HP Action in NYC Housing Court: Filing, Deadlines, Retaliation

An HP Action in NYC Housing Court is the case a tenant files to force a landlord to fix dangerous or deteriorating conditions in an apartment or building. A judge can order specific repairs and impose civil penalties on a landlord who ignores that order. You do not need a lawyer to file one, and you do not need to call 311 or contact HPD first.

Conditions That Support an HP Action

Two laws create the obligations behind these cases. The New York City Housing Maintenance Code, in Title 27, Chapter 2 of the Administrative Code, sets standards for the physical condition of residential buildings.¹ The New York State Multiple Dwelling Law separately requires owners to keep every part of a residential building, including the roof and common areas, in good repair.² A violation of either law can support an HP Action.

The problems tenants bring to Housing Court most often include no heat or hot water, water leaks and mold, pest infestations, broken windows, crumbling walls or ceilings, lead paint hazards, lack of gas service, and broken or missing locks. Building-wide issues like nonfunctioning elevators or unsanitary hallways also qualify. Tenants in the same building can file a group HP Action together, covering each apartment and the common areas in a single case.³

Violation Classes and Correction Deadlines

HPD sorts code violations into three classes, and each class has a different correction deadline before civil penalties start accruing. The clock runs from when the landlord is served with the violation notice, not from when you first complained.⁴

Class A (non-hazardous): minor issues like a chipped tile or peeling paint in a small area. The landlord has 90 days.
Class B (hazardous): conditions that threaten health or safety but are not immediately life-threatening, such as a broken lock or persistent leak. The landlord has 30 days.
Class C (immediately hazardous): the most serious conditions. Lack of heat or hot water must be corrected immediately with no grace period. Lead paint, window guards, mold, and rodent or roach infestations carry a 21-day window. Self-closing doors must be fixed within 14 days. All other Class C violations require correction within 24 hours.⁴

Heat Season Standards

Heat is one of the most common reasons tenants file. New York City’s heat season runs October 1 through May 31. During the day, from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., your apartment must be at least 68°F whenever the outside temperature drops below 55°F. At night, from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., the indoor temperature must reach at least 62°F regardless of the outdoor temperature.⁵ Falling below those thresholds is a Class C violation with no grace period.

What to Gather Before You File

Start by pulling the correct legal name and address of your building’s owner or managing agent from the building’s HPD registration, available on the HPD website. Using the wrong name can delay your case.

Neither a 311 complaint nor a prior HPD inspection is required. Documentation still strengthens your case, so pull together:

Written repair requests. Emails, text messages, or letters you sent describing the problems and asking for repairs. These show the landlord knew.
Photographs. Dated, clear pictures of every condition you plan to raise, with wide shots of the room and close-ups of the damage.
Prior HPD violation reports for your building, if any exist.
Your lease or other proof you live there, such as mail addressed to you at the apartment.

Specific dates and a record of the landlord’s non-response help a judge see a pattern rather than an isolated oversight.

Filing and Serving the Papers

At the Housing Court clerk’s office you receive two forms: an Order to Show Cause Directing the Correction of Violations, and a Verified Petition in support of that order.³ The petition asks for a detailed list of every condition in your apartment or the common areas. Be thorough. Conditions you leave off the petition are conditions the court will not address.

A judge then reviews and signs the Order to Show Cause. Once it is signed, you pay the court fee to get an index number. The fee is $45.⁶ If you cannot afford it, you can apply for a fee waiver and the judge will decide whether you qualify.⁷ Payment must be cash, certified check, money order, or bank check. Personal checks are not accepted.

The signed Order to Show Cause tells you exactly how and by when to serve the papers on the landlord and on HPD.³ Common methods are certified mail with return receipt or personal delivery by someone at least 18 years old who is not a party to the case. Follow the order’s instructions exactly. If the judge specifies certified mail and you use regular mail, service is defective and your court date can be delayed.

After you serve the papers, fill out an Affirmation of Service, a sworn statement of when, where, and how the papers were delivered. Get the form from the clerk or download it from the court website. File the completed Affirmation with the HP clerk before the court date, or bring it to the courtroom on the day of the hearing.³

Inspection and Court Appearance

Filing triggers an HPD inspection of your apartment. An inspector visits and documents which conditions constitute code violations, and the resulting report becomes the central piece of evidence at the hearing. Make sure the inspector can reach every room and area where problems exist. If no one is home, the inspector may not be able to verify your claims, and your case gets weaker.

