Last updated 2026-07-26
TL;DR
Most cities with heat laws require landlords to supply heat during a fixed season, commonly October 1 through May 31, keeping indoor temperatures around 68°F during the day and 62-65°F at night. Exact dates, minimum temperatures, and enforcement agencies vary by city and state, so always confirm with your local housing or building code office.
When is a landlord required to provide heat?
There's no single federal heat law. Heat requirements come from state landlord-tenant statutes, state building codes, or city housing codes, and the trigger is almost always a season plus a temperature floor, not a vague "reasonable comfort" standard. The most common structure looks like this: a heating season that runs from around October 1 to May 31 (or sometimes November 1 to April 1, depending on the city), during which the landlord must maintain a minimum indoor temperature, typically 68°F during daytime hours and 62-65°F overnight. New York City's heat law is the model a lot of other cities borrowed from: from October 1 through May 31, if the outdoor temperature falls below 55°F between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., indoor temperature must be at least 68°F, and overnight (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) indoor temperature must be at least 62°F regardless of outdoor temperature [1]. Chicago runs a similar but distinct season, September 15 through June 1, requiring 68°F during the day (8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.) when it's below 65°F outside, and 66°F overnight [2]. Minneapolis requires 68°F at all times from October 1 through April 30 [3]. The point is: the season dates and the minimum degrees are never universal. If you own in a heat-law city, you have to look up that city's exact numbers, not assume NYC's rules apply everywhere. Outside a fixed heating season, most states still require heat under general "habitability" or "warranty of habitability" law, meaning a functioning heating system has to work when a tenant reasonably needs it, even if there's no calendar date attached. That's a separate, broader legal theory from the specific seasonal heat ordinances cities pass.
What temperature is a landlord legally required to keep a rental at?
| New York City | Oct 1 - May 31 | 68°F (when outdoor <55°F) | 62°F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Sep 15 - Jun 1 | 68°F (when outdoor <65°F) | 66°F |
| Minneapolis | Oct 1 - Apr 30 | 68°F (all hours) | 68°F |
| Philadelphia | Oct 1 - May 1 | Set by local code | Set by local code |
The two numbers that show up again and again in city codes are 68°F for daytime and something in the 62-65°F range for nighttime. But the exact figures, and the outdoor trigger temperature that switches the requirement on, differ by jurisdiction. New York City: 68°F indoors from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. when outdoor temp is below 55°F; 62°F indoors overnight regardless of outdoor temp, October 1 to May 31 [1]. Chicago: 68°F from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. when outdoor temp is below 65°F; 66°F overnight, September 15 to June 1 [2]. Minneapolis: 68°F at all times, no day/night split, October 1 through April 30 [3]. Philadelphia: landlords must maintain heat during the October 1 to May 1 heating season under the city's property maintenance code, with specific temperature and duration requirements enforced by the Department of Licenses and Inspections [4]. If your city isn't on this list, don't guess. Check with your city's housing or code enforcement office, because the degree and the hour cutoffs genuinely change the compliance math (a boiler that holds 66°F might pass in Chicago at night but fail elsewhere). | City | Heating season | Daytime minimum | Nighttime minimum |
What happens if a landlord fails to provide required heat?
Cities treat a heat outage as an urgent code violation, not a routine maintenance complaint, and the penalties reflect that. In New York City, HPD can issue violations and pursue fines starting around $250 to $500 per day for a first offense during a heat season, escalating for repeat violations within the same or following season, under the city's Housing Maintenance Code enforcement scheme [1]. Chicago's municipal code allows fines and also lets tenants pursue rent abatement or repair-and-deduct remedies when heat isn't supplied during the mandated season [2]. Beyond fines, a heat outage is one of the fastest paths to a tenant filing a habitability complaint, calling code enforcement directly, or in some states, exercising a legal right to withhold rent or terminate the lease. If an inspector documents cold units during a licensing or code inspection, that violation can also delay or block a rental license renewal in cities that require licensing, since many rental-registration ordinances tie license issuance to code compliance. The practical lesson: don't wait for a formal notice to fix a broken furnace in the middle of winter. Emergency heat repair is one of the few maintenance issues where "reasonable time to fix it" gets compressed to 24 to 48 hours in a lot of city codes, precisely because the health risk is immediate.
Does a landlord have to provide heat if there's no lease?
