If you’ve ever dealt with mold, a broken heater your landlord ignored, or surprise fees tacked onto your rent, New York City’s new Rental Ripoff Hearings were designed with you in mind.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani launched the hearings in January 2026 through Executive Order 08 — making them the first of their kind in the city’s history. The goal: give renters a direct line to city officials, document the most common abuses in NYC’s rental market, and use that testimony to shape real policy.
Here’s what you need to know.
What are the Rental Ripoff Hearings?
The hearings give NYC renters a formal, one-on-one platform to share their housing experiences directly with city agency heads and deputy mayors. You’re not standing at a podium — you sit down with officials from agencies including HPD, the Department of Buildings, and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and you tell them what’s happening in your building.
Testimony from all five boroughs will feed into a report, due 90 days after the final hearing, with concrete policy recommendations.
What issues can I testify about?
You can bring up anything that affects your quality of life as a renter. The hearings are specifically focused on:
- Poor conditions: heat outages, mold, pest infestations, repair delays
- Junk fees: charges for amenities, pets, payment platforms, or services you didn’t ask for
- Threats and retaliation: landlords threatening tenants for complaining
- Illegal evictions and discrimination: racial or economic discrimination in housing
- Unresponsive landlords: ongoing maintenance neglect with no follow-through
If you’ve dealt with any of these, this is your moment.
What actually happened at the first hearing?
The first hearing took place in Downtown Brooklyn on February 26. About 450 people registered, and despite some fiery lead-up rhetoric, the event was more resource fair than courtroom drama. Renters sat down privately with city officials in quiet, sometimes emotional conversations. Many said it was exactly the format they needed.
“It’s chaotic in there, but I was worried that I’d have to stand in front of a large group of people and speak,” said one attendee. “I’m much more grateful that it is a one-on-one experience.”
How does Openigloo fit into all of this?
At Openigloo, we’ve been tracking tenant complaints for years — and the patterns the Rental Ripoff Hearings are surfacing are the same ones we see every day on our platform. According to Openigloo data, with private-market landlords, heat complaints are the dominant issue. Mold and unresponsive landlords also rank among the most common complaints.
The hearings can’t fix everything — but they can expose patterns that 311 misses. If you call 311 and file a complaint about heat and the city inspector comes a week later, but now the weather is warm, they’re not able to actually convert that complaint into a violation. On the hearings city officials can hear from tenants who live in the building which gives a little bit more context to those complaints. The more renters speak up, the better the city can act.
What will happen with the testimony?
City agencies are required to publish a report within 90 days of the final hearing with policy recommendations and action plans. The Mayor’s Office has said the testimony will also directly inform NYC’s upcoming housing plan.
Can’t make it in-person?
No worries. You can submit testimony online.
Upcoming hearing dates
Registration is required and space is limited, so sign up as soon as possible.
The hearings are happening in every borough. Here’s the full schedule:
| Borough | Location | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | Downtown Brooklyn | February 26 ✅ | 5:30–8:30 PM |
| Queens | Long Island City | March 5 ✅ | 5:30–8:30 PM |
| Bronx | Fordham | March 11 | 5:30–8:30 PM |
| Manhattan | East Harlem | March 28 | 11 AM–5 PM |
| Staten Island | North Shore | April 7 | 5:30–8:30 PM |
For full details, registration links, and to submit digital testimony, visit the official page: nyc.gov/rental-ripoff
Have an experience to share beyond the hearing? Leave an anonymous review about your building on Openigloo and help the next renter make a smarter decision.