New York Heat Laws: Requirements, Tenant Remedies, and Penalties

Under New York heat laws, landlords must keep rental apartments warm during an eight-month heat season that runs October 1 through May 31. In New York City, the minimum is 68°F during the day and 62°F at night. Outside the city, the state Multiple Dwelling Law sets the daytime minimum at 68°F but drops the nighttime floor to 55°F. Hot water, by contrast, must be supplied at 120°F or higher year-round.

The Temperature Minimums in New York City

The NYC Housing Maintenance Code sets two rules based on time of day. Between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM, your landlord must keep indoor temperatures at 68°F or higher whenever the outdoor temperature drops below 55°F.¹ Between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, the minimum is 62°F, and the nighttime rule applies regardless of how warm or cold it is outside.²

The daytime obligation is conditional on outdoor temperature. The nighttime obligation is not. Even on a mild October evening, your apartment must stay at 62°F or above throughout heat season.

Heat season runs the full eight months from October 1 through May 31.³ Landlords cannot pick and choose the coldest weeks. If you pay for your own heat through an individual gas or electric system, the landlord is still responsible for making sure that system is installed, approved by the appropriate city agencies, and in working order.²

One thing a landlord cannot legally do is hand you a portable space heater and call the problem solved. New York City law prohibits providing oil-burning or kerosene space heaters in multiple dwellings. A narrow emergency exception exists for non-residential, non-multiple-dwelling buildings when the central system has failed in severe cold, and even then only approved portable heaters may be used, for no more than two weeks.⁴

Heat Requirements Outside New York City

If you rent in a multiple dwelling elsewhere in the state, the Multiple Dwelling Law sets its own minimums. Daytime requirements match the city’s: 68°F between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM when outdoor temperatures fall below 55°F. Overnight, the state law only requires 55°F, and only when outdoor temperatures drop below 40°F.⁵

That is a meaningful gap. A tenant in Buffalo or Syracuse can face a legal minimum of just 55°F on a 42°F night, while a tenant in Brooklyn is guaranteed 62°F under the same conditions. Some municipalities outside NYC adopt stricter local codes, so check with your local code enforcement office if you are unsure which standard applies. Regardless of location, the state’s implied warranty of habitability provides a floor: your landlord cannot rent you a home unfit for human habitation, and inadequate heat during cold weather typically breaches that warranty.⁶

Hot Water Year-Round

Hot water is a year-round obligation. Your landlord must supply it at a constant minimum temperature of 120°F, every day of the year.³ There is no seasonal window and no outdoor temperature trigger. Lukewarm or inconsistent hot water is a violation subject to the same complaint and enforcement process as a lack of heat.

How to Report a Heat Problem

Start with your landlord or managing agent. If they do not fix the problem, file a complaint with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) by calling 311, using 311 Online, or the 311 Mobile app.⁷ You will receive a service request number to track the complaint.

HPD may send an inspector to verify conditions and, if your apartment falls below the legal minimums, issue a violation. Document everything while you wait: photograph the thermostat with a timestamp, log the date and time of each reading, and save any texts, emails, or letters exchanged with your landlord. These records matter if the dispute reaches court.

Outside New York City, contact your local code enforcement office or building department. You can also file a complaint with the New York State Attorney General’s office, which has issued guidance affirming that tenants statewide are entitled to heat during cold months.

Your Legal Options If the Landlord Doesn’t Fix It

HP Action in Housing Court

If your landlord ignores an HPD violation or refuses to restore heat, you can bring an HP proceeding in NYC Housing Court. This is a lawsuit asking a judge to order your landlord to make repairs and correct building violations, including lack of heat.⁸ The court clerk provides the forms, an Order to Show Cause and a Verified Petition. You do not need a lawyer to file, and the process tends to move faster if an HPD violation is already on record.

Rent Reduction for Regulated Apartments

Tenants in rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartments have an additional tool. You can file with the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) for a rent reduction based on a decrease in essential services.⁹ For heat and hot water problems specifically, use form HHW-1. For broader building-wide service failures, use form RA-84. Attach a report from a city or municipal agency, such as an HPD inspection, documenting the condition.

