Help for Renters
Most Brooklyn residents rent their homes, and every tenant deserve safe housing, fair treatment, and a clear path to help when something is wrong. Problems with a landlord can be frightening and disruptive. Many landlord-tenant issues are civil matters handled in Housing Court or through city agencies. However, when a landlord's conduct becomes extreme, harassing, or physically coercive, it may rise to the level of a crime. Either way, tenants should be able to clearly understand their rights and take the correct next step quickly.
Know Your Rights as a Renter
Tenants in New York City have robust legal protections. These rights include safe and livable housing, required services like heat and hot water, protection against unlawful lockouts and evictions, and safety from retaliation for making good-faith complaints or asserting legal rights. New York law strictly requires residential housing to be fit for human habitation and free from dangerous or hazardous conditions.
Your Fundamental Rights:
• Safe Housing: The right to a safe, livable environment free from hazards.
• Essential Utilities: The right to heat during 'heat season' and hot water year-round.
• Lawful Process: The right not to be forced out without a lawful court process.
• Protection: The right to make good-faith complaints without unlawful retaliation.
• Action: The right to seek repairs, restoration of services, harassment relief, and legal help.
Heat and Hot Water Requirements:
• Hot Water: Must be provided 24/7/365 at a minimum temperature of 120°F.
• Heat Season (Oct. 1 – May 31): Daytime (6:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.): If outside temp falls below 55°F, inside must be at least 68°F. Nighttime: Inside must be at least 62°F.
What Abusive Landlord Conduct Can Look Like
Abusive landlord conduct is rarely just one dramatic event. It is often a pattern of pressure, intimidation, service interruptions, unsafe conditions, misleading statements, or aggressive buyout tactics designed to wear a tenant down until they leave or surrender their rights.
Examples of Abusive Conduct:
- Threats, intimidation, or repeated, unwanted visits meant to pressure a move.
- Illegal lockouts or repeated threats to change the locks.
- Withholding repairs or essential services to make the apartment unlivable.
- Repeated interruptions of heat, hot water, gas, or electricity.
- Deliberately disruptive construction that makes the apartment unsafe.
- False or misleading statements regarding a tenant's rights or eviction status.
- Aggressive pressure to accept a buyout without time to seek legal counsel.
- Repeated refusal to offer a required lease or lease renewal.
Warning Signs You Need Help:
- Your locks are changed, your key fails to work, or the door is removed.
- Essential utilities are abruptly or repeatedly shut off.
- Building staff or ownership repeatedly harass you to vacate.
- You are offered cash to leave with an exploding, "decide now" deadline.
- You receive confusing, threatening notices or legal-sounding papers.
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Note on Buyouts: A tenant can reject a buyout offer and continue living in the apartment. Always get legal advice before accepting money to move or signing any agreement.
Retaliation and Special Protections
A landlord generally cannot serve a notice to quit, start an eviction case, or substantially alter the terms of a tenancy simply because a tenant made a good-faith complaint to the landlord or a government agency. New York law creates a 'rebuttable presumption' of retaliation if the landlord takes adverse action within one year of a tenant's protected complaint.
Examples of Possible Retaliation:
- You complained about dangerous conditions.
- You reported a violation or asked for repairs.
- You asserted a legal right as a tenant.
- Result: Soon afterward, the landlord tried to force you out or sharply changed your tenancy terms.
Special Protections for Rent-Regulated Tenants:
New York Penal Law outlines specific crimes directed at rent-regulated tenants. An owner commits harassment of a rent-regulated tenant in the second degree (a Class A misdemeanor) if they intend to force the tenant out by impairing habitability, endangering health/safety, or intentionally interrupting essential services. First-degree harassment is a Class E felony applied in more severe circumstances, such as physical injury or systematic conduct against multiple tenants. (Note: A good-faith lawful eviction case, by itself, is not considered criminal harassment).
