat is required. The overnight rule is not conditional: 62°F is required from 10pm to 6am through the whole of heat season, whatever the outdoor temperature is doing. And the hot water rule has no season at all — a cold tap in July is as much a violation as a cold radiator in January.
Before you file
Tell the owner, managing agent or superintendent first. Not because you have to before you can complain — you do not — but because a boiler is often fixed the same day once someone knows, and because a record of having asked strengthens everything that follows. While you wait, start a log. It is the single most useful thing you can do:
- the date and the time of day;
- the indoor temperature, taken with a thermometer, in the room you are in;
- the outdoor temperature, which matters for the daytime rule;
- who you told, when, and what they said.
Inspectors do not arrive on demand, and heat problems are often intermittent. A log covering several days is what turns "it has been cold" into a record an inspector or a court can act on.
How to file
- Call 311, or use the NYC311 app, or file online at nyc.gov/311. Heat and hot water complaints are routed to HPD.
- Give the full address and your apartment number, say whether the problem affects the whole building or just your unit, and say how long it has gone on.
- Write down the service request number. It is how you track what happens next.
- Keep logging temperatures after you file. If the condition recurs, file again — repeat complaints are recorded and they matter.
- Be reachable. HPD generally needs to arrange access to inspect a condition inside your own apartment, so full anonymity is easier for a building-wide problem than for one in your unit.
Complaints and any violation that results are public records. Your name is not attached publicly. For the wider picture of which agency handles what, see how to file a complaint about your landlord or building.
What happens after: Class C
HPD grades violations A, B or C by hazard. Heat and hot water are Class C — immediately hazardous, the most serious grade, which carries the shortest correction window and the highest penalties. It is not a discretionary label; the classification follows from the condition.
To put the scale in context, HPD's public violations file currently records about 11.1 million violations in total, of which roughly 2.9 million are open. Class C violations account for around 2.57 million records, and about 580,000 of those are open right now. Those totals move as the city inspects and closes cases; they are quoted here as evidence of scale, not as a figure to reconcile against. What the classes mean, in detail and with real records, is set out at HPD violation classes.
After a confirmed inspection the owner must correct the condition within the deadline for the class. If the owner does not, the city can escalate — including performing an emergency repair itself and billing the owner for it, and, in the worst cases, referring the building to housing court. A prolonged loss of an essential service such as heat can also, at the far end, support a vacate order; see what a vacate order means.
If it keeps happening
A building that loses heat once has a broken boiler. A building that loses heat every winter has a pattern, and the pattern is visible in public records — repeated complaints and repeated Class C violations against the same address, year after year. That record is worth pulling before you decide what to do next, and worth pulling before you sign a lease somewhere new. You can see a building's HPD violation history, complaint history and open cases free at Check a Building. It is building research and tenant education, not a background check on anyone.
If the condition persists after complaints and violations, that is the point to get advice. A tenant attorney or a local housing organisation can explain the options, which may include an HP action in housing court to compel repairs. Withholding rent is a step with real risks and should not be taken without advice.
Related
See how to check a building's violations for reading the record itself, and how to look up your NYC landlord if you need to know who is actually responsible for the boiler. For the terms, HPD violation classes and NOV — Notice of Violation are the two that come up most.
This guide is general tenant education based on public records and New York City agency guidance, not legal advice. If a condition is dangerous or persistent, contact 311 and consult a tenant attorney or a local housing organisation. Sources: NYC HPD — Heat and Hot Water Information; NYC HPD — Tenant Rights and Responsibilities; NYC Open Data — Housing Maintenance Code Violations (wvxf-dwi5), counts live on the date queried.