Code Enforcement

In 2005, tenants logged 600,000 complaints with the city's 311 hotline.  Every month during the heat season, complaints from tenants about no heat or no hot water are the most received complaints to the 311 system. The city's Dept of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has recorded millions of violations on apartment buildings; about 1/5 of these complaints are Class C, the most serious category, and are immediately hazardous. Many of these violations have been on the record for years without any action against the landlord.

In order to address the crisis, Met Council works with other organizations to increase the amount of spending by HPD on code enforcement (to increase both the inspections and the amount of litigation), and to change the way the city collects fines from recalcitrant landlords.  In addition, Met Council has been a leader in the fight to get the Rent Guidelines Board to deny rent increases to landlords of rent stabilized buildings where there are serious violations.

Tenants in buildings with violations should be aggressive about getting the problems fixed. All the tenants in the building should call 311 every day for serious problems.  Also, call your City Councilmember and other elected officials. If tenants are rent regulated, they should file complaints with the DHCR and get rents reduced and frozen.  Talk to us about organizing a tenant association to get into court with an HP action or a rent strike.

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