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Abstract:
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To combat landlord harassment, New York City created a 311 hotline so that tenants can report rental concerns. Issues related to the maintenance of floors, stairs, pests, plumbing, and heat are captured in both the 311 Open Data and the New York City Housing Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS). 311 data, however, is skewed, representing only self-reported complaints while the NYCHVS results represent a broader sample of New Yorkers. Comparing 311 data to survey estimates provides an opportunity to understand if reported complaints are reflective of the population, or if the 311 data underreports housing problems, painting a rosier picture of living conditions and landlord behavior. The latest NYCHVS was administered from 1/2017 to 5/2017, and some questions ask participants to report issues that occurred 3 months prior to the survey. This 3-month look back window means that the NYCHVS would have captured 311 complaints made between 10/2016 - 5/2017. Issues related to water leakage, paint, pest, and toilet issues were reported at significantly lower levels to 311 than what is estimated by the NYCHVS. Discrepancies could be related to the issues not being perceived as severe enough to report.
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