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

Section 90-5(A) of the Property Conservation Code adopts the Property Maintenance Code of New York State as applicable to all existing land and structures in Rochester, enforced through Article IV of Chapter 90. Section 90-18(A) then places responsibility for compliance squarely on the owner of the premises, and that responsibility stands 'regardless of the fact that this chapter may also place certain responsibilities on occupants and regardless of any agreements between owners or occupants as to which party shall assume such responsibility' meaning a lease clause cannot shift a code violation onto the tenant.

Section 90-18(B) adds a specific duty for multiple dwellings: owners and operators must properly install, maintain and operate service facilities and furnish adequate heat and hot water where they have contracted to provide it. Section 90-18(C) extends the same duty to anyone in actual possession or control of the property, such as an executor, trustee, guardian, operator or agent, treating them as the owner for compliance purposes and for service of any Commissioner's notice or order. A hearing examiner can grant an owner up to a four-month adjournment in contemplation of dismissal on a violation proven, by clear and convincing evidence, to have been caused by a lessee or occupant, but the unit cannot be reoccupied until any immediate-hazard violations are corrected, and the case proceeds to a full determination if the violation isn't fixed within the adjournment period (§ 90-18(D)).