Buffalo, NY Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

City Code Chapter 242 sets the enforcement path for substandard rental housing. Under § 242-9(C), a dwelling can be condemned for listing or sagging structural members beyond stated tolerances, fire or flood damage that endangers occupants, inadequate light, air or sanitation, unsafe egress or fire escapes, or any state or local code violation that makes the unit unsafe or insanitary. Section 242-9(A) lets the Commissioner condemn and placard the unit as unfit for human habitation when an owner, occupant, lessee or agent ignores a compliance order; the unit must be vacated or fixed within a reasonable time the Commissioner sets.

Before placarding, § 242-9(B) requires a written notice describing the violations and giving 10 days to correct them, unless the emergency procedure in § 242-10C applies, which lets the Commissioner order immediate action without notice or hearing. Once placarded, § 242-9(D) bars any use of the unit for habitation until the Commissioner removes the placard, though an affected owner or occupant can demand a hearing before the Commissioner. Section 242-3 gives the Erie County Commissioner of Health and the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services a standing right to enter and inspect dwellings, and requires occupants to give owners access to make the repairs the chapter demands.

Enforcement carries a financial edge: § 242-12 assesses a $75 fee against the property for every inspection after the second one that still finds violations, waivable only by written petition to the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication showing hardship, weather or illness. Under § 242-13, an unpaid judgment for a housing or building code violation equal to 5% or more of the property's assessed value, unpaid for a year, can be certified onto the general tax roll as a lien and pursued through Real Property Tax Law Article 11 foreclosure, with tenant relocation counseling required under § 242-15 for units caught in that process.