Signal 5: Winter Indoors

Vacancy for rental apartments in NYC are much lower than the national average, which can cause an uneven distribution of power between renters and landlords. When landlords take advantage, renters can be left in unlivable conditions, such as indoor temperatures below the legal limit. “Last year alone [2014], 3–1–1 received 200,000 plus heating complaint calls,” Tom Hunter, the spokesperson for Heat Seek NYC,

I believe landlords should be held accountable for their actions, especially in situations where renters don’t have many other options.

Heat Seek NYC is creating technology that tracks the temperature in apartments when tenants believe their landlord isn’t compliant. Before this, tenants would need to record the information themselves in provided forms. Now that same information can be tracked in an objective manner. Once the data is collected, Heat Seek NYC can inform advocate connections like public interest attorneys, community organizers, and city officials, who can help improve residents’ living condition.

Encouraging more people to hold their landlords accountable can change the renting landscape in cities. Though the program has been successful so far, more tenants need to adopt the technology and place Heat Seek in their home for the advocates to act on a broader scale.