Your landlord has to fix it, at the landlord's expense. Section 27-2031 of the Housing Maintenance Code sets the standard at a constant minimum of 120 degrees Fahrenheit between 6 a.m. and midnight every day of the year, and HPD writes a failure up as its most serious class of violation. If the owner still does nothing, the city can hire a contractor and bill the building.
Who Has to Fix the Hot Water
Section 27-2005 names the owner. The owner of a multiple dwelling "shall keep the premises in good repair" and carries compliance with the whole code, except where the code puts a duty on the tenant alone. Hot water is never one of those.
A broken fixture inside your own apartment does not change that. Section 27-2006 makes a tenant liable only for conditions they had the power to prevent, through their own wilful act or their gross negligence, neglect or abuse, then adds that such liability does not relieve the owner of the duty to keep every part of the premises in good repair. In a one- or two-family house, Section 27-2005(c) does let owner and tenant move repair duties by written contract. In a building with three or more apartments, no lease clause does that.
The Order of Steps After the Hot Water Goes Off
HPD asks you to contact the landlord, super or managing agent first, because that clears most outages before a city file opens. Send it in writing.
File with 311 next, by phone, through 311ONLINE or through 311MOBILE. You can file anonymously, in which case the inspector picks an apartment in the building at random. HPD then tries to notify the owner or managing agent, may call you to ask whether service came back, and attempts an inspection if you say it has not.
An inspector who confirms the failure writes it up as an immediately hazardous violation. For heat and hot water, HPD serves the notice by affixing it in a conspicuous place at the building rather than mailing it, so look for the paper in your lobby. That posting date is the date the money starts.
How Fast HPD Moves on a Hot Water Complaint
The city publishes its own speed. In the Mayor's Management Report for Fiscal 2026, HPD's median time from a reported problem to a first inspection for heat and hot water was 2.0 days, against 1.9 the year before. The median time to close an emergency problem held at 3.0 days, with 76 percent closed within 12 days and 84 percent within 21.
Volume works against those medians from October onward. Between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026, 311 logged 358,878 complaints of type HEAT/HOT WATER, filtered on created_date. Hot water drives more violations than heat: HPD issued 18,118 hot water violations in Fiscal 2026, up 19 percent on the year, against 11,883 for heat.
The Correction Window and the Penalty Clock
HPD's correction schedule gives the heat and hot water row no correction time at all. Most Class C conditions get 24 hours from service, lead paint and pests get 21 days, self-closing doors get 14. Heat and hot water get none, and the penalty runs from the date the notice goes up at the building.
Section 27-2115(k) sets the amount. A violation of 27-2031 carries a civil penalty of not less than $350 and not more than $1,250 per day, running from and including the date the notice is affixed until the day the condition is corrected. A second violation at the same building inside two consecutive calendar years runs at $500 to $1,500 per day. Figures of $250 to $500 predate Local Law 71 of 2023, effective December 8, 2023.
| What the owner does | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Corrects within 24 hours and files a notice of correction with payment inside 10 days | Civil penalties deemed satisfied for $250 |
| Lets the clock run | $350 to $1,250 per day until correction |
| Had a 27-2031 violation here in the prior calendar year | The $250 route is closed and per-day penalties apply |
| Files a notice of correction that is not true | At least $250 more, plus $500 to $1,000 for a false certification |
| Draws a third inspection in one calendar year that finds no hot water | A $200 inspection fee, enforceable as a lien |
That 24-hour figure is the deadline for the discount, not a grace period. The code presumes the condition continues once the notice goes up, so the owner has to prove the day it ended. When an owner takes the discount, HPD must write to the occupant within five business days and say how to object.
When the Owner Certifies a Fix That Did Not Happen
An owner closes the file by sending HPD a certification of correction, deemed correct 70 days after receipt unless an inspector reinspects inside that window and sets it aside. Of the 18,701 violations citing 27-2031 that HPD issued between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026, filtered on the notice issue date, 459 now carry a status of invalid certification.
Those violations landed across 8,120 buildings, and 5,948 remain open, including 1,625 issued before January. HPD backfills these records for weeks, so both counts keep climbing after they were pulled.