If DHCR issues a rent reduction order and your landlord still does not comply within 30 days, file form RA-22.1 to request a compliance proceeding.⁹ The rent reduction rolls back your legal rent to the level before the most recent guidelines increase and stays in place until the landlord restores service and obtains an order lifting the reduction.

Warranty of Habitability

Every residential tenant in New York, whether in a regulated apartment or not, is protected by the implied warranty of habitability. Under Real Property Law §235-b, your landlord guarantees that your home is fit for human habitation and that you will not be subjected to conditions dangerous to life, health, or safety.⁶ No lease clause can waive this protection; any such provision is void. Lack of heat during winter almost always qualifies as a breach and gives you grounds to seek a rent abatement in court even if your building falls outside the Housing Maintenance Code.

A caution on rent withholding: while the warranty of habitability can justify paying reduced rent, simply stopping payment on your own is risky. Your landlord may file for eviction, and you would need to prove in court that the heating failure justified nonpayment. The safer path is filing through DHCR for regulated apartments or Housing Court, where you build a formal record of the problem.

What Landlords Face for Violations

Heat violations are Class C, the “immediately hazardous” category under the Housing Maintenance Code. Most Class C violations give landlords 24 hours to correct the condition. Heat and hot water violations give no correction window at all; they must be addressed immediately.¹⁰

HPD’s Housing Litigation Division typically initiates a court proceeding for every heat violation it issues.³ Daily civil penalties add up quickly:

First violation: $350 to $1,250 per day from the date the violation notice is posted until the problem is fixed.
Subsequent violations at the same building: $500 to $1,500 per day.

These amounts took effect on December 8, 2023 under Local Law 71 and represent a significant increase over prior levels.¹⁰ A landlord who lets an outage drag on for even a week can face thousands of dollars in fines.

When a landlord will not act, HPD can step in directly through its Emergency Repair Program. HPD hires contractors to restore heat and bills the landlord for the full cost, plus related fees. If the landlord does not pay, the city converts the unpaid charges into a tax lien against the property that accrues interest and can eventually lead to foreclosure.¹¹

For buildings where heat problems persist year after year, at least one-third of a building’s tenants, or HPD itself, can petition Housing Court under Article 7A to appoint an administrator who takes over building operations from the owner and uses rent to make repairs.¹²

Which Properties Are Covered

The NYC Housing Maintenance Code covers two categories of residential property: multiple dwellings, meaning buildings with three or more families, and tenant-occupied one- or two-family homes.² If you rent one side of a two-family house, your landlord owes you heat under the same rules that apply to a large apartment building.

The state Multiple Dwelling Law has a narrow seasonal exemption for dwellings in resort communities rented only between April 15 and October 14, provided no one lives there the rest of the year except a caretaker or the owner’s family.⁵ Buildings with demolition permits or those in designated redevelopment areas may also be exempt, though those exemptions are time-limited.

Cooperative and condominium buildings have their own governing documents that may address heating differently, but they remain subject to the Housing Maintenance Code and state law. And in properties that fall outside the code entirely, the warranty of habitability still applies to every residential lease in New York. No landlord can contract around the obligation to provide a livable home, and no tenant can waive that right.⁶

1
NYC.gov. Heat and Hot Water Information
2
NYC.gov. Title 27 – Chapter 2 Housing Maintenance Code – Section: Article 8 Heat and Hot Water
3
Housing Preservation and Development. Heat and Hot Water Information
4
Justia Law. New York Code – Kerosene and Other Space Heaters Prohibited Uses
5
NYC.gov. New York State Multiple Dwelling Law – Section 79
6
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 235-B – Warranty of Habitability
7
Housing Preservation and Development. Report a Quality or Safety Issue
8
NYCOURTS.GOV. Starting a HP Proceeding to Obtain Repairs – NY Housing
9
Homes and Community Renewal. Living Conditions and Essential Services
10
Housing Preservation and Development. Penalties and Fees
11
Housing Preservation and Development. Emergency Repair Program (ERP)
12
NYCOURTS.GOV. Article 7A Proceedings – NY Housing