New York landlord-tenant law

Before or at the start of a tenancy you may not charge any application, processing or other fee except to cover a background check and credit check. That charge may not exceed the actual cost or $20, whichever is less. You must waive it if the applicant gives you a background or credit check done in the past 30 days, and you may not collect it unless you give the applicant a copy of the check and the screening company's receipt or invoice.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 238-a(1)

New York's Human Rights Law bars refusing to rent, or setting different terms, because of race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, age, disability, marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence, lawful source of income or familial status.

N.Y. Exec. Law § 296(5)(a)

Every New York residential lease must state, conspicuously and in bold, whether the home has a maintained and operative sprinkler system, and if it does, the date it was last maintained and inspected. Every lease must also carry the flood history and risk notice and the Good Cause Eviction Law notice, which says whether that law covers the unit and, if not, why. If the property has three or fewer rental units, you must state in bold before signing whether any required certificate of occupancy is currently valid for the unit.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 231-a N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 231-b N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 231-c N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 235-bb

Every residential lease must say whether any part of the premises is in a FEMA floodplain, in the 100-year floodplain, or in the 500-year floodplain on FEMA's current maps, and describe any prior flood damage from a natural flood that you know or reasonably should know about. It must also include, word for word, the statute's notice that flood insurance is available to renters through FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 231-b

No statute read requires a lease to name the owner or a managing agent. Owners of multiple dwellings covered by the Multiple Dwelling Law must file a registration notice giving their name, address and a description of the building. In New York City, which requires registration by local law, an unregistered owner cannot recover rent until it registers. When you sell or assign a property, you must tell each tenant by registered or certified mail the name and address of whoever now holds the deposit.

N.Y. Mult. Dwell. Law § 325 N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-105 N.Y. Mult. Dwell. Law § 325(2)

A security deposit or advance may not be more than one month's rent. The limit covers any money deposited or paid in advance, so last month's rent collected at signing counts toward it. The exceptions are a registered seasonal use unit and an owner-occupied cooperative apartment; the section also does not reach units under the city rent and rehabilitation law or emergency rent control, or licensed care and senior retirement communities.

N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(a)

Within 14 days after the tenant vacates, give the tenant an itemized statement showing the basis for any amount you keep, and return the rest. If you miss the 14 days, you lose the right to keep any part of the deposit. You may keep only reasonable, itemized costs for unpaid rent, damage by the tenant beyond normal wear and tear, unpaid utility charges payable to you under the lease, and moving and storing the tenant's belongings.

N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(b) N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(e)

A deposit stays the tenant's money. Hold it in trust and never mix it with your own funds. If you put it in a bank, the bank must have a place of business in New York, and you must tell each tenant in writing the bank's name and address and the amount deposited. For a property with six or more family dwelling units, the deposit must go into an interest-bearing account at a New York bank earning the prevailing local rate. In any building, interest the deposit earns belongs to the tenant, less 1 percent a year you may keep as an administration fee from an interest-bearing account.

N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-103

After the lease is signed and before the tenant moves in, you must offer the tenant a joint inspection. If the tenant asks for it, you both sign a written agreement before move-in noting any existing defects or damage, and you cannot deduct from the deposit for anything it lists.

N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(c)

You may not charge a late fee unless the rent has not been paid within five days of the date it was due, and the fee may not exceed $50 or 5 percent of the monthly rent, whichever is less. If you have not received the rent within five days of the due date, you must send the tenant a written notice by certified mail saying so. A tenant can use your failure to send it as a defense in a nonpayment eviction.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 238-a(2) N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 235-e(d)

You may charge a fee for a rent check that bounces only if the lease provides for it. The fee may not exceed your actual costs for the returned check or $20, whichever is greater. If you charge more than $20, you must give the tenant, on request, evidence that the fee matches your actual costs.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 238-a(2-a) N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-328(3)

New York has no statewide rent cap for units outside rent regulation and the Good Cause Eviction Law. If you plan to renew with a rent increase of 5 percent or more, or not to renew at all, give written notice: at least 30 days if the tenant has lived there less than one year and has no lease of at least one year, 60 days for one to two years of occupancy or a lease of one to two years, and 90 days for more than two years of occupancy or a lease of two years or more. Whichever of occupancy or lease term is longer decides the period.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 226-c

No New York statute sets a fixed notice period before a landlord enters a rented home, so the lease should set one. Statutes do require 48 hours' written notice for a move-out inspection the tenant asked for and, in a manufactured home park, entry to a rented home only at reasonable hours on reasonable notice.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law art. 7 N.Y. Real Prop. Law art. 6-A N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(d) N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 233(j)

Every written or oral residential lease carries a warranty that the home and the common areas are fit for human habitation and for the uses the parties intended, and that occupants will not face conditions dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to their life, health or safety. A condition caused by the misconduct of the tenant or people under the tenant's direction or control is not a breach. A tenant cannot waive this warranty.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 235-b

A tenant can recover damages for a breach of the warranty of habitability. No statute read gives a tenant a general right to make repairs and deduct the cost from rent. A tenant who lawfully pays a utility for gas, electric, steam or water service that you were responsible for but failed to pay may deduct that payment from future rent. The special repair proceedings in article 7-A of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law were not read.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 235-b N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 235-a

No statute read requires particular locks in every rental. In multiple dwellings covered by the Multiple Dwelling Law, a tenant may install an extra lock on the unit's entrance door, no more than three inches around, without paying any fee, and must give you a duplicate key if you ask. Newer apartment buildings under that law need self-closing, self-locking entrance doors, and an intercom at eight or more apartments.

