No Heat or Hot Water in Your NYC Apartment? Here's How to Force a Fix.
Your landlord is legally required to restore heat within 24 hours. They face $1,000/day fines if they don't. Here's how to use that against them.
In New York City, no heat in winter is not an inconvenience — it is a Class C immediately hazardous violation, the most serious category HPD issues. Your landlord must restore heat within 24 hours of being notified. Every day they fail to do so, they face fines of up to $1,000. If they still don't act, the city will send its own contractors and bill the landlord at premium rates as a lien on the property. You have significant legal leverage here. This guide tells you how to use it.
The Legal Temperature Requirements — Know These Exactly
| Time | Outside temperature | Required inside temperature | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6am – 10pm | Below 55°F | Minimum 68°F in all apartments | Oct 1 – May 31 |
| 10pm – 6am | Any temperature | Minimum 62°F in all apartments | Oct 1 – May 31 |
| All hours | N/A | Hot water at minimum 120°F at the tap | Year-round |
Note that the overnight 62°F requirement applies regardless of outside temperature during the heat season. Many tenants do not know this — they assume heat is only required when it's cold outside. The overnight requirement applies on a 50°F October night just as much as a 15°F February night.
Step 1: Document the Temperature — Then Notify Your Landlord
Measure and document the temperature before contacting anyone
Your documentation is your evidence. Before you call 311, create a timestamped record of the violation.
- Use a digital thermometer — your phone's weather app shows outdoor temperature, not indoor. Any cheap digital indoor thermometer works. Screenshot or photograph the reading with the date/time visible.
- Measure in the warmest room — if the warmest room in your apartment is below 68°F during daytime, you have an unambiguous violation.
- Check the time of day and outside temperature — both matter for which threshold applies.
- Notify your landlord in writing simultaneously: "Indoor temperature is currently X°F at [time]. Please restore heat immediately per NYC Admin Code §27-2029."
- Keep recording temperature every 2–3 hours while the heat is out — this documents the duration of the violation for any subsequent rent abatement claim.
Step 2: Call 311 — Heat Complaints Get Emergency Priority
File a 311 heat complaint — HPD can dispatch same day
Unlike most HPD complaints, heat complaints during the heating season are treated as emergencies. HPD can dispatch an inspector same day or next day, and the violation triggers the 24-hour correction clock immediately.
- Call 311 or file at portal.311.nyc.gov — select "Heat/Hot Water" under the housing complaint categories.
- Write down your service request number — you can track the status online.
- HPD may call you to confirm the complaint before dispatching. Answer the call.
- If an inspector visits and confirms the temperature is below the legal minimum, a Class C violation is issued on the spot. This is the highest violation class and triggers immediate financial penalties.
- Also call HPD's Heat Line at (212) 863-7900 during heat season to report the emergency directly — this can accelerate the response.
File the 311 complaint even if your landlord promises to fix it today. The complaint creates a city record that cannot be altered. If the landlord fails to deliver on their promise, you already have the enforcement process started. If they fix it, the complaint simply closes — no harm done.
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Step 3: What You're Entitled to While Heat Is Out
While your landlord is required to restore heat, they are also legally obligated to provide temporary heat to affected tenants during the repair period. And beyond immediate relief, you may be entitled to a rent reduction for the period of the outage.
- Temporary heat: your landlord must provide electric space heaters to every affected unit while repairs are underway. If they do not, add this to your 311 complaint and document the failure.
- Rent abatement: a heat outage that lasted multiple days represents a period during which your apartment was below the habitable standard. Courts calculate abatements proportionally — a 5-day heat outage in January might represent 10–20% of that month's rent. Document every hour of the outage.
- Hotel costs: if the heat outage made your apartment literally unliveable (temperatures below 50°F, vulnerable occupants), you may be able to claim hotel or alternative accommodation costs as part of a rent abatement or small claims action.
- Security deposit: if the landlord attempts to deduct anything from your deposit at move-out after a documented heat failure during your tenancy, the documented violation and any court records are evidence of their breach — not yours.
Step 4: If Your Landlord Still Won't Fix It
Escalate to Housing Court for an HP order
If the HPD violation has been issued and the landlord is still not restoring heat, an HP proceeding in Housing Court is the next escalation. A judge can order the landlord to restore heat by a specific date and refer any defiance to HPD's Emergency Repair Program — where the city fixes it and bills the landlord.
- File the HP proceeding at your borough's Housing Court Help Center — free, no attorney required.
- Bring your documented temperature readings, the 311 complaint number, the HPD violation number, and your written notice to the landlord.
- Housing Court judges treat heat cases urgently during the heating season and typically schedule hearings within days, not weeks.
- If the Emergency Repair Program intervenes, the city sends its own HVAC contractor and charges the landlord directly — often at 2–3× market rates plus an administrative fee. This is a significant financial consequence that most landlords want to avoid.
Do not use propane or kerosene space heaters indoors as a substitute for building heat. Both produce carbon monoxide and pose serious fire and asphyxiation risks. If your landlord provides or suggests these as a solution, refuse them and report this to 311 as an additional safety violation. Only electric space heaters are appropriate for indoor temporary heat.
Frequently asked questions about no heat and hot water in NYC
My landlord says the heat is fixed but my apartment is still cold. What do I do?
Document the temperature with a thermometer and file a new 311 complaint referencing the prior violation number. You can also call HPD to flag that a previously issued violation has not been genuinely resolved. If the landlord certified a correction that was incomplete — for example, the main boiler was repaired but steam is not reaching your unit due to a valve problem — that is an ongoing violation, not a resolved one.
Can I withhold rent because I have no heat?
The safest method is to pay rent into a court-supervised escrow account through an HP proceeding rather than simply stopping payment. Unilateral rent withholding without court authorisation exposes you to eviction proceedings even if the heat failure is real and documented. The HP proceeding achieves the same pressure effect (your rent goes into escrow, not to the landlord) while legally protecting you from non-payment claims.
My hot water is only lukewarm. Does that count as a violation?
Yes. Hot water must be a minimum of 120°F at the tap — year-round, not just during heat season. Consistently lukewarm water (below 120°F) is a Class B HPD violation. File a 311 complaint specifically for "no hot water" — bring a food thermometer to document the actual temperature at the tap before filing.
My building has radiators but only some get hot. What do I do?
Uneven heat distribution in a steam system — where some radiators get scalding hot while others stay cold — is a building maintenance problem, typically caused by failed thermostatic radiator valves, air-locked radiators, or an unbalanced steam system. If your specific unit's radiators are providing inadequate heat (below the legal minimums), you have a violation regardless of what other units experience. File a 311 complaint, document your temperature, and notify your landlord in writing.
Is the heating season always October through May?
In NYC, the legal heating season runs from October 1 through May 31. Outside this window, there are no legal minimum temperature requirements. However, if an unusual cold snap occurs outside the heating season and your landlord has control over the building's heating system, you may still have a warranty of habitability argument if temperatures drop to genuinely dangerous levels. During the heating season itself — October 1 through May 31 — the requirements apply every day, regardless of the weather.
Related guides
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Further reading
Official resources
File online — HPD treats heat complaints as emergencies and can dispatch an inspector same day.
Official NYC heat season rules, legal temperature requirements, and tenant rights.
HPD Heat Line: (212) 863-7900 — report a heat emergency during the heating season.
Free legal help if your landlord refuses to restore heat or you want to seek rent abatement.