My landlord is retaliating against me for complaining.

Retaliation cases are won and lost on the temporal pattern. A 311 complaint on March 5 followed by a non-renewal notice on March 20 is a stronger claim than any amount of “they're being unfair”. The pattern is what shifts the burden to your landlord. Spend real time on this — it's the single most important piece of work in your whole case.

Under RPL § 223-b, a protected activity is any good-faith exercise of a tenant right in the 12 months before the landlord's retaliatory action. Common examples:

• 311 complaints — heat/hot water, mold, pests, leaks, lead paint, electrical, harassment. You can pull a full history at 311 Online; each complaint has a reference number. Save the numbers.
• Written repair requests to your landlord — email, text, portal message, paper letter. Screenshots count.
• HPD violations issued on your unit or building after your complaint (pulled from HPDOnline)
• DHCR filings — rent reduction applications, rent history requests, overcharge complaints
• Tenants' association activity — sign-up sheets, meeting notes, petitions, building flyers. Even informal organizing counts.
• Housing Court filings — HP Actions, Orders to Show Cause, any prior proceeding you initiated.
• Refusals to consent to something the landlord wasn't entitled to demand (e.g., refusing to let them show the apartment at 8 PM, refusing to sign a buyout)

A retaliatory action is anything punitive directed at your tenancy: rent increase beyond the normal pattern, non-renewal, starting a holdover, reducing services, false accusations of lease violation, harassment, threats, access demands, hostile communication, locking you out. Note the date and save any paper (notice, email, text) connected to it.

This captures everything a lawyer, Met Council volunteer, or judge needs. It auto-syncs to Steps 3 and 4 so you only enter it once.

Every document connected to any item on the timeline above. The 311 complaint confirmation email. The screenshot of the text message asking for a repair. The envelope the non-renewal notice came in (postmarks prove the delivery date). Photos of conditions before and after. Photograph everything front and back, save it to your phone, and back it up to cloud storage or email it to yourself. Papers get lost. Evidence that's only on your kitchen table is evidence you can't use.

Don't sign anything beyond a return receipt. If your landlord offers a buyout, a “cash-for-keys” agreement, or anything to surrender the apartment — stop, take a photo, and call a tenant lawyer before signing. A landlord offering to pay you to leave is a signal that they think the retaliation claim has value; you should not give it up cheaply.

Retaliation cases live and die on documentation. Your timeline (Step 1) is the claim; this step is the evidence. Everything you pull here — 311 records, HPD violations, your own communications and photos — becomes what you hand a lawyer, a Met Council volunteer, or a judge. Do it now, while the records are fresh and the conditions are still documentable.

Go to 311 Online and search complaints by address. Export or screenshot every housing-related complaint you ever filed — the date, the category, the reference number, and the status (open / closed / escalated to HPD). If you don't remember filing a complaint, search anyway — anyone in the household could have filed.

If you called 311 without going online, the complaint is still in the system. Call 311 and ask for your complaint history by address.

Go to HPDOnline, search your address, and screenshot / print:

• Open violations in your unit — especially Class B (hazardous) and Class C (immediately hazardous). These are your strongest evidence that you had legitimate complaints.
• The full violation history on the building — a landlord with a pattern of violations across units is a landlord with a pattern of retaliation
• Violations dated close to (or just after) your complaints — ties the inspection trail to your protected activity
• Violations falsely certified as corrected — strong credibility evidence if you can show the condition wasn't actually fixed

An honest note: HPDOnline is public but incomplete. Some violations age off after they're certified closed, and the certification step has no on-site verification most of the time. Use what's there as a starting point, then supplement with your own photos.

• Every text or email with your landlord, super, or management — both sides of the conversation. Export the thread if possible.
• Every repair request you sent — in any form. A “hi the toilet is broken” text on January 3 plus a non-renewal notice on January 17 is a retaliation case.
• Voicemails — if the landlord called and threatened or pressured you, voicemails are recorded evidence. Back them up off your phone (most phones have an export option)
• Any written notice your landlord gave you: rent increase, non-renewal, notice of termination, notice to cure, lease amendment, eviction petition. Save the envelopes too.

Walk through your apartment with your phone and photograph every unfixed condition: leaks, peeling paint, broken fixtures, pests/droppings, gaps in baseboards, missing window guards, mold, broken locks. Date-stamped photos are best (most phones include this in metadata automatically — don't strip it). Save to a single folder with the date in the folder name, back it up to cloud storage.

