New York Tenants' Rights (2011) - Section 5. Habitability and Repairs lyrics

HABITABILITY AND REPAIRS WARRANTY OF HABITABILITY Under the warranty of habitability, tenants have the right to a livable, safe and sanitary apartment. This is a right that is implied in every written or oral residential lease. Any lease provision that waives this right is contrary to public policy and is therefore void. Examples of a breach of this warranty include the failure to provide heat or hot water on a regular basis, or the failure to rid an apartment of an insect infestation. Public areas of the building are also covered by the warranty of habitability. The warranty of habitability also applies to cooperative apartments, but not to condominiums. Any uninhabitable condition caused by the tenant or persons under the tenant's direction or control does not constitute a breach of the warranty of habitability. In such a case, it is the responsibility of the tenant to remedy the condition. Real Property Law §235-b. If a landlord breaches the warranty of habitability, the tenant may sue for a rent reduction. Alternatively, rent regulated tenants can also file a rent reduction complaint with DHCR. The tenant may also withhold rent, but in response, the landlord may sue the tenant for non-payment of rent. In such case, the tenant may countersue for breach of the warranty. The court or DHCR may grant a rent reduction if it finds that the landlord violated the warranty of habitability. The reduction is computed by subtracting from the actual rent the estimated value of the apartment without the essential services. For a tenant to receive a reduction, the landlord must have actual or constructive notice of the existence of the defective condition. A landlord's liability for damages is limited when the failure to provide services is the result of a union-wide building workers' strike. However, a court may award damages to a tenant equal to a share of the landlord's net savings because of the strike. Landlords will be liable for lack of services caused by a strike when they have not made a good faith attempt, where practicable, to provide services. In extenuating circumstances, tenants may make necessary repairs and deduct reasonable repair costs from the rent. For example, when a landlord has been notified that a door lock is broken and willfully neglects to repair it, the tenant may hire a locksmith and deduct the cost from the rent. Tenants should keep receipts for such repairs. If an apartment is so severely damaged by fire or other circumstances not caused by the tenant that the apartment becomes uninhabitable, and the lease does not expressly provide otherwise, the tenant may vacate the apartment and cancel the lease on three days' notice to the landlord. The tenant will be released from liability for subsequent rental payments. Real Property Law § 227. If only a portion of the apartment is damaged, the rent may be reduced pursuant to a court order or by DHCR in proportion to the part of the apartment that is damaged. The landlord must then repair those portions of the apartment and return them to livable condition. LANDLORDS' DUTY OF REPAIR Landlords of multiple dwellings must keep the apartments and the building's public areas in “good repair” and clean and free of vermin, garbage or other offensive material. Landlords are required to maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating and ventilating systems and appliances landlords install, such as refrigerators and stoves, in good and safe working order. Tenants should bring complaints to the attention of their local housing officials. Multiple Dwelling Law §78 and §80; Multiple Residence Law §174. The Multiple Dwelling Law applies to cities with a population of 325,000 or more and the Multiple Residence Law applies to cities with less than 325,000 and to all towns and villages. In New York City, the landlord is required to maintain the public areas in a clean and sanitary condition. NYC Admin. Code § 27-2011. LEAD PAINT Landlords must protect against the possibility that children will be poisoned by peeling of dangerous lead-based paint. Federal and local laws require that landlords of multiple dwellings built before 1960 (or between 1960 and 1978 where the landlord knows there is lead paint) must ascertain if a child under seven years old lives in an apartment, and inspect that apartment for lead paint hazards. In performing any work that disturbs lead paint in applicable apartments and common areas, a landlord must hire workers who have completed a training course in lead-safe work practices. Landlords must remove or permanently cover apartment walls and other areas where lead based paint is peeling. The landlord must keep records of all notices, inspections and repair of lead paint hazards, and other matters related to lead paint law. Landlords of such dwellings in New York City must also provide their tenants with a pamphlet prepared by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). 42 U.S.C.A § 4851; NYC Admin. Code § 27-2056. SAFETY SMOKE DETECTORS Landlords of multiple dwellings must install approved smoke detectors in each apartment, within ten feet of each room used for sleeping. The smoke detectors should be clearly audible in each of those rooms. Tenants may be asked to reimburse the owner up to ten dollars for the cost of purchasing and installing each battery-operated detector. During the first year of use, landlords must repair or replace any broken detector if its malfunction is not the tenant's fault. Tenants should test their detectors frequently to make sure they work properly. Multiple Residence Law § 15; Multiple Dwelling Law § 68; NYC Admin. Code § 27-2045. CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS Landlords of all multiple dwellings and one-and two family homes in New York City must provide and install an approved carbon monoxide alarm within fifteen feet of the primary entrance to each sleeping room. All multiple dwellings built or offered for sale in New York State after