Your landlord has been calling at odd hours pressuring you to move. The heat keeps going off for days at a time. You got a lease renewal with a suspiciously inflated rent right after you complained about a broken elevator. You might chalk these things up to bad luck or a difficult landlord — but under New York City law, each of these situations could constitute illegal tenant harassment.

NYC has some of the strongest anti-harassment protections for tenants in the country. Here’s what the law actually says, what harassment looks like in practice, and exactly how to fight back — with real agency contacts and legal tools.

What NYC Law Defines as Tenant Harassment

Under the NYC Housing Maintenance Code (Administrative Code §27-2005), harassment is defined as any act — or deliberate failure to act — by a landlord that causes or is intended to cause a tenant to vacate their unit or surrender their rights. The law doesn’t require physical threats. Intent can be inferred from a pattern of conduct.

The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the NYS Attorney General’s office both identify the following as common forms of illegal harassment:

• Threatening you verbally, by text, or through repeated visits demanding you move out
• Withholding heat, hot water, electricity, or gas to make your apartment uninhabitable
• Failing to make required repairs after you’ve reported them — especially when the conditions are hazardous
• Repeated buyout offers to rent-stabilized tenants who have already declined
• Illegal lockouts (changing locks, removing belongings, blocking access)
• Refusing to renew a lease for a rent-stabilized tenant without legal grounds
• Falsely claiming the unit is owner-occupied to force a vacancy
• Filing frivolous eviction proceedings to intimidate a tenant
• Sending unauthorized or threatening people to your apartment

Critically: landlords who intentionally allow dangerous conditions to persist — rodent infestations, lead paint exposure, structural hazards — after receiving notice can be found to be engaged in harassment, not just negligence.

Does This Apply to Your Apartment?

Anti-harassment protections under the NYC Housing Maintenance Code apply to all tenants in NYC residential buildings — rent-stabilized or market-rate. However, the strongest tools and the most active enforcement focus on rent-stabilized tenants, because harassment is most commonly used to push long-term regulated tenants out of apartments that landlords want to deregulate or renovate.

If your apartment is rent-stabilized, you have the broadest protections and access to the most enforcement resources. If you’re in a market-rate apartment covered by Good Cause Eviction, you also have meaningful protections — including the right to challenge evictions and unreasonable rent increases. If neither applies, civil harassment claims are still available through Housing Court, though they are harder to pursue without legal help.

How to Document Harassment

Before you file anything, document everything:

• Keep a harassment log: Write down every incident — date, time, what was said or done, who was present. Note every time your heat goes off, your repairs go unaddressed, or you receive an unexpected visit.
• Save all communications: Text messages, emails, and written notices from your landlord are evidence. Screenshot and back them up.
• File 311 complaints for every condition issue: Each HPD complaint creates a timestamped public record. If you later allege harassment through withheld repairs, those 311 records are your foundation. See our guide on filing HPD 311 complaints.
• Request your apartment’s HPD complaint history: Go to HPDonline.hpd.nyc.gov and look up your building’s open violations. A pattern of unresolved violations strengthens a harassment claim.

How to File a Harassment Complaint

HPD Anti-Harassment Unit (AHU) — Call 311

HPD has a dedicated Anti-Harassment Unit that investigates landlord harassment in NYC residential buildings. To file a complaint:

1. Call 311 and explicitly state that you believe you are being harassed by your landlord.
2. HPD may schedule an inspection or conduct an investigation depending on the nature of the claim.
3. If HPD finds harassment, it can issue violations and civil penalties to the landlord.

You can also email HPD’s Tenant Harassment Protection Task Force (THPT) directly if you live in a building with rent-stabilized units: THPT@hpd.nyc.gov.

Housing Court HP Proceedings

Tenants can bring an HP proceeding in NYC Housing Court — either for repairs alone, or for a combined harassment and repairs case. An HP action is a civil proceeding you file against your landlord asking a judge to order them to make repairs or stop harassing you. You can file pro se (without a lawyer), but legal representation significantly improves outcomes.

HP proceeding forms are available at any NYC Housing Court clerk’s office. There is no filing fee for tenants. Find your borough’s Housing Court at nycourts.gov.

NYSHCR (For Rent-Stabilized Tenants)

If you live in a rent-stabilized apartment, file a complaint with the NYS Division of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR/HCR), which regulates rent stabilization. Call 866-275-3427 or visit hcr.ny.gov. DHCR can investigate harassment tied to attempts to deregulate an apartment and impose sanctions on landlords found to have acted in bad faith.

NYS Attorney General

The NYS Attorney General’s office investigates systematic landlord harassment affecting multiple tenants in a building, particularly where a landlord is attempting a large-scale tenant displacement. If neighbors are experiencing similar issues, a coordinated complaint to the AG carries more weight.

What Can Happen to a Landlord Found to Be Harassing Tenants

Harassment has real legal consequences in NYC:

• Civil penalties: Landlords found to have engaged in tenant harassment can be fined up to $10,000 per violation under the NYC Housing Maintenance Code, according to HPD.
• Treble damages: Under RPAPL §853, tenants who are unlawfully removed or excluded from their units can sue for three times the actual damages sustained.
• Criminal liability: Severe harassment, including illegal lockouts, can result in criminal charges under NYC Administrative Code §26-521.
• Injunctive relief: A judge can order the landlord to stop the harassing conduct immediately and restore services or access.

Action Steps

1. Start documenting immediately. Open a notes app or keep a paper log. Date, time, what happened. Every incident.
2. File a 311 complaint for every unaddressed repair or service outage. Create a paper trail at HPD before you escalate to a harassment complaint.
3. Call 311 and say you are being harassed. Ask specifically for the Anti-Harassment Unit. Get a complaint reference number.
4. Email THPT@hpd.nyc.gov if you’re in a rent-stabilized building and the harassment is connected to deregulation pressure.
5. Get free legal help. NYC’s Universal Access to Counsel program provides free attorneys to tenants in Housing Court. Call 718-557-1379 or visit nyc.gov eviction protection resources. Legal Aid, The Legal Aid Society, and NYLAG also offer free tenant representation.
6. Organize with neighbors. If multiple tenants in your building are experiencing similar treatment, contact a tenant advocacy group such as Met Council on Housing (212-979-0611). Collective complaints carry significantly more legal and political weight.

Harassment is one of the most insidious tools in a bad landlord’s playbook — because it’s designed to make you give up quietly. Knowing the law, documenting everything, and using the agencies that exist specifically for this purpose shifts the equation. NYC’s enforcement infrastructure is imperfect, but it is real. Use it.

Related guides: Landlord Retaliation in NYC | Landlord Buyout Offers | Free Legal Help for NYC Tenants

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