NYC's New "Fix the City" Program Can Force Landlords to Give Up Their Buildings — Here's How It Works
HPD's new Fix the City program is targeting at least 10 of NYC's worst landlord portfolios in 2026 using roof-to-cellar inspections, court-ordered management removal, criminal referrals, and forced ownership transfers to "responsible preservation purchasers." Starting October 1, every heat complaint will be investigated as an individual case. This post breaks down what the program does, who it targets, and what it signals for all building owners across the five boroughs.
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New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development is rolling out a new enforcement program in 2026 that carries a consequence most landlords have never faced before: forced ownership transfer. The program, called Fix the City, was launched by HPD Commissioner Dina Levy under Mayor Mamdani's administration and is targeting the city's worst-performing landlord portfolios with a toolkit that goes significantly further than anything HPD has deployed before.
Fix the City is designed to target chronic, repeat-offender landlords through a combination of enforcement, legal, and financial strategies coordinated alongside other city and state agencies. In the most serious cases, HPD will force a transfer of ownership — compelling landlords to give up their buildings to what the city calls "responsible preservation purchasers": long-term owners willing to comply, repair, and maintain the buildings. Those purchasers can be nonprofits, for-profits, or groups of landlords, but must be supported by tenants. The program's first targets are at least 10 of the city's worst landlords, who HPD describes as a "small but stubborn universe". Implementation is underway, and results, according to Commissioner Levy, will be seen fairly quickly.
For the vast majority of building owners in New York City — those who maintain their properties, respond to maintenance requests, and comply with HPD requirements — Fix the City is not a direct threat. But understanding it matters anyway, because the enforcement tools being deployed against the worst offenders are the same tools HPD can use against any owner who accumulates a serious enough violation record. And one component of the program — a change to how heat complaints are investigated starting October 1 — applies to every building in the city.
What the Fix the City Toolkit Actually Includes
Each of those tools deserves some explanation because they represent a meaningful escalation from what HPD has typically deployed.
Roof-to-cellar inspections are comprehensive — inspectors examine the entire building, not just areas where complaints have been filed. That scope matters because violations discovered during a comprehensive inspection are treated as documented findings, not just tenant allegations, and they immediately trigger timelines for correction. Emergency Repair Program cost recovery means the city can make repairs itself and bill the owner, with unpaid bills converting to liens on the property. Lender engagement is the most novel element — HPD reaching out directly to mortgage holders to flag non-compliance and pressure them to require compliance as a loan condition or initiate foreclosure proceedings. For leveraged building owners, that's a threat that operates outside the normal HPD-to-owner relationship entirely.
The 7A proceeding tool gives housing court the authority to remove an owner from management of their own building and appoint an administrator to run it instead. That administrator collects rents, orders repairs, and operates the building — with costs charged against the owner's equity. It's been used historically as a last resort, but Fix the City signals an intent to use it more aggressively against portfolios that have accumulated chronic violations without resolution.
The Heat Complaint Change That Affects Every Building in the City
Buried in the Fix the City rollout is a change to heat complaint investigation protocol that will take effect October 1, 2026 and apply citywide — not just to the program's initial 10 targets. Heat complaints — 300,000 of which were filed in 2025 — will now each be investigated as individual cases beginning October 1, 2026. Previously, heat complaints were often handled in aggregate at the building level, with inspectors responding to patterns rather than individual incidents. Under the new protocol, each complaint generates its own case file, inspection record, and compliance timeline.
The practical implication for building owners heading into the 2026-2027 heating season is significant. New York City's heat season runs from October 1 through May 31. During that period, the law requires building owners to maintain indoor temperatures of at least 68°F between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. when outdoor temperatures fall below 55°F, and at least 62°F overnight. Those requirements apply to all Class A multiple dwellings — any residential building with three or more units. Failure to provide adequate heat during heat season is a Class C immediately hazardous violation, the most serious category under NYC's housing maintenance code, and carries a $500 per day penalty plus additional HPD-initiated repair costs if the owner does not comply.
With 300,000 heat complaints filed last year and each one now generating its own investigation, the administrative burden on HPD will increase — but so will the accountability burden on building owners. Complaints that might previously have been resolved informally or absorbed into a building-level pattern will now create individual records that contribute to a documented violation history. For owners with aging boiler systems, inadequate insulation, or deferred HVAC maintenance, the October 1 change is not a distant regulatory concern. It's a concrete deadline for getting heating systems inspected, serviced, and capable of meeting the legal standard.
What the Program Signals Beyond Its Immediate Targets
Fix the City is explicitly focused on the worst actors — the landlords with hundreds of open violations, buildings where tenants live with broken heat, flooding bathrooms, and roach infestations for months or years without resolution. The building described in the amNY reporting — a Washington Heights property managed by A&E Real Estate, whose president and vice president were named as the worst landlords across the five boroughs — is the kind of situation the program is designed to address. Most building owners in New York City are not operating at that level of non-compliance.
But the political context of Fix the City matters beyond its immediate targets. The Mamdani administration has made housing quality and tenant protection central to its agenda — the rent freeze, Local Law 86, the expansion of Good Cause Eviction coverage, and now Fix the City are all part of a consistent policy direction. The enforcement posture of HPD under Commissioner Levy reflects that direction. HPD's stated goal is to use Fix the City as an "organizing tool" — a chance to work with organized tenants to push non-compliant owners into compliance or out of ownership entirely. That framing signals an agency that sees tenant organizing as a legitimate partner in enforcement, not an obstacle to it.
For building owners who maintain their properties and respond to violations promptly, the signal is reassuring — the program's focus is explicitly on chronic non-compliance, not on owners who take their obligations seriously. For owners who have been slower to address violation backlogs, or who have deferred maintenance on systems like heating that will face increased scrutiny starting October 1, the signal is less comfortable. The city is no longer treating housing code enforcement as a reactive function. It's treating it as an active tool for ownership change.
What Building Owners Should Do Before October 1
The most concrete action item from Fix the City and the heat complaint change is a building systems review before October 1. Boilers and heating systems that haven't been serviced since last season should be inspected and certified now, before the heat season begins and before the new individual complaint investigation protocol takes effect. Any outstanding HPD violations — particularly Class C violations — should be addressed on documented timelines, because a pattern of unresolved violations is exactly what puts a building on HPD's radar.
Tenant communication also matters. Owners who notify tenants proactively about scheduled maintenance, provide clear contact information for reporting issues, and respond to maintenance requests quickly and in writing are building a documented record of responsiveness that protects them in any HPD proceeding. The inverse — ignoring requests, delaying responses, or addressing problems informally without documentation — leaves owners exposed when complaints generate official case files.
At Dover Property Group, preventive maintenance, violation tracking, and documented responsiveness to tenant issues are part of how we manage every building we work with. If you want to understand where your building stands on HPD's radar, what outstanding violations exist, or how to prepare your heating systems for the October 1 heat season and the new complaint protocol, our team is glad to help.
Sources: amNewYork — NYC Launches "Fix the City" Program to Crack Down on Problem Landlords · BKREA — July 2026 Development Newsletter · NYC HPD — Heat and Hot Water Requirements
About the Author
Dover Property Group is a New York City property management firm working with building owners and tenants across all five boroughs. Our team tracks market conditions, compliance requirements, and neighborhood-level trends to help owners protect their assets and tenants navigate one of the most complex rental markets in the country.