Yes. Heat requirements are set by state and local law, not by lease language, so a tenant without a written lease still gets the benefit of the same seasonal heat rules and the same implied warranty of habitability that a tenant with a signed lease gets. This surprises a lot of new landlords. Whether someone is on a month-to-month oral agreement, a holdover tenancy, or a lease that expired and was never renewed, the underlying tenancy still exists in the eyes of the law, and habitability obligations, including heat, run with the tenancy, not with a piece of paper. For a broader look at what protections exist without a signed lease, see tenant rights and tenants rights. A landlord can't legally condition heat, water, or other essential services on a tenant signing a new lease, and doing so can itself trigger a separate violation for utility shutoff or constructive eviction in most states.
How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering to fix heat?
Most states set a default notice period of 24 to 48 hours for non-emergency entry, but a heat outage during winter is commonly treated as an emergency, which usually allows landlords to enter with no advance notice, or with only "reasonable" notice given the circumstances. California's Civil Code sets a presumption that 24 hours' written notice is reasonable for entry to make repairs, but explicitly carves out emergencies as not requiring that notice [5]. Other states use similar structures: a default notice window (often 24 or 48 hours) for routine repair visits, with an emergency exception for things like no heat in winter, active water leaks, or gas smells. The safest practice, even in a declared emergency, is to still attempt to notify the tenant (a text, a call, a note on the door) before entering, and to document the date and reason. That protects you if the tenant later disputes access, and it's just good practice for the landlord-tenant relationship generally. For state-specific entry notice rules, confirm with your state's landlord-tenant statute or your city's rental licensing office, since the exact hour count varies.
How to become a landlord (what actually has to happen first)
Becoming a landlord is mostly a paperwork and compliance process, not a licensing exam. You need a legal right to rent the property (ownership or an authorized sublease), you typically need to register the rental with your city or county if that jurisdiction requires it, and you need to understand the habitability, safety, and fair housing rules that apply the moment you accept a tenant's money. The realistic steps: confirm the property meets your local building and housing code (working smoke detectors, functioning heat, safe electrical, no obvious hazards), check whether your city requires a rental license or registration (a growing number of mid-size and large cities do), set up how you'll screen tenants consistent with the federal Fair Housing Act [6], and get familiar with your state's security deposit, notice, and eviction rules before you sign anyone. A lot of new landlords skip the license/registration step because they don't realize their city has one. That's a mistake that tends to surface at the worst time, usually when a tenant complaint or a routine sweep triggers an inspection and the city discovers there's no license on file, which can mean back fees plus the license fee itself. If you're getting your first rental unit ready for a city inspection or license application, the City Rental License & Inspection Prep Packet walks through the common pre-inspection checklist items, for $79 one time, though it's not a substitute for checking your specific city's actual code.
What is landlording, and what exactly is a landlord?
A landlord is the legal owner (or authorized agent of the owner) of a residential property who rents it to another person, the tenant, in exchange for regular payment, usually monthly rent. Landlording is the ongoing work of managing that relationship and that property: collecting rent, handling repairs, keeping the unit habitable, following notice and entry rules, and staying current with whatever license or registration your city requires. It's not a passive income stream in the way it sometimes gets marketed. A landlord has legal duties that exist whether or not they're written into a lease: implied warranty of habitability, fair housing compliance, security deposit handling rules, and, in a lot of cities now, mandatory registration or licensing with periodic inspections. Ignoring those duties doesn't make them disappear, it just means they show up later as fines or a lawsuit.
How to be a landlord well (the practical version)
Being a decent landlord day to day comes down to a short list of habits: respond to repair requests fast (especially anything involving heat, water, or safety), document everything in writing, follow your state's notice periods for entry and for rent changes, and keep your rental license or registration current if your city requires one. A few things that separate landlords who avoid fines from landlords who don't: they read their city's actual rental housing code once a year, since ordinances change; they keep a written maintenance log for every unit; they don't ignore a first violation notice hoping it goes away (it doesn't, and late fees often compound); and they budget for the reality that HVAC systems, water heaters, and roofs fail on their own schedule, not yours. For a fuller look at the day-to-day duties and how they connect to city licensing programs, see landlord and landlord landlords.
Who is responsible for a rental property walk-through inspection in California?
In California, the landlord (or their authorized property manager) is responsible for conducting the move-in and move-out walk-through inspections under California Civil Code Section 1950.5, which governs security deposits. The law gives the tenant the right to request an initial move-out inspection before they leave, so the landlord can identify repair or cleaning issues the tenant could still fix themselves, potentially avoiding deposit deductions [7]. Specifically, Civil Code 1950.5(f) requires the landlord to notify the tenant of their right to this pre-move-out inspection and, if the tenant requests it, to perform the inspection no earlier than two weeks before the tenancy ends, giving the tenant an itemized statement of anything found [7]. That's distinct from a city rental inspection program: some California cities (Los Angeles, Oakland, and others) also run separate systematic code-compliance inspection programs for rental housing, which are administered by the city's housing department, not the landlord. If your property is in one of those cities, confirm with your city's rental licensing or housing office which program applies and who schedules it. For the deposit-related walk-through, the responsibility sits squarely with the landlord: schedule it, perform it (or send a qualified representative), and provide the required written itemization.
