Tenant harassment in NYC: what counts and how to fight it
NYC bans landlord acts meant to force you out: service cutoffs, threats, lockouts, buyout pressure. What counts, how to document it, where to report, and suing.
9 min read · Updated
In New York City it is illegal for a landlord to do anything meant to make you move out or give up your rights as a tenant, such as cutting off heat or water, threatening you, locking you out, ignoring dangerous repairs, or pushing buyout offers after you said no. You can report it by calling 311 (which refers it to HPD's Anti-Harassment Unit) and take the landlord to Housing Court, where a judge can order the harassment to stop and award you money.
The rules are in the NYC Housing Maintenance Code. This guide translates the legal list into plain English, shows you how to build an evidence log, and explains each place you can report.
At a glance
- Law
- NYC Admin. Code § 27-2004(a)(48), § 27-2005(d)
- Housing Maintenance Code
- Court penalty
- $2,000–$10,000 per unit
- $4,000 minimum with a prior finding in 5 years
- What you can recover
- $1,000 or actual damages + attorney fees
- Punitive damages possible
- Treated as
- Class C (immediately hazardous) violation
- HMC § 27-2115(m)
What counts as harassment
Harassment is any act or omission by or for the owner that causes, or is meant to cause, a lawful occupant to leave or to give up rights, and that includes at least one of the acts below. For most apartment buildings the law presumes the owner intended that result, and the owner has to prove otherwise. (That presumption doesn't apply in one- and two-family homes.)
| Category | What the law lists |
|---|---|
| Force and threats | Using or threatening force; threats based on race, religion, national origin, disability, immigration status, source of income, having children and other protected traits |
| Lies | Knowingly giving false or misleading information about your occupancy; false statements about occupancy or rent-stabilization status on construction permit filings |
| Services | Repeated interruptions of essential services (heat, hot water, gas, electricity), or one interruption long or serious enough to make the unit unlivable |
| Repairs | Repeatedly failing to fix hazardous or immediately hazardous violations on time; repeatedly falsely certifying that violations were fixed |
| Construction | Repeatedly doing work in violation of the construction codes (for example, unpermitted work) |
| Court cases | Repeated baseless or frivolous court proceedings against you, or one baseless case when others in the building have faced them |
| Lockouts and belongings | Removing your possessions; removing your door; plugging or disabling the lock; changing the lock without giving you a key; any unlawful eviction under Admin. Code § 26-521 |
| Buyout pressure | Contacting you about a buyout within 180 days after you told them in writing to stop; buyout offers without required written disclosures; offers combined with threats, obscene language, contact at work without written consent, or false information |
| Contact and visits | Repeatedly contacting or visiting on weekends, legal holidays or outside 9am–5pm, or in an abusive way, unless you agreed in writing |
| Documents | Asking for papers that would reveal citizenship status when you have already shown valid government ID |
| Catch-all | Other repeated acts that substantially interfere with your comfort, peace or quiet and are meant to push you out |
HPD's plain-language list adds overcharging for a rent-regulated apartment, and deliberately causing construction problems such as working after hours, blocking entrances, working without a permit, or leaving excessive dust and debris.
Buyout offers: what is and isn't allowed
A landlord can offer you money to move out. It becomes harassment when the rules aren't followed. The first buyout contact (and the first one after any 180-day gap) must come with a written disclosure that includes the purpose of the contact, that you can say no and stay, that you can talk to a lawyer, that you can refuse further contact in writing, and, where HPD has published it, the median asking rent in your community district. If you send a written "no more offers" notice, the owner may not contact you about a buyout for 180 days unless a court allows it or you invite it in writing. Under Local Law 102 of 2019, owners who sign a buyout agreement must report its terms to HPD.
Build an evidence log
Harassment cases are won on records. If your claim involves physical conditions or service cutoffs, the law requires it to be based at least partly on violations of record from HPD or another agency, so official complaints matter as much as your notes.
| Keep | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| A dated log: what happened, who, how long it lasted | Shows a pattern, which most harassment categories require |
| 311 complaint numbers and HPD/DOB violation numbers | Physical-condition claims must rest partly on violations of record |
| Photos and video with timestamps | Shows conditions, construction debris, removed doors or locks |
| Letters, texts, emails, voicemails from the owner or agents | Buyout offers, threats, false statements, contact outside 9–5 |
| Court papers from any cases the owner filed | Evidence of baseless or repeated proceedings |
| Names and contact details of neighbors with the same problems | Witnesses, and a possible group case |
| Your rent payments and lease | Shows you are a lawful occupant in good standing |
Check your building's complaint and violation history on Roofy's building lookup; a long record of open hazardous violations supports a claim of repeated failure to repair.
