New York Landlord Maintenance and Repair Obligations

Every New York landlord must keep the apartment and common areas fit to live in and free of conditions that endanger the tenant's health or safety. That duty comes from Real Property Law (RPL) section 235-b, the warranty of habitability, and it applies to every written or oral residential lease in the state. A lease clause waiving it is void. In New York City, the Housing Maintenance Code adds specific rules on heat, hot water, pests, mold, lead paint, and bed bugs, and the city's housing agency (HPD) sets deadlines for each violation it finds.

What the warranty of habitability covers statewide

Section 235-b is short and general. It promises that the unit and shared areas are "fit for human habitation" and that tenants will not be exposed to conditions dangerous to their life, health, or safety. It does not list specific repairs, so local housing codes supply the detail. The warranty does not cover conditions caused by the tenant or people under the tenant's control.

Two more state rules sit on top of it:

• Multiple Dwelling Law section 78 requires owners of buildings with three or more units to keep the building, roof, and lot "in good repair." The Multiple Dwelling Law applies in cities of 325,000 or more people, which means New York City. Smaller cities, towns, and villages use the Multiple Residence Law and local codes.
• Repairs within a reasonable time. The Attorney General's tenant guide says repairs must be made within a reasonable time that depends on how serious the problem is. No statewide statute sets a fixed number of days outside New York City.

Outside the city, the Attorney General directs tenants to bring complaints to local housing officials, so your city, town, or village code office is the inspector you will hear from.

What New York City adds: heat, hot water, pests, mold, and bed bugs

The city's Housing Maintenance Code and related local laws set specific numbers and filing dates.

Pests and mold. Local Law 55 of 2018 applies to buildings with three or more units. You must inspect units for mice, rats, cockroaches, and mold every year and when a tenant or HPD complains, and you must clean a vacant unit and clear it of pests and mold before the next tenant moves in. Pest work must follow integrated pest management (sealing entry points, fixing water sources, removing nests), and any pesticide must be applied by a professional licensed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. In a building with 10 or more units, mold covering more than 10 square feet requires a licensed mold assessor and a separate, independent licensed remediator. Each new lease must come with HPD's indoor allergen fact sheet and notice.

Bed bugs. Owners of NYC multiple dwellings (three or more units) file a bed bug report with HPD every year between December 1 and December 31. It covers November 1 through October 31 and lists how many units had infestations, how many were treated, and how many were reinfested. You must give each tenant the filing receipt at lease signing and renewal or post it in a prominent spot in the building. New tenants must also receive a written disclosure of the past year's bed bug infestation history. See bed bug disclosure requirements for landlords for the form and timing.

Lead paint. Local Law 1 covers buildings built before 1960, and buildings built from 1960 through 1977 when the owner knows there is lead paint. Send the annual notice to every covered, nonexempt rental unit between January 1 and January 16 to identify where a child under 6 lives or regularly spends 10 or more hours a week. Inspect those units and the building's common areas every year.

At each vacancy in a covered unit, you must correct all lead-paint hazards and any underlying defects, and make all bare floors, windowsills, and window wells smooth and cleanable. Remove or permanently cover all lead paint on all door, door-frame, and window friction surfaces (the parts that rub together). For windows, installing replacement channels or slides on all lead-painted friction surfaces is another permitted option. Complete and certify the turnover work before the next tenant moves in. Local Law 123 of 2023 also requires this work in covered occupied units by July 1, 2027 if a child under 6 resided there on January 1, 2025, or within three years after a qualifying child begins residing there later, unless turnover requires earlier completion.

For lead-paint removal, hire an EPA-certified lead-abatement firm with certified abatement workers and supervisors. Use lead-safe practices to contain and clean dust. Before anyone occupies the work area, obtain passing dust-clearance tests from an EPA-certified inspector or risk assessor independent of you and the contractor. Owners were required to have all painted surfaces tested once by an EPA-certified inspector by August 2025. Keep lead records for 10 years.

How HPD violation classes set your deadline

When a tenant calls 311, HPD inspects. If it finds a violation, it issues a Notice of Violation with a class, a correction date, and a certification date. The correction period runs from the date of service.

After you fix the condition, you must certify the correction to HPD by the date on the notice. Most certifications can be filed online through eCertification, but lead paint, mold, and pest violations cannot. Missing the deadline or certifying falsely leads to civil penalties and inspection fees, and the violation stays open. If you do not fix an immediately hazardous condition, HPD can send its Emergency Repair Program to do the work and bill the property.

What tenants can do when repairs are not made

Tenants have four main tools.

1. Rent abatement. A tenant can sue for a rent reduction, or withhold rent and raise the breach as a defense when you sue for nonpayment. The court decides the amount. Section 235-b says no expert testimony is needed to prove the damages. See the New York eviction process for how nonpayment cases run.
2. Repair and deduct. The Attorney General's guide says a tenant may make necessary repairs and deduct reasonable costs from rent in extenuating circumstances, such as hiring a locksmith after you are notified of a broken door lock and willfully fail to fix it. It tells tenants to keep receipts and copies of every repair request sent to you.
3. HP action in Housing Court (NYC). A tenant can start a Tenant Action, called an HP action, by filing an Order to Show Cause and serving it on you and HPD. If the judge finds violations, the judge orders you to correct them within a set time. If you do not comply, the tenant can return to seek civil penalties or contempt. In severe neglect cases, HPD can ask the court to appoint a 7A administrator to run the building.
4. DHCR rent reduction (rent-regulated units). Tenants in rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartments can file a decreased-services complaint with state Homes and Community Renewal. If DHCR finds you failed to maintain services, it orders repairs and reduces the rent. For stabilized tenants, the cut usually equals the most recent lease guideline increase, backdated to the first of the month after you were served with the complaint. For stabilized tenants, the order also blocks rent increases until DHCR issues a restoration order, which it will not do until every listed service is restored. A court award under section 235-b is reduced by any DHCR rent cut for the same conditions. The New York rent stabilization guide covers how these orders affect lease renewals.

The Attorney General's guide also notes that New York presumes retaliation if a landlord starts an eviction or substantially changes the lease terms within one year after a tenant's good-faith repair complaint. This provision excludes owner-occupied dwellings with fewer than four units.

Steps that keep you out of violation

1. Log every request in writing with the date received, the date fixed, and who did the work. That log answers both HPD certification questions and abatement claims.
2. Schedule repair access in writing. Follow the New York entry and privacy rules and keep copies of access requests, which show the delay was not yours if a tenant refuses entry.
3. Test the boiler and hot water heater in September so the October 1 heat season does not start with a Class C violation.
4. Calendar the fixed dates: the bed bug filing (December 1 to 31), annual lead notices for every covered, nonexempt rental unit (January 1 to 16), annual lead inspections where a child under 6 lives or regularly spends 10 or more hours a week, and the yearly Local Law 55 inspection.
5. Certify every corrected violation by the date on the notice, with photos and invoices kept on file.

If you own rentals in more than one state, compare New York's duties with the baseline in how much maintenance and repair landlords owe by law.