New York City housing officials unveiled a report outlining the top complaints tenants have about their landlords and offered policy recommendations to help New Yorkers report and resolve those issues.
Between February and April 2026, senior members of the Mamdani administration engaged over 2,400 New Yorkers through one-on-one listening sessions,
interactive boards, and online testimony collection during its Rental Ripoff Hearings.
Tenants shared their frustration about both their landlords’ and the city’s response to conditions in their homes. Repeated themes included the uneven power dynamics between tenants and landlords; health and quality-of-life issues related to poor maintenance; the need for better communication from both landlords and the city and more clarity on city interventions and tenants’ rights; frustration about false certifications; the difficulty of navigating Housing Court; the heightened risk that immigrant tenants face; and onerous, deceptive, or surprise fees and utility bills, the report said.
The city said it will try to address these issues through legislative action, administrative changes and through litigation.
Since heat and hot water complaints account for about a third of complaints filed with the city Housing Preservation & Development, the report indicated that the city would start sending out inspectors to check out all apartments that file non-anonymous complaints starting in October 2026.
Other proposals include better inter-agency collaboration between HPD and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to target pests; improving elevator access by allowing the Department of Buildings to study the installation of small elevators in walk-up buildings and improving inspection response time for service repairs; and enhancing the current mold inspection program.
In addition, improvements will be made with HPD inspections starting in fall 2026, where tenants will receive a text message through 311 (if they provided a phone number during complaint intake) that provides them with the information on whom to contact to schedule an appointment so they can be home for an inspection, the report said.
The administration will also look into how it can legally recognize tenant unions, figure out a new way for tenants to prove their creditworthiness without using a credit check, and requirements for real estate companies to disclose when artificial intelligence is used in photos in apartment listings.
“The actions laid out in the Rental Ripoff Report will help create a city where every New Yorker can live with dignity," Leila Bozorg, deputy mayor for Housing and Planning said in a statement. "From improving code enforcement to supporting tenants who organize with their neighbors, these policies are rooted in real experiences and address real concerns"