What can a landlord look at during an inspection?
During a routine unit inspection, whether it's a city code inspection or your own periodic maintenance check, a landlord (or the inspector) can generally look at anything related to habitability and safety: smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, the heating system, plumbing fixtures, electrical outlets and panels, window locks and screens, signs of pest infestation, mold or water damage, and general structural condition. A landlord generally cannot use an inspection as a pretext to search a tenant's personal belongings, go through drawers or closets unrelated to a maintenance issue, or use the visit to harass or intimidate. Most states also require advance notice for a non-emergency inspection (commonly 24 to 48 hours), meaning a landlord can't show up unannounced and call it an inspection unless there's an actual emergency (a gas leak, a flood, a fire hazard). City rental-licensing inspections typically use a checklist tied to the local housing or building code: working heat, hot water, functioning smoke and CO detectors, no exposed wiring, secure handrails, no active leaks, and pest-free conditions are common line items. If you're preparing a unit for a first city inspection, going through that checklist yourself in advance catches the easy stuff (a dead smoke detector battery, a missing GFCI outlet) before an inspector does.
Why do landlords require renters insurance?
Landlords require renters insurance mainly to shift liability and loss risk away from themselves. A landlord's own property insurance covers the building and the landlord's belongings, not the tenant's personal property, and it typically doesn't cover a tenant's liability if the tenant accidentally causes damage (a kitchen fire, a bathtub overflow that soaks the unit below). Renters insurance, usually cheap (national averages tend to run somewhere in the range of $15 to $30 a month depending on coverage and location, though rates vary by state and insurer), covers the tenant's belongings and gives the tenant liability coverage that can also protect the landlord if the tenant's negligence causes property damage. Requiring it is legal in the large majority of states as long as it's applied consistently to all tenants and disclosed in the lease, though a handful of states and cities have specific rules about how landlords can require and verify it, so confirm your state's landlord-tenant statute before adding it as a lease condition. For landlords with only a few units, requiring renters insurance is one of the cheaper risk-management moves available, cheaper than the deductible on a claim against your own umbrella or landlord policy.
What can a landlord not do in Ohio?
Ohio's landlord-tenant law (Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5321) sets out specific things a landlord cannot do, and heat is directly part of it: under ORC 5321.04, a landlord must "maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning fixtures and appliances... supplied or required to be supplied by the landlord" [8]. A landlord in Ohio cannot let a heating system go unrepaired and treat it as optional maintenance. Ohio law also prohibits a landlord from shutting off utilities, changing locks, or removing a tenant's belongings to force them out, sometimes called a "self-help" eviction; ORC 5321.15 makes it unlawful for a landlord to cause an interruption of essential services, including heat, water, or electricity, or to seize a tenant's possessions without a court order . A landlord also cannot retaliate against a tenant for reporting a code violation or asserting a legal right under ORC 5321.02, and cannot discriminate in violation of federal Fair Housing Act protections [6]. If you're a landlord in Ohio, cutting off heat, even temporarily, to pressure a tenant to leave or pay a disputed charge is not a gray area. It's a specific statutory violation with its own enforcement path, separate from any eviction process.
What rights do tenants have without a written lease?
A tenant without a written lease, whether on a verbal month-to-month agreement or a holdover tenancy after a lease expired, still has essentially the same core legal protections as a tenant with a signed lease: the implied warranty of habitability (working heat, water, safe structure), protection from illegal lockouts or utility shutoffs, the right to proper notice before eviction, and fair housing protections under federal and state law. What changes without a written lease is mostly procedural: rent amount and increase terms default to whatever was verbally agreed or established by past payment history, and the tenancy is usually treated as month-to-month, meaning either party can typically end it with standard notice (commonly 30 days, though this varies by state and by how long the tenant has lived there). The landlord still has to follow the state's legal eviction process, notice periods, and can't just change the locks or shut off heat because there's no paper lease to point to. For tenants (or landlords) trying to understand what actually applies without a signed lease, see tenant and tenant and renters rights for state-by-state specifics.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum temperature a landlord must provide indoors?
It depends on the city, but 68°F during the day is the most common minimum, with a lower overnight minimum (often 62-66°F) in cities like New York and Chicago. Some cities, like Minneapolis, require 68°F around the clock. Check your specific city's housing code, since there's no single national standard.
