You’ve called 311. You’ve filed the HPD complaint. The inspector came (or didn’t). Maybe a violation got issued. And still — no heat, no hot water, the mold’s still creeping up the bathroom wall, or the rats are auditioning for a remake of Ratatouille in your kitchen. So what’s the next move?

It’s a lawsuit. Specifically, it’s called an HP Action, and it’s the most underused tool in the NYC tenant playbook. You can file it yourself, it’s free, and a judge can order your landlord to make the repairs — with real consequences if they don’t.

What an HP Action Actually Is

An HP Action (short for Housing Part Action) is a lawsuit tenants file in NYC Housing Court to force a landlord to make repairs and restore essential services like heat, hot water, gas, and electricity. According to the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the case is brought against both the landlord and HPD — which means the city agency itself becomes a party in your case and has to show up.

According to The Legal Aid Society, HP Actions cover the conditions that 311 complaints are supposed to fix but often don’t: lack of heat, no hot water, leaks, mold, vermin, broken locks, broken windows, and any other condition that violates the NYC Housing Maintenance Code.

The 311-First Rule

You don’t legally need a prior 311 complaint to file an HP Action — but it helps enormously. A history of 311 complaints documents the problem, gets HPD inspectors into your apartment, and creates a paper trail of violations the judge will rely on.

The HPD violation system uses three classes, per HPD’s heat and hot water page:

• Class A — Non-hazardous (cosmetic peeling paint, minor issues). Landlord has 90 days to fix.
• Class B — Hazardous (mold under 10 square feet, leaks, broken windows). Landlord has 30 days.
• Class C — Immediately hazardous (no heat in heat season, no hot water, lead paint, large mold infestations). Landlord has 24 hours.

If those deadlines pass and the condition is still there, you have grounds for an HP Action.

Filing the Case — What It Actually Costs and Takes

HP Actions are free to file. There is no filing fee. You don’t need a lawyer (though Legal Aid, Legal Services NYC, and other groups will represent you for free if you qualify).

Here’s the practical sequence in any of the five borough Housing Courts:

1. Go to the Housing Court clerk’s office for your borough — Manhattan is at 111 Centre Street, Brooklyn at 141 Livingston Street, Bronx at 1118 Grand Concourse, Queens at 89-17 Sutphin Boulevard, and Staten Island at 927 Castleton Avenue. Bring your lease (if you have one), photos of conditions, and any 311 complaint numbers.
2. Ask for an HP Action packet. The clerk will hand you the Order to Show Cause, a Verified Petition, and an Inspection Request form. The Inspection Request is the secret weapon — it requires HPD to send an inspector to your apartment, and any condition the inspector documents becomes part of the court record.
3. Fill out the forms. List every condition: be specific. “Bedroom ceiling leaking water from upstairs apartment since March 2026” is better than “there’s a leak.”
4. Sign in front of the clerk. The case gets a docket number and a return date — usually within 7 to 14 days.
5. Serve the landlord and HPD. The court will give you instructions; usually a friend or family member over 18 (not you) has to deliver the papers.
6. Show up to court on the return date. Bring photos, dates, and the inspection report if it’s come back.

What a Judge Can Order

If the judge finds the conditions exist, they can issue a repair order directing the landlord to fix everything by a date certain. That order is enforceable. If the landlord ignores it, you can come back and file a contempt motion — and the consequences get serious. Per the New York Attorney General’s office, landlords who ignore court repair orders can face civil penalties, contempt fines, and in extreme cases, the city can take over emergency repairs through HPD’s Emergency Repair Program and bill the landlord directly.

Many landlords settle once the court date hits — repairs that were “impossible” for six months suddenly get done in 48 hours when there’s a docket number attached.

The Rent Withholding Question

One thing tenants ask constantly: can I just stop paying rent until the repairs get made? The short answer is: it’s risky, and you should not do it without a lawyer.

The cleaner play is to keep paying rent (or escrow it into a separate account) and file the HP Action. That way, when the landlord retaliates with a nonpayment case, you have already established the repair conditions through the court — and you can ask the judge for a rent abatement (a credit against past rent) based on the value lost from the conditions. Judges regularly grant 20-50% abatements for serious habitability problems.

Action Steps

• Document everything now. Photos with timestamps, copies of every text and email to your landlord, the dates conditions started.
• File a 311 complaint first if you haven’t — call 311 or use the NYC 311 portal. Save the service request number.
• Wait the legal window (24 hours for Class C, 30 days for Class B, 90 days for Class A) — then go to your borough Housing Court.
• Call free legal help before filing if you can. Legal Services NYC at 917-661-4500, Legal Aid Society at 212-577-3300, or NYC’s Right to Counsel program if you’re income-eligible.
• Keep paying rent while the case is pending — or escrow it. Don’t hand the landlord a nonpayment case for free.

The Bottom Line

HP Actions are how regular New Yorkers — without lawyers, without money — make the system actually deliver. They’re not glamorous. The forms are tedious, the waiting rooms are grim, and Housing Court is not anyone’s idea of a good afternoon. But a court order is a court order, and the day your landlord realizes you’re willing to use one is usually the day the radiator finally gets fixed.

Will

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