Landlord using tenant's heat to heat common area

[Chad Fabry]

We have a two family residence in which the first floor occupant's furnace heats the uninsulated, drafty old, dirt floor basement. Additionally, this tenant pays for the electricity to light the common areas.

I looked through NYS Residential Code and the NY property maintenance code. Does anyone know if this practice is illegal?

[Bain]

I've set some tenants off in the past when I explained to them that they were paying for juice in common areas. It was actually kind of fun.

As for answering your question, I'm useless.