These photos serve two purposes: they document the conditions you were complaining about (supporting the retaliation claim), and they preserve a warranty-of-habitability defense if a holdover case gets filed later.

Auto-populated from Step 1. Add anything new; it'll carry to Step 3.

A written response from you does three things at once: it asserts the retaliation claim in writing (making it much harder for your landlord to later claim they didn't know); it puts the landlord (and their attorney) on notice that they will need to justify their action; and it creates a paper trail that becomes evidence if a holdover or other case is filed later. Send it within a week of receiving the retaliatory notice if you can.

• Acknowledge what you received and the date you received it.
• State the retaliation claim clearly. Cite RPL § 223-b, identify your protected activity (with dates), identify the landlord's action (with date), and state that the action falls within the 1-year presumption window.
• Demand withdrawal of the retaliatory action (or a written justification, if they insist they have one)
• State that you intend to remain in possession of the apartment.
• Confirm you will continue paying rent at the prior amount in the meantime, and keep doing so.
• Reserve all rights and defenses (legal boilerplate, but worth including)
• Send by a method that proves delivery — certified mail with return receipt, or email if your lease specifies email is valid. Keep copies of everything.

• Certified mail with return receipt requested. Costs ~$10 at any USPS counter; gives you a green card signed by the recipient. This is the gold standard.
• Keep a stamped copy for yourself by mailing one to your own address at the same time, unopened.
• If your lease allows email service: send and BCC yourself; save the sent record
• Photograph the envelope and the contents before mailing.

The § 223-b letter to the landlord is one track. Depending on what the landlord did, you may also want to file:

• 311 / HPD complaint — if services were cut (heat, hot water, etc.) or repairs are refused. Creates a public record and triggers an inspection.
• DHCR rent reduction application (Form RA-81 for individual, RA-84 for building-wide) — if you're rent-stabilized and services have been reduced. Free; the threat of a rent freeze often restores services faster than anything else.
• DHCR harassment complaint (Form RA-60H) — if you're rent-stabilized or rent-controlled and the landlord is engaged in harassment intended to force you out.
• NYC Commission on Human Rights (212-416-0197) — if the retaliation involves discrimination (race, national origin, source of income, immigration status, etc.) or ICE threats.
• NYC tenant-harassment Housing Court action — if the harassment is severe and ongoing, you can file your own case for damages and injunctive relief. Talk to Met Council or Legal Services NYC first.

Pay the previously agreed rent on time, by a method that creates a record (check, money order, online portal). If the landlord refuses to accept it, document the refusal — save the bounced-back envelope, the screenshot of the rejected portal payment, the text saying “don't pay me.” Continued payment preserves your tenancy and prevents the case from being reframed as nonpayment.

Retaliation cases have more than one enforcement path. Your landlord can be attacked through Housing Court (defense to a holdover, or your own affirmative case), DHCR (rent reductions and harassment for rent-regulated tenants), NYC CCHR (for discrimination- or ICE-flavored retaliation), 311/HPD (for service cuts), or all of the above simultaneously. Start with a free tenant-rights hotline — they'll help you pick which paths make sense.

1. Met Council on Housing Tenants' Rights Hotline — 212-979-0611 (Mon & Wed 1:30–8 PM, Tue 5:30–8 PM, Fri 1:30–5 PM). Trained volunteers, decades of experience with retaliation. Best single call for most tenants.
2. Housing Court Answers — 212-962-4795, Mon–Fri 9 AM–5 PM. Especially useful if a court case is imminent or already filed. Connects you to Right to Counsel intake.

Depending on what the landlord did, use one or more of these in parallel:

• Housing Court — as a defense. If your landlord has filed or is about to file a holdover or nonpayment, retaliation is an affirmative defense. Right to Counsel may apply (see below)
• Housing Court — as an affirmative case. If the harassment is ongoing and severe, you can bring your own tenant-harassment case under NYC Admin. Code § 27-2004 for damages and injunctive relief. Generally requires a tenant attorney.
• DHCR service reduction — rent-stabilized tenants can file Form RA-81 (individual) or RA-84 (building-wide). Free, administrative, and the threat of a rent freeze often restores services.
• DHCR harassment complaint — rent-stabilized / rent-controlled tenants can file Form RA-60H for harassment intended to force them out
• NYC Commission on Human Rights — 212-416-0197. File here if the retaliation involves protected-class discrimination (race, national origin, disability, source of income, immigration status, etc.) or ICE threats.
• 311 / HPD — for any code-level issue (heat, hot water, leaks, mold, pests, broken locks). Creates a public record and triggers HPD inspection.
• NYPD (911) — only for illegal lockouts, physical threats, or immediate criminal conduct