Illegal Lockouts and Unlawful Evictions
Lockouts are illegal. If a person has lawfully occupied a dwelling for 30 consecutive days or more (with or without a lease) or has entered into a lease, they generally cannot be removed except through a court process, a warrant of eviction, or another lawful order. Intentional violations of these protections by a landlord constitutes a crime.
A landlord cannot legally:
- Use force, threats, or interfere with your peace to drive you out.
- Remove your belongings, remove your door, or damage your lock.
- Change your lock without providing a new key.
- Fail to take reasonable and necessary action to let you back in after an unlawful eviction.
Important: Protection against a lockout is not a permanent right to stay forever. It simply means that if a landlord wants you to leave, they must go through the court. 'Self-help' evictions are never allowed.
What to Do if You Are Locked Out:
- Call 911 immediately.
- Call 311 and ask for the Tenant Helpline.
- Go to Housing Court as soon as possible to file an emergency case to be restored to possession.
- Gather proof of residency (lease, rent receipts, utility bills, mail, or an ID with the address).
- If you are in Brooklyn and have experienced a lockout, contact the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
How to Handle Problems
Do not wait for perfect certainty. If something feels wrong, document it and get help.
- Write down what happened: Keep a detailed timeline. Save dates, times, names, texts, notices, photos, videos, and screenshots. A pattern of conduct is powerful evidence.
- Report conditions: Contact the landlord first. If it is not fixed, call 311. If the landlord is withholding repairs to force you out, report it as harassment.
- Call 911 for emergencies: If you are locked out or in immediate physical danger, call the police.
- Get legal help quickly: Do not accept buyout money, sign an agreement, or respond to court papers without legal advice.
- Use Housing Court: You can bring civil cases for repairs (HP actions), harassment relief, and illegal lockouts without waiting for the landlord to sue you first.
- Report criminal conduct to the DA: If your situation involves an illegal lockout, physical force, threats of violence, or severe criminal harassment, contact the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
Where to Get Help for Civil Housing Issues
NYC Tenant Helpline (311)
Access free information about tenant rights, housing security, and connections to city-funded legal service providers.
Contact: Call 311 and ask for the “Tenant Helpline.”
NYC Housing Court (Brooklyn)
The venue for filing emergency “HP actions” to force repairs or stop harassment, and for seeking immediate restoration of possession after an illegal lockout.
Contact: 141 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY | 347-404-9200
Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD)
The agency responsible for building code enforcement. Report lack of heat or hot water, verify active violations, and check property registration.
Contact: Call 311 or visit nyc.gov/hpd
Legal Aid Society & Legal Services NYC
Non-profit organizations providing free legal representation to low-income tenants facing eviction or harassment through NYC’s Right to Counsel law.
Contact: legalaidnyc.org or legalservicesnyc.org
NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR)
The agency responsible for building code enforcement. Report rent histories and file formal overcharge or harassment complaints.
Contact: 718-739-6400 or visit hcr.ny.gov
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can my landlord make me leave without going to court?
A. Generally, no. A lawful occupant who has lived in an apartment for 30 consecutive days or has a lease is protected against self-help eviction. Removal requires a court process.
Q. What if my landlord changes the locks?
A. This may be an illegal lockout. Call 911, call 311 for the Tenant Helpline, gather proof of your residency, seek legal guidance to proceed to Housing Court.
Q. Is every harassment claim a crime?
A. No. Many harassment claims are handled civilly in Housing Court or through city/state agencies. However, extreme conduct—especially lockouts, force, threats, and intentional service cuts against rent-regulated tenants—may be criminal.
Q. Can a landlord cut off utilities to make me move?
Answer: "No. Interrupting essential services to force a tenant out is unlawful and strongly supports a harassment claim."
Q. Should I talk to a lawyer before taking a buyout?
A. Yes. Always get legal advice before accepting money to move or signing an agreement to surrender your apartment. If you cannot afford private counsel, seek help from one of the free legal service providers above.