N.Y. Mult. Dwell. Law § 51-c N.Y. Mult. Dwell. Law § 50-a

State law directs the building code to require an operable smoke alarm in every one or two-family home and in condominium and cooperative homes, placed so it can be heard in each bedroom with the doors closed, and alarms in common areas shared by three or more units. It also requires an operable carbon monoxide detector in homes and multiple dwellings that have a fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage. The building code's own detailed rules were not read.

N.Y. Exec. Law § 378(5-a) N.Y. Exec. Law § 378(5-b)

You may not serve a notice to quit, start an eviction or substantially change the tenancy in retaliation for a tenant's good faith complaint about a health, safety or habitability violation, good faith action to enforce the lease or housing law, or participation in a tenants' organization. Refusing to renew, or offering a renewal at an unreasonable increase, counts as a substantial change, though you never have to offer a renewal longer than one year.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 223-b

You may not force out an occupant who has lawfully occupied the home for 30 consecutive days or more, or who has a lease, except under a court warrant or order or a government vacate order. That rules out force or threats, cutting off or interrupting essential services, removing the tenant's belongings or the entry door, and disabling or changing the lock without giving the tenant a key.

N.Y. Real Prop. Actions & Proc. Law § 768

To end a month-to-month tenancy, you must give the same written notice that applies to a non-renewal: at least 30, 60 or 90 days depending on how long the tenant has lived there or the lease term, whichever is longer. In New York City, the notice must say that you elect to end the tenancy and will start eviction proceedings if the tenant has not left by the date named, and it must be served the way a notice of petition is served. Outside the city, a month-to-month tenant may end the tenancy with notice at least one month before the end of a term.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 226-c(2) N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 232-a N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 232-b

A tenant who leaves early in breach of the lease can still owe you, but you must in good faith take reasonable and customary steps to re-rent the home at fair market value or the lease rate, whichever is lower. A new tenant's lease ends the old one and reduces what the departing tenant owes, and a lease clause excusing you from this duty is void. Several statutes let a tenant, or a deceased tenant's estate, end a lease early.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 227-e

Before starting a nonpayment eviction, serve a written demand giving the tenant at least 14 days' notice to pay the rent or give up possession, served as the law requires: by personal delivery, or by delivery to a suitable person at the property or posting there, followed within one day by certified or registered mail and first class mail. The demand must append or contain the Good Cause Eviction Law notice. Separately, if you have not received rent within five days of the due date, send the certified-mail notice of non-receipt, or the tenant may raise its absence as a defense.

N.Y. Real Prop. Actions & Proc. Law § 711(2) N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 231-c N.Y. Real Prop. Actions & Proc. Law § 735

For a unit covered by the Good Cause Eviction Law, violating a substantial lease obligation is good cause only if the tenant fails to stop after written notice giving ten days from receipt to cure, and any house rules must be reasonable and accepted in writing or part of the lease from the start. No other statute read sets a notice period before a lease-violation case, so outside Good Cause the lease's own terms govern. After a judgment based on a lease breach, the court must stay the warrant for 30 days so the tenant can correct the breach.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 216(1)(b) N.Y. Real Prop. Actions & Proc. Law § 753(4)

Eviction process

Only a court can remove a tenant. You start a summary proceeding after the required notice, such as the 14-day rent demand, and, unless court rules for nonpayment cases provide otherwise, the notice of petition and petition must be served 10 to 17 days before the hearing. After a judgment, the court issues a warrant, and the sheriff, marshal or constable must give the household at least 14 days' written notice and carry it out on a business day between sunrise and sunset.

N.Y. Real Prop. Actions & Proc. Law § 711 N.Y. Real Prop. Actions & Proc. Law § 733 N.Y. Real Prop. Actions & Proc. Law § 749

No statute read sets a procedure or storage period for belongings a tenant leaves behind. Removing a lawful occupant's belongings to force the occupant out is an unlawful eviction. A deposit may cover the reasonable, itemized cost of moving and storing the tenant's belongings.

N.Y. Real Prop. Actions & Proc. Law § 768 N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108(1-a)(b)

Small claims limits depend on the court: up to $10,000 in the New York City Civil Court, $5,000 in city courts outside New York City and in district courts, and $3,000 in town and village justice courts. The limits exclude interest and costs.

N.Y.C. Civ. Ct. Act § 1801 N.Y. Uniform City Ct. Act § 1801 N.Y. Uniform Dist. Ct. Act § 1801 N.Y. Uniform Just. Ct. Act § 1801

The Good Cause Eviction Law applies in New York City and in any village, town or city outside it that adopts it by local law. Where it applies and the unit is not exempt, you may not evict a tenant or refuse to renew a lease except for good cause proved in court, such as unpaid rent, an uncured breach, nuisance, illegal use, refused access or your own or a close relative's good faith move-in. A rent increase above the local rent standard is presumed unreasonable. The law is set to end on June 15, 2034.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law art. 6-A (§§ 210 to 218)

Screening records and federal notices

Partly read

Do not refuse a New York rental because the applicant was involved in a past or pending landlord-and-tenant case. A report is not permission to use information that housing law prohibits. Federal consumer-report notices are additional obligations; giving a notice does not make an otherwise prohibited decision lawful.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 227-f FTC: landlord consumer-report guidance

New York has no statewide cap on rent. Rent stabilization and rent control, under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act and related laws, apply in New York City and in localities that have declared a housing emergency; their wider statutes and regulations were not read for this page. The selected NYC apartment and loft order below was reviewed separately. The Good Cause Eviction Law applies in New York City and in localities that opt in. The Multiple Dwelling Law applies in cities of 325,000 or more people, and in localities that adopt it.

N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 212 N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 213 N.Y. Mult. Dwell. Law § 3