Q: I live in a market-rate apartment in the Bronx and there has been no gas in the entire building for five months. I need gas for cooking. I'm withholding my rent and have filed complaints with 311 but we're not making any progress. The landlord has no legitimate answer as to why this is happening. What rights do I have and what should we do?
A: No matter what type of apartment you live in, the lack of gas for cooking is a violation of the city's warranty of habitability. According to the city's Housing Preservation and Development Department, landlords are required to act immediately to restore gas service as soon as supply is interrupted.
But be prepared to wait. Depending on the reason for the shutdown – often due to a detected leak in a building's gas line – restoring service can take a long time, especially in larger buildings.
If you called 311 to file a complaint with HPD but no inspector came to document the problem, keep calling. Be sure to schedule a time when you will be home to ensure a proper inspection. If you are not home, the inspector should leave a note with a code enforcement phone number so you can call back.
The inspector may issue a violation against the landlord and may impose fines. The violation confirms that no gas is present. This can be helpful if you need to take legal action against your landlord.
It gives the tenant a formal way to tell the landlord, “You found out about this on a specific date,” said Zoe Kheyman, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society's housing office in the Bronx.
If a violation and fines do not result in a lawsuit, you can file what is known as an HP case in the Bronx Housing Court. The focus is on repairs (not any withheld rental payments) and is designed to allow you to represent yourself. When you apply, you must send your landlord the legal documents. If you cannot afford the application fee, you can apply for assistance.
In the meantime, you and your neighbors should ask your landlord to provide hotplates as an alternative cooking option. Ms. Kheyman also recommended keeping receipts for any costs incurred as a result of this outage, including restaurant checks or increased electricity usage. The receipts could be helpful in your negotiations for a rent discount.