Is there a federal law requiring landlords to provide heat?
No. There's no federal heat statute. Heat requirements come from state landlord-tenant law (habitability doctrine) and from city-specific housing or building codes that set seasonal dates and minimum temperatures. Coverage and enforcement vary widely by state and by city, so the controlling rule is always local.
Can a tenant withhold rent if the landlord doesn't provide heat?
In many states, yes, tenants have a legal right to rent withholding, repair-and-deduct, or rent abatement when a landlord fails to fix a habitability issue like broken heat, but the exact process (often requiring written notice and a waiting period first) varies by state law. Tenants should follow their state's specific procedure, more than stop paying.
When does the heating season start and end in most cities?
Most cold-climate cities with heat ordinances start the mandatory heating season around October 1 and end it around May 1 or May 31. Chicago is an exception, running September 15 to June 1. Always confirm your specific city's dates with its housing or code enforcement office.
How to become a landlord if you already own a rental property?
Confirm your property meets local building and habitability codes, check whether your city requires rental registration or licensing (many mid-size and large cities do), set up compliant tenant screening under the federal Fair Housing Act, and learn your state's security deposit and notice rules before signing a tenant.
Who is responsible for the move-out walk-through inspection in California?
The landlord is responsible under California Civil Code Section 1950.5, which requires landlords to offer tenants a pre-move-out inspection if requested, conducted no earlier than two weeks before the tenancy ends, with a written itemized statement of any issues found.
What is landlording exactly?
Landlording is the ongoing work of owning and managing a rental property: collecting rent, maintaining habitability (including heat), following notice and entry laws, screening tenants fairly, and complying with any city rental license or registration requirement. It carries legal duties whether or not they're spelled out in a lease.
What rights does a tenant have without a signed lease?
A tenant without a written lease still has the implied warranty of habitability, protection against illegal lockouts and utility shutoffs, the right to proper eviction notice, and fair housing protections. The tenancy is usually treated as month-to-month, with standard notice periods applying to end it.
Why do landlords require renters insurance from tenants?
Landlords require renters insurance to cover the tenant's belongings and liability for damage the tenant causes, since the landlord's own property policy doesn't cover a tenant's possessions or personal liability. It's generally legal if applied consistently and disclosed in the lease, subject to state-specific rules.
How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering a unit?
Most states default to 24 to 48 hours' notice for non-emergency entry, such as California's presumption that 24 hours' written notice is reasonable under Civil Code Section 1954. Emergencies, including a heat outage in winter, typically allow entry without that standard notice.
What can a landlord look at during a rental inspection?
An inspector or landlord can check habitability and safety items: heating system function, smoke and CO detectors, plumbing, electrical panels and outlets, window locks, and signs of pests, mold, or water damage. They generally cannot search personal belongings unrelated to a maintenance or safety issue.
What can a landlord not do in Ohio specifically?
Under Ohio Revised Code 5321.04, a landlord must keep heating and other essential systems in good working order. Under ORC 5321.15, a landlord cannot shut off utilities, change locks, or remove belongings to force a tenant out, and ORC 5321.02 bars retaliation against tenants who report code violations.
What happens if a landlord ignores a heat complaint during winter?
Cities generally treat this as an urgent code violation. In New York City, for example, HPD can issue violations with escalating fines during the heat season under the Housing Maintenance Code. A documented heat failure can also delay rental license renewal in cities with mandatory licensing tied to code compliance.
Sources
- Municipal Code of Chicago, Section 13-196-030 (Heating requirements): Chicago requires 68°F daytime and 66°F overnight, Sept 15-June 1
- Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, Section 244.870 (Heat requirements): Minneapolis requires 68°F at all times, Oct 1-Apr 30
- Philadelphia Code Section PM-602.3 (Heat supply, adopted via Philadelphia Property Maintenance Code): Philadelphia requires landlords to maintain heat during the Oct 1 to May 1 heating season under the property maintenance code
- California Civil Code Section 1954: California presumes 24 hours' written notice is reasonable for landlord entry, with an emergency exception
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Housing Act overview: Federal Fair Housing Act protections apply to tenant screening and landlord conduct
- California Civil Code Section 1950.5(f): Landlords must offer tenants a pre-move-out inspection and provide a written itemized statement of issues found
- Ohio Revised Code Section 5321.04: Ohio landlords must maintain heating fixtures and appliances in good and safe working order
- Ohio Revised Code Section 5321.15: Ohio law prohibits landlords from shutting off utilities including heat or seizing belongings without a court order