Report a Quality or Safety Issue - HPD

Housing Preservation & Development


Report a Complaint

Report a Quality or Safety Issue


Report a Quality or Safety Issue

Before filing a compliant, contact your property owner or landlord first -- this is the easiest way to resolve a housing quality or safety issue. If your landlord is unresponsive, file a complaint with 311.

How to File a Complaint

You can file a complaint by:

Calling 311 or TTY (212) 504-4115

Using 311ONLINE or 311MOBILE

After you file a complaint, you will be given a Service Request number. You can check the status of these complaints using the Service Request number through 311ONLINE, 311MOBILE (if you filed it through 311MOBILE) or through HPDONLINE.

What Happens Next?

HPD will attempt to contact your building's managing agent to advise them that a complaint has been filed and that a violation may be issued if the condition is not corrected immediately. HPD will also attempt to call you back to see if the condition was corrected. If you indicate that the condition was corrected, HPD will close the complaint.

View the Guide on What to Expect when calling 311 about a housing quality or safety issue. The guide is also available in additional languages:

Guía General para los Inquilinos para saber Qué Esperar

租戶通用指南

향후 발생할 수 있는 사항에 관한 세입자 대상 일반 안내서

Inspections

If it was not corrected or HPD cannot reach you, a uniformed Code Enforcement inspector will be sent to inspect the reported condition. If English is not your primary language, let the Inspector know and they can call a translator to help. The owner/agent is not notified of the inspection date. Inspectors will also check for the following violations: smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, lead-based paint (if there is a child under six), window guards (if there is a child under 11), double cylinder locks, and bars on the fire escape windows.

Violations

If the Inspector writes a violation, HPD will send a Notice of Violation to the managing agent instructing him/her to repair the condition within a specified time period, which depends on the severity of the violation. The owner has the following amounts of time to correct a violation from the time he/she receives it:

CLASS A (non-hazardous) - 90 days

CLASS B (hazardous) - 30 days

CLASS C lead-based paint - 21 days

CLASS C window guards - 21 days

CLASS C heat or hot water - immediately

CLASS C (all other types) - 24 hours

If the owner certifies that the condition was corrected, you will receive notice of certification in the mail. If the owner does not certify, the violation remains open on the building record.

If the tenant challenges the certification and a re-inspection finds that the condition is not correct, the violation remains open. If the violation is certified and HPD does not re-inspect the condition, the violation will be closed after 70 days. If the violation remains open, you may initiate legal action against the landlord in Housing Court. You can seek free legal counsel if you qualify or can see a representative in any Housing Court for assistance with filing a case.

If the violation condition is considered immediately hazardous, HPD will attempt to contact the managing agent to advise him/her that the condition must be corrected as soon as possible. HPD will also attempt to contact you to confirm whether the owner corrected the condition. If the owner does not correct the condition, HPD's Emergency Repair Program may repair certain conditions and bill the owner. Tenants can ask about the status of emergency repair work in their apartments by calling 212-863-5510. Note: this number is for status requests only for HPD-sponsored emergency repair work already in progress.

New!

Schedule an Appointment Online

You can schedule an appointment online to speak with a representative from HPD’s Code Enforcement office either virtually or by telephone. While we pilot this new service, we are offering a limited number of time slots. We may adjust the number of time slots offered based on demand.

Services Available by Appointment

Complaints

Violations (certifications)

Dismissal Request

Mold/Pest (documentation to remove violations)

Lead Violations (Defect Status, Exemptions, and Contestations)

Schedule an Appointment