NYC's Universal Access to Legal Services Law provides a free attorney to eligible tenants in Housing Court evictions. You qualify if:

• You're 60 or older — covered regardless of income
• You're income-eligible — household income at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (roughly $53,300 for a family of three or $62,000 for a family of four in 2025–2026)
• Your case is an eviction proceeding — holdover, nonpayment, NYCHA termination, or illegal lockout. (Not HP Actions as a general rule, though the AHTP program has exceptions for emergency repairs and harassment.)

Immigration status does not affect eligibility. To access: call 311 and ask for “Right to Counsel,” call Housing Court Answers, or ask the judge on your first court date.

• Legal Services NYC — 917-661-4500. Free representation for income-eligible tenants. Right to Counsel provider.
• Legal Aid Society — Tenant Rights — 212-577-3300. Housing Justice Unit handles tenant associations and group advocacy; main line for other cases.
• HRA Office of Civil Justice (OCJ) — call 311 and ask for “Tenant Legal Assistance,” or visit NYC HRA's Legal Services for Tenants page

If your landlord offers money to move out after you asserted your retaliation claim, that offer is evidence the claim has real value. Don't sign anything without a tenant lawyer reading it — landlord-drafted surrender agreements routinely include a total release of claims (including the retaliation, habitability, and harassment claims you'd be giving up). Take a photo of the offer and call Met Council before responding.

If the landlord files a holdover, nonpayment, or similar Housing Court case against you, retaliation is an affirmative defense — which means you have to raise it in your court answer. Raised properly and backed by the evidence you built in Steps 1–2, it can defeat the case entirely. This step walks through what that looks like.

1. You'll receive a Notice of Petition and Petition from a process server. The first court date is usually 10–14 days out. Do not ignore it.
2. Call Housing Court Answers (212-962-4795) or 311 and ask for Right to Counsel immediately. Get on the RTC list if you qualify.
3. Show up to court. Missing your first appearance without an accepted reason almost always ends in a default judgment for the landlord.
4. Go to the Help Center at the courthouse. They'll help you fill out an answer form and include the retaliation defense.

Under RPL § 223-b, once you establish (1) that you engaged in a protected activity and (2) that the landlord's action (the lawsuit, the non-renewal, the rent increase) happened within one year of that activity, the burden shifts to your landlord to prove a credible non-retaliatory reason.

To rebut the presumption, your landlord generally has to show one of:

• The decision was made (or the action was documented) before your protected activity — e.g., a rent schedule that predates your complaint.
• The action is based on a genuine lease violation or nonpayment with independent documentation (and not cooked up in response to your complaint)
• There's a comparable, non-tenant-specific business reason — e.g., the building is being sold or withdrawn from the rental market, and the treatment applies to all tenants, not just you.

“I changed my mind,” “she's difficult,” or “I don't want her anymore” don't rebut the presumption. Generalized annoyance isn't a legitimate reason.

• A one-page printed timeline (the heart of Step 1) with dates, protected activities, landlord actions, and gap in months.
• 311 complaint print-outs with reference numbers
• HPD violation print-outs from HPDOnline for your unit and building.
• Your written communications with the landlord (texts, emails, repair requests) — printed, chronological, each dated.
• Your written response letter from Step 3 with the certified-mail receipt.
• Current condition photos.
• Photo ID.
• All court papers.

You have additional protections to raise at the same time:

• Rent-stabilized grounds are limited to the narrow list in 9 NYCRR § 2524.3 (lease violation after cure, nuisance, etc.). If your landlord's stated reason isn't on the list — or for owner-use / non-primary residence / demolition cases they don't have a prior DHCR order — that's its own defense.
• The warranty of habitability (RPL § 235-b) lets you argue rent should be reduced or abated for the period conditions existed — useful both as a defense and in settlement.

If you're in NYCHA, project-based Section 8, or have an HCV voucher, your landlord (or NYCHA) generally must offer an administrative grievance/hearing with specific deadlines before any termination. Missing the grievance window can forfeit defenses you'd otherwise have in Housing Court later.

• NYCHA tenants: Legal Aid Society's NYCHA unit — 212-577-3300
• Section 8 voucher holders: source-of-income discrimination is separately illegal under NYC Human Rights Law — non-renewal because of your voucher is its own claim on top of retaliation