Section 27-2115(f) gives you a move. If you tell HPD the hot water is still off and no inspector comes, you can apply to the court for a determination of violation, which assesses penalties for any willfully false certification.
Local Law 71 of 2023 added a standing check. Every January since 2025, HPD names 100 class A multiple dwellings to a Certification Watchlist, chosen from buildings that certified more than 20 hazardous or immediately hazardous violations in the prior year with at least four false. While a building sits on the list, no certification closes such a violation without two attempted reinspections, and HPD posts a Notice to Tenants in the building.
An HP action in housing court is the stronger lever. It ends in most cases with an order to correct, and the clerk can waive the filing fee on a low income. Section 27-2115(h) gives you standing when HPD has not issued a notice of violation within 30 days of your request. Where an owner keeps ignoring court orders, Met Council on Housing says tenants can ask the judge to order HPD to do the repairs and bill the landlord.
Emergency Repair Program Charges
The Emergency Repair Program is the city doing the work itself. When an owner does not correct in time, HPD or a contractor it retains may repair a Class C condition and bill the owner through the Department of Finance. HPD warns owners that city procurement and wage rules can make that work "significantly more expensive than the price the owner could obtain independently."
An unpaid HPD repair charge becomes a tax lien on the property. It bears interest at the higher of 7 percent a year or the rate for unpaid property taxes, and the city can sell or foreclose it. While charges sit unpaid the owner cannot certify corrections, so the open items stay on the violation record for the building.
In Fiscal 2026 HPD started the emergency repair process on 63 percent of Class C violations. Owners corrected 52 percent of those and HPD corrected 8 percent itself. Work orders and charges show on a building's public HPD record under a Charges tab, so you can pull the building's open violations and HPD repair charges before signing a lease.
Withholding Rent and the Rent-Regulated Route
You can withhold rent over a lost essential service, and the risk is real. Met Council on Housing says you have a right by law to do it and may be owed an abatement if you document the lost service, then warns that withholding "has serious consequences: it could lead to eviction, and your name will show up on tenant screening reports." Set the money aside and do not spend it.
Met Council on Housing describes the same fork. Your landlord may start a nonpayment eviction case, and you then raise the missing repairs as a defense and ask the court for an abatement. New York City has no automatic repair and deduct procedure either, so paying a plumber yourself and docking the rent drops you into that case with weaker footing.
Rent stabilized and rent controlled tenants have a second route. No heat or hot water apartment wide sits on the emergency condition list DHCR treats as first priority, and DHCR requires a violation for it, so get the 311 inspection on record first. File form RA-81 for your apartment or RA-84 for building-wide service, and a rent reduction order then bars further increases until DHCR restores the rent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is no hot water in an apartment an emergency?
The city treats it as one, and the code imposes a year-round hot water duty rather than a heat-season one. HPD classes no hot water as immediately hazardous, the same tier as no heat, and puts the median time from complaint to first inspection at 2.0 days.
How long can a landlord leave you without hot water in NYC?
No lawful period exists. HPD's correction schedule assigns heat and hot water violations no correction time, and the civil penalty runs from the day the notice is posted at the building. The 24-hour figure quoted elsewhere is the window to qualify for a discounted settlement.
Who do I call if my apartment has no hot water?
Call the landlord, super or managing agent first and put it in writing. If nothing happens, file with 311 by phone, through 311ONLINE or through 311MOBILE, and ask for the complaint number. HPD will try to reach the owner and then attempt an inspection.
Can I stop paying rent if I have no hot water?
You have the right, and it carries a real chance of an eviction case. Met Council on Housing warns that withholding can lead to eviction and to your name appearing on tenant screening reports. The Legal Aid Society notes you can raise the missing repairs as a defense.
What if the landlord says the hot water is fixed and it is not?
Tell HPD the condition is still there. A certification closes the violation on paper 70 days after HPD receives it unless an inspector reinspects and sets it aside, and if nobody comes after you report it, you can apply to the court for a determination.
Does the landlord get fined for no hot water?
Yes, and it compounds. The penalty is $350 to $1,250 per day from the posting date until correction, rising to $500 to $1,500 per day for a second violation at the same building inside two consecutive calendar years. A $200 inspection fee can follow.
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