Amherst, NY Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Section 83-14-1 of the Town Code, part of the Building Construction Administration chapter's complaint procedures, governs how the Town responds once a resident or tenant raises a complaint about a property. The Commissioner of Building must review and investigate complaints which allege or assert the existence of conditions or activities that fail to comply with the Uniform Code, the Energy Code, this chapter, or any other local law, ordinance or regulation tied to Uniform Code or Energy Code enforcement. The section lists the steps the Commissioner may use to respond: performing an inspection of the conditions or activities alleged to be in violation and documenting the results; if a violation is confirmed, giving the property owner and any other responsible person notice of the violation and a chance to abate, correct or cure it, or otherwise proceeding under § 83-1-5's general penalty provision; issuing a stop-work order where appropriate; and, once a violation is corrected, performing a follow-up inspection, preparing a final written report, and filing that report with the original complaint.

For rental housing specifically, a tenant complaint that surfaces a housing code problem can also route into Chapter 44's separate rental-registration enforcement: a Commissioner's notice of violation issued under § 44-14 gives the owner up to 30 days to correct the problem, with the Commissioner authorized to grant more time upon good cause shown. A by filing a written petition within five days of the notice or order.