Brooklyn has seen some of the most dramatic rent increases and displacement pressures in NYC history. Here is what your landlord is legally allowed — and not allowed — to do.
Is Your Apartment Rent Stabilized?
Buildings with 6+ units built before 1974 are likely rent stabilized. If yours is, your landlord can only raise rent by the amount the Rent Guidelines Board allows each year — often 2–3%. Anything more is an overcharge. Check HCR.ny.gov right now.
Rent Overcharge — Treble Damages
If your landlord has been overcharging you, you are entitled to a refund going back years — and if the overcharge was willful, courts award treble damages (three times the amount overcharged). The 2019 New York's tenant-protection law eliminated many of the loopholes landlords used to escape liability.
Landlord Harassment Is a Crime in Brooklyn
Shutting off heat, making unauthorized entry, sending threatening letters, refusing to make repairs, removing doors or windows — all of these are illegal forms of landlord harassment in New York. The NYC's Housing Maintenance Code and New York's 2019 tenant-protection law created powerful remedies including civil penalties up to $15,000 per violation.
Heat Season Rights
From October 1 through May 31, Brooklyn landlords must maintain 68°F during the day and 62°F at night. Every day without heat is a violation. Call 311 to create a paper trail, then call us — repeated heat complaints strengthen a harassment or HP Action case significantly.
Repairs and Habitability
Brooklyn landlords are required to maintain apartments in habitable condition — working plumbing, safe electrical, no vermin infestations, no mold. If your landlord refuses to make repairs, an HP Action in Housing Court can compel them within days. Persistent refusal is grounds for a rent reduction and damages claim.
Gentrification Hotspots
Crown Heights, Bushwick, Flatbush, Bed-Stuy, Ridgewood, and East New York have among the highest rates of tenant harassment complaints in Brooklyn. If you live in one of these neighborhoods, the odds are higher that your landlord is attempting to push out stabilized tenants. Know your rights.