August 9, 2005 must contain carbon monoxide detectors in accordance with local building codes. NYC Admin. Code 27-§ 2046.1; Exec. Law § 378. New York City landlords must post a HPD-approved form in a common area informing occupants of the requirements of New York City's carbon monoxide laws. Tenants are responsible for reimbursing the landlord $25.00 within one year for each carbon monoxide alarm that is newly installed. Tenants are also responsible for keeping and maintaining the carbon monoxide alarm in good repair. However, landlords are responsible for replacing any detectors that are lost, stolen or become inoperable within the first year of use. NYC Admin. Code § 27-2046.1. Combination smoke/carbon monoxide detectors are permitted. A landlord is entitled to be reimbursed a maximum of $35.00 for such combination detectors only when the smoke alarm needs to be replaced. If the smoke alarm is operable and the landlord wishes to replace it with a combined alarm, the landlord can only be reimbursed $25.00. CRIME PREVENTION Landlords are required to take minimal precautions to protect against reasonably foreseeable criminal harm. For example, tenants who are victims of crimes in their building or apartment, and who are able to prove that the criminal was an intruder and took advantage of the fact that the entrance to the building was negligently maintained by the landlord, may be able to recover damages from the landlord. ENTRANCE DOOR LOCKS AND INTERCOMS Multiple dwellings which were built or converted to such use after January 1, 1968 must have automatic self-closing and self-locking doors at all entrances. These doors must be kept locked at all times, except when an attendant is on duty. If this type of building contains eight or more apartments it must also have a two-way voice intercom system from each apartment to the front door and tenants must be able to “buzz” open the entrance door for visitors. Multiple dwellings built or converted to such use prior to January 1, 1968 also must have self-locking doors and a two way intercom system if requested by a majority of the tenants. Landlords may recover from tenants the cost of providing this equipment. Multiple Dwelling Law § 50-a. Entrances, stairways and yards of multiple dwellings must be sufficiently lit at night, from sunset to sunrise. The owner is responsible for installation and maintenance of lighting in these areas. NYC Admin. Code § 27-2040; Multiple Dwelling Law § 35; Multiple Residence Law § 109. LOBBY ATTENDANT SERVICE Tenants of multiple dwellings with eight or more apartments are entitled to maintain a lobby attendant service for their safety and security at their own expense, whenever any attendant provided by the landlord is not on duty. Multiple Dwelling Law § 50-c. ELEVATOR MIRRORS There must be a mirror in each self-service elevator in multiple dwellings so that people may see, prior to entering, if anyone is already in the elevator. Multiple Dwelling Law § 51-b; NYC Admin. Code § 27-2042. INDIVIDUAL LOCKS, PEEPHOLES AND MAILBOXES Tenants in multiple dwellings can install and maintain their own locks on their apartment entrance doors in addition to the lock supplied by the landlord. The lock may be no more than three inches in circumference, and tenants must provide their landlord with a duplicate key upon request. Failure to provide the landlord with a duplicate key if requested can be construed as a violation of a substantial obligation of the tenancy, and can possibly lead to eviction proceedings. Any lease provision requiring a tenant to pay additional rent or other charges for the installation of an additional lock is void as against public policy and unenforceable. Multiple Dwelling Law § 51-c. A landlord may only enter a tenant's apartment under certain circumstances, such as to make emergency repairs. This limited right of entry may not be abused or used to hara** a tenant. The landlord must provide a peephole in the entrance door of each apartment. Landlords of multiple dwellings in New York City must also install a chain-door guard on the entrance door to each apartment, so as to permit partial opening of the door. Multiple Dwelling Law § 51-c; NYC Admin. Code § 27-2043. United States Postal regulations require landlords of buildings containing three or more apartments to provide secure mail boxes for each apartment unless the management has arranged to distribute the mail to each apartment. Landlords must keep the mail boxes and locks in good repair. WINDOW GUARDS Landlords in New York City must install window guards in any apartment in which a child under the age of ten resides, and in apartments where the tenant requests window guards, even if a child under ten does not reside in the apartment. Landlords are required to provide tenants with a form stating whether there are children residing in a household and to request installation of window guards. Tenants are required to notify their landlord when they have children of this age living in their apartment, or if they provide child care services in that apartment. Tenants may not refuse installation. Once window guards are installed, the tenant must not take down, make alterations to, or remove any part of them. Landlords in New York City must install Department of Health and Mental Hygiene-approved window guards. If an object more than five inches in diameter can fit through, over or under a window guard, then it is not installed properly. All approved window guards have a manufacturer's approval number imprinted on a vertical stile of the guard, and must be appropriate for the type of window in which they are being installed. NYC Health Code § 131.15. Windows giving access to fire escapes are excluded. Protective guards must also be installed on the windows of all public hallways. Landlords must give tenants an annual notice about their rights to window guards and must provide this information in a lease rider. Rent controlled and stabilized tenants may be charged up to ten dollars per window guard. NYC Health Code § 131.15.