Heat is the single most complained-about housing problem in New York, and hot water is right behind it. One February day this year alone produced over six thousand heat and hot water complaints to 311. If your radiator is cold or your shower runs lukewarm, you are not negotiating a favor — you are collecting on a legal obligation with specific numbers attached.
Here are those numbers, the one nuance that decides whether an inspector can actually write a violation, what's different when the problem is hot water rather than heat, and how to know before you sign a lease whether a building leaves its tenants cold every winter.
The numbers
| When | Condition | Your apartment must be |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 – May 31, 6 a.m.–10 p.m. | Outside below 55°F | At least 68°F |
| Oct 1 – May 31, 10 p.m.–6 a.m. | Any outside temperature | At least 62°F |
| All year, all hours | — | Hot water at 120°F at the tap |
Three details people miss:
- The daytime rule is conditional; the nighttime rule is not. At 3 p.m. on a 60-degree October afternoon, a 65-degree apartment is legal. At 3 a.m., 61 degrees is a violation no matter what the weather is doing.
- Hot water has no season. The 120°F requirement applies in July exactly as in January.
- These apply to buildings with three or more apartments under the city's Housing Maintenance Code. One- and two-family buildings are covered by the state's general habitability rules instead — you still have rights, but the enforcement path differs.
No hot water: the rules are different
Hot water complaints are often filed under "heat," and the law treats them as the same violation class — but three things are different, and they matter when you're the one standing in a cold shower.
There is no season. A landlord who says "the boiler is off for the summer" is wrong about hot water. The 120°F requirement runs 365 days a year.
There is no outdoor-temperature condition. The daytime heat rule only applies when it's below 55°F outside. Hot water has no such qualifier: an inspector who measures water below 120°F at the tap can write the violation on any day, at any hour.
The measurement is simpler. Heat is measured in the apartment against the outside temperature; hot water is measured at the fixture. Run the tap for a minute, put a thermometer under it, photograph the reading. That is the whole record.
The 311 path is identical — same complaint category, same emergency priority, same Class C violation, same daily fines. If you have heat but no hot water, file anyway; the complaint category covers both.
The detail that decides whether a violation gets written
HPD states it plainly: a daytime heat violation can only be issued if the inspector records the outside temperature below 55°F at the time of the inspection.
This matters practically. If your apartment was freezing overnight but the inspector arrives at noon on a mild day, the daytime reading may not support a violation — which is why the overnight rule (62°F, unconditional) and your own written records carry so much weight. An inspector's reading is a snapshot; your log is the film.
Hot water has no such trap: the 120°F standard applies at every inspection, whatever the weather.
What to do, in order
- Tell the landlord, super, or managing agent first. This is both the fastest fix and the record that you asked. Follow up in writing — a text or email with the date is enough.
- Start a heat and hot water log. Date, time, indoor temperature, tap-water temperature, outdoor temperature if you can get it. The Mayor's Public Engagement Unit publishes a template, but a notes app works. Photograph the thermometer.
- File a 311 complaint — phone, web, or app — if the landlord doesn't act. HPD attempts to contact the owner, and if service isn't restored, sends an inspector to verify and issue violations. Be reachable and home if you can: an inspector who can't get in may not be able to write the violation.
- If the landlord still doesn't fix it, a confirmed violation carries a civil penalty of $250–$500 per day for an initial heat or hot water violation, and $500–$1,000 per day for repeat violations, running from the posting date until it's corrected. HPD's Emergency Repair Program can also hire contractors to restore heat or hot water and bill the owner, and persistent cases go to Housing Court, where tenants can bring an HP action to compel repairs.
- Don't withhold rent on your own. The warranty of habitability can support a rent abatement when heat or hot water fails, but withholding unilaterally exposes you to a nonpayment (eviction) case — tenant attorneys consistently advise against it. Documentation and 311 get you further and cost you less. Free help is available: call 311 and ask for the Tenant Helpline, or contact Housing Court Answers at 212-962-4795.
Check the building's heat and hot water record before you sign
Here's the part most renters learn too late: a building that froze its tenants last winter usually does it again. Boilers don't fix themselves, and a landlord who ignored 62-degree nights in January will ignore yours.
The record is public. Heat and hot water violations appear in HPD's database with their hazard class — typically Class C, "immediately hazardous" — along with how long they stayed open and whether the landlord fixed or ignored them. So do the 311 complaints that preceded them. Our guide to checking a building's complaint history walks through the city's own tools.
Check your building on Weverit before you sign a fall or winter lease. Our free reports pull together each building's open violations by hazard class, how long the oldest problems have been open, and complaint history — for 38,000+ NYC buildings. An apartment that shows beautifully in September may hide its January record.
Heat complaints, by the numbers
New Yorkers filed 357,667 heat and hot-water complaints to 311 in the past 12 months — the city's single most-filed 311 category each winter. 3.4% remain open (unresolved) at the time of writing. The three ZIP codes with the most heat complaints: 11226 (Flatbush), 10468 (Fordham/University Heights), and 10458 (Fordham/Belmont). Source: NYC 311 / HPD Open Data, Weverit analysis.
Frequently asked questions
What temperature does my landlord have to keep my apartment in NYC? During heat season (October 1 – May 31): at least 68°F between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. when it's below 55°F outside, and at least 62°F overnight regardless of outside temperature. Hot water must be 120°F year-round.
When does heat season start in NYC? October 1, and it runs through May 31. Outside those dates landlords aren't required to provide heat — but hot water at 120°F is required every day of the year.
I have heat but no hot water. Is that a violation? Yes. Hot water at 120°F is required year-round, with no outdoor-temperature condition. File with 311 under the same heat/hot water category; it carries the same Class C status and the same daily penalties.
Is no heat an emergency in NYC? The city treats heat and hot water complaints as a priority: call 311, and HPD moves to verify and enforce. If someone in the household is elderly, an infant, or medically vulnerable and the cold is dangerous, that's a 911 situation, not a housing complaint.
Can I withhold rent if I have no heat? You can — but tenant attorneys generally advise against doing it unilaterally, because it invites an eviction case. The stronger path is documentation, 311, HPD enforcement, and if needed an HP action in Housing Court.
What class of violation is no heat or no hot water? Both are typically Class C — immediately hazardous, the most serious HPD category, with the shortest legally allowed repair window.
My radiator is hot but the apartment is still cold. Does that count? The law measures the temperature in your apartment, not whether equipment is running. If it's below the required minimum during the covered hours, it's a violation regardless of what the boiler is doing.
How do I check if my building has heat violations? HPD's public database lists every open violation by address. Weverit's building reports show violations by class, how long they've been open, and complaint history — searchable by address, free.
Sources
NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Heat and Hot Water Information; NYC Mayor's Public Engagement Unit, Heat Season Resources. Reviewed against both, September 2026.
Weverit publishes plain-language guides to renting in New York and maintains free compliance reports on 38,000+ NYC buildings. We work for renters, not landlords.