Where to report
| Who | How | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| HPD Anti-Harassment Unit | Call 311 and say you believe you are being harassed | Any building; AHU inspects, interviews tenants and can bring its own Housing Court cases |
| Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force | Email [email protected] (the address HPD lists for the Task Force) | Rent-regulated buildings where many tenants are affected, especially unsafe or illegal construction |
| NYS Homes and Community Renewal | 718-739-6400 (HPD); DHCR harassment info line 1-833-499-0343 | Rent-stabilized and rent-controlled tenants (overcharges, service reductions, harassment) |
| DOB Office of the Tenant Advocate | 212-393-2949 or [email protected] | Construction in occupied buildings |
| NYPD | 911 or your local precinct | Lockouts, threats, force, removal of belongings |
| 311 condition complaints | Call 311 or use 311 Online | Each service cutoff or repair problem, to create violations of record |
Taking the landlord to Housing Court
You (alone or with neighbors) can file a harassment claim in the Housing Part of Civil Court, usually called an HP action. HPD says tenants get help preparing the Order to Show Cause and instructions for serving it on both the owner and HPD. If the judge finds harassment:
- it counts as a Class C immediately hazardous violation;
- the court can issue an order restraining the owner from further harassment;
- the court must impose a civil penalty of $2,000 to $10,000 for each unit where a tenant was harassed ($4,000 to $10,000 if the owner had a harassment finding in the previous five years);
- you receive your actual damages or, if you choose, $1,000, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs, and the court may add punitive damages; and
- HPD posts the building address, owner name and penalty on its website.
Owners have a defense for service and condition claims if they show they didn't intend to push anyone out and acted promptly and in good faith to fix the problem. Courts can also award fees against tenants whose claims are frivolous. The harassment rules don't apply to a co-op shareholder or condo owner living in their own unit.
Lockouts and forcible evictions are also crimes under state law (RPAPL § 768), and a landlord who retaliates against you for complaining or organizing faces a presumption of retaliation for one year under Real Property Law § 223-b.
A plan you can start today
- 1
Start the log
Write down every incident from memory with approximate dates, then keep it current. - 2
File a 311 complaint for each condition
No heat, no hot water, leaks, unsafe construction. Each inspection can produce a violation of record. - 3
Report harassment to 311
Say you believe you are being harassed so it reaches HPD’s Anti-Harassment Unit. If you’re rent stabilized, also contact HCR at 718-739-6400. - 4
Send a written no-buyout notice
If you’re getting buyout pressure, it starts the 180-day no-contact period. - 5
Talk to your neighbors
Group cases are stronger. You have a legal right to form a tenant association. - 6
Get legal help and file
Contact the Legal Aid Society (212-577-3300) or Legal Services NYC (917-661-4500), then bring an HP harassment claim.
Related: HP actions, illegal lockouts, starting a tenant association, landlord entry rules, and tenant harassment findings in Housing Court.
Independent re-check 2026-10-12. Fixed: THPT email changed from [email protected] (2024 Tenants Guide) to [email protected], the address on HPD’s current THPT page, and THPT scope reworded to match it (rent-regulated buildings, many tenants, illegal construction); HCR 1-866 number replaced with the DHCR line HPD now lists (1-833-499-0343); HPD plain-language list wording aligned with the current HPD harassment page. Re-read HMC § 27-2004(a)(48) items a through h, § 27-2115(h)(2), (m), (n), (o) in the nyc.gov HMC PDF dated April 17, 2026. Harassment definition and sub-items (a) through (h), the rebuttable presumption of intent and its private-dwelling exception, buyout rules (180-day no-contact, required written disclosures, banned tactics), HP harassment claim rules (violations-of-record requirement, Class C status, $2,000–$10,000 penalty per unit or $4,000 minimum with a prior finding in five years, restraining order, good-faith defense, $1,000-or-actual damages plus attorney fees, punitive damages, HPD posting of findings, co-op/condo owner-occupant exclusion) read from the April 2026 nyc.gov HMC PDF. Reporting routes (311 to Anti-Harassment Unit, THPT email, HCR numbers, DOB Office of Tenant Advocate) from HPD harassment page and ABCs Tenants Guide. Local Law 102 of 2019 buyout reporting from HPD Owners Guide. Retaliation presumption from RPL § 223-b.
Sources
- NYC Housing Maintenance Code §§ 27-2004(a)(48), 27-2005(d), 27-2115(h), (m), (n), (o) · City of New York (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Tenant Harassment · NYC HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Report Tenant Harassment · NYC HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force · NYC HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
- ABCs of Housing: Tenants Guide (Harassment; Housing Court) · NYC HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
- ABCs of Housing: Owners Guide (Harassment; Buyouts) · NYC HPD (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Real Property Law § 223-b (retaliation) · New York State Senate (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law § 768 (unlawful eviction) · New York State Senate (accessed October 12, 2026)
- Residential Tenants’ Rights Guide · New York State Attorney General (accessed October 12, 2026)
General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change; confirm with the agency or a professional before you act.