NYC Renter Guides
Built From Real Building Data.
Tenant rights, building violations, lease traps, pest issues, and how to research any NYC building before you sign, covering all 5 boroughs.
Apartment Has No Hot Water in NYC: Who Has to Fix It?
Your landlord has to restore hot water and pay for it. The order of steps after a 311 call, the per-day penalty an owner faces, and what HPD does when nothing gets fixed.
How to Check Boiler Violations in NYC
Heat season started October 1. Two public city files show whether a building's boiler has a current inspection, a recorded defect, or an unpaid failure-to-file violation, and both are searchable before you sign.
NYC Hot Water Requirements: Temperature, Hours and Tenant Rights
New York City sets hot water at 120 degrees minimum between six in the morning and midnight, every day of the year. The hours live in section 27-2031, and most pages on this topic drop them.
Which NYC Neighborhoods Have the Most HPD Violations?
Belmont tops our neighborhood ranking at 125.9 HPD violations per 100 apartments against a citywide 30.1, and 45.3% of buildings in the measured apartment stock had none. Figures as of September 22, 2026.
Which NYC Neighborhoods Have the Most Pest Complaints?
Port Richmond leads our ranking at 98.4 HPD pest complaints per 1,000 apartments against a citywide 25.0. Complaints peak in August and bottom out in March, and the rate barely tracks building age.
_4.jpeg)
How to Check Fire Safety Violations Before Renting in NYC
Four sets of city records show fire safety problems in an NYC building before you sign. Each covers different ground, FDNY data stops earlier than renters expect, and the counts show what is ordinary.
How to Read NYC Property Records
A field-by-field translation of HPD, DOB, ECB, ACRIS and PLUTO records, with the three traps that catch a first-time reader and the measured share of rows each one hits.
Can Mold Make an NYC Apartment Uninhabitable?
Mold can breach the warranty of habitability in a New York apartment, and a Housing Court judge decides that, not a square footage. Leaving on your own reading of the law is the part that goes wrong.
Mice in My NYC Apartment: What Should I Do?
Mice in any room of a NYC apartment are an immediately hazardous violation, and the owner has 21 days to correct it by sealing gaps and fitting door sweeps. Here is the law, the safe fix, and the evidence to keep.
NYC Rat Inspection Lookup: Check a Building's Rat History
The Health Department inspects NYC properties for rats and records the result on a public file, separate from 311 complaints. See what Passed, Failed for Rat Activity and Failed for Other Reason mean for a building.
How to Tell if Your NYC Apartment Has Hidden Mold
A musty smell with no visible source and a damp patch that keeps returning are the two signals that find hidden mold. A home test kit finds neither, and no federal standard exists to read it against.
Peeling Paint in an NYC Rental: Does the Landlord Have to Fix It?
In a building with three or more apartments your landlord owes you a repaint every three years, plus repair of peeling paint whenever it appears. Here is the exact duty, the class HPD issues and how to force it.