On the court date you appear before a judge in the Housing Part. An HPD attorney appears to represent the city’s interest in code enforcement, and the landlord or their lawyer appears to respond to the petition. Bring copies of every court paper, your proof of service, photographs, written repair requests, and anything else showing the conditions need fixing.⁷

Consent Orders

Most HP cases end with a Consent Order, a written agreement in which the landlord commits to specific repairs by specific dates. Court attorneys often help the parties negotiate one. A good Consent Order references the HPD inspection report, lists every violation to be corrected, and sets realistic access dates when the landlord or contractors can enter to do the work. It should also say whether you will be home during repairs and, if not, how the landlord will gain entry.

If the landlord disputes the inspection findings or refuses to agree to a timeline, the judge can set the case for trial. If the landlord fails to appear at all, HPD’s attorney can request an inquest, where the judge takes testimony and issues an order based on the evidence.⁸

If the Landlord Ignores the Order

A repair order carries real consequences. If the landlord misses deadlines in the Consent Order, you or HPD can bring the case back by filing an order to show cause for a compliance hearing and assessment of civil penalties.⁹ Penalties are not one-time fines. They run daily until the violation is corrected.

The Housing Maintenance Code sets penalty ranges tied to the violation class and building size:¹⁰

Class A: $50 to $150 per violation, plus $25 per day from the correction deadline until the fix.
Class B: $75 to $500 per violation, plus $25 to $125 per day.
Class C in buildings with five or fewer units: $150 to $750 per violation, plus $50 to $150 per day.
Class C in buildings with more than five units: $150 to $1,200 per violation, plus $150 to $1,200 per day.

Those daily penalties add up. Three uncorrected Class C violations in a larger building could carry more than $3,600 per day. The fines are paid to the city, not to the tenant. For landlords who willfully violate the code or ignore a court order, criminal penalties are also possible, including fines and up to one year of imprisonment.¹

You or HPD can also ask the judge to hold the landlord in civil or criminal contempt of court for defying the repair order. Contempt proceedings can bring additional fines and jail time.⁹ The court keeps oversight of the case until HPD certifies that all violations have been corrected.

What an HP Action Will Not Do

The Housing Part handles the physical condition of the building and nothing else. An HP Action cannot get you a rent reduction, resolve a lease dispute, or address nonpayment. The court states plainly that “other common landlord/tenant issues, such as payment of rent or breaches of a lease will not be discussed” in an HP case.⁸

To recover money for living in substandard conditions, you would pursue a rent abatement under New York’s implied warranty of habitability. Real Property Law Section 235-b makes every residential lease include a warranty that the premises are fit for human habitation, and a landlord who breaches that warranty owes damages.¹¹ That claim is typically raised as a defense or counterclaim in a nonpayment proceeding, not in an HP Action, though some landlords agree to rent credits during HP settlement negotiations to close the case faster.

Protection Against Retaliation

Some tenants hold back from filing because they worry the landlord will retaliate. Real Property Law Section 223-b prohibits a landlord from serving a notice to quit, starting an eviction, or substantially altering the terms of a tenancy in retaliation for a good-faith complaint about health or safety violations to a government authority.¹² The protection also covers tenants who join a tenants’ organization or act to enforce their lease or the warranty of habitability.

A retaliating landlord can be sued for damages, attorney’s fees, and injunctive relief. In any eviction proceeding where the tenant raises retaliation as a defense, the court can dismiss the case if it finds a retaliatory motive. Filing an HP Action is exactly the kind of good-faith enforcement activity the statute was written to protect.

Free Legal Help

New York City offers free legal services to tenants through its Right-to-Counsel program, available in every zip code regardless of immigration status.¹³ A lawyer handling your HP Action does not change the process, but can make sure the petition covers every condition, the Consent Order is drafted tightly, and enforcement is pursued if the landlord stalls. You can also file and handle the case yourself. The Housing Court clerk’s office provides the forms and basic guidance for tenants proceeding without an attorney.

1
NYC.gov. New York City Housing Maintenance Code
2
New York State Senate. New York Multiple Dwelling Law 78 – Repairs
3
New York State Unified Court System. Starting a HP Proceeding to Obtain Repairs
4
NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Penalties and Fees
5
NYC.gov. Heat Season – Know Your Rights and Stay Warm
6
New York State Unified Court System. NYC Housing Court – Court Fees
7
New York State Unified Court System. Starting a HP Action Within NYC
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New York State Unified Court System. Appearing on an HP Case – Tenant Initiated Action
9
New York State Unified Court System. NYC Housing Court Contempt and Penalties
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NYC.gov. NYC Administrative Code 27-2115 – Imposition of Civil Penalty
11
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law Section 235-B – Warranty of Habitability
12
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law Section 223-B – Retaliation by Landlord Against Tenant
13
NYC.gov. Legal Services for Tenants