Published 2026-09-25 · Last updated 2026-11-05 · 24 min read

New York Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Plain-English Guide

Quick answer - New York: New York caps all deposits and advances at one month's rent, held in trust and never commingled. Landlords must return an itemized statement and the balance within 14 days after the tenant vacates - missing that deadline forfeits any right to retain any portion of the deposit.

New York runs residential rentals under a stack that no single act contains: the deposit code in General Obligations Law sections 7-103, 7-107, and 7-108; the fee, notice, habitability, and retaliation rules in Real Property Law sections 238-a, 226-c, 235-b, and 223-b; the Good Cause Eviction Law, Real Property Law Article 6-A (sections 211 to 218), enacted in 2024; the summary-proceeding code in RPAPL Article 7; the rent-regulation systems (NYC rent stabilization under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, administered by the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, with annual increases set by the Rent Guidelines Board); and local layers, above all the New York City Human Rights Law and, since June 11, 2025, the City's FARE Act on broker fees. The 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) rewrote most of the statewide rules, and guides written before it are stale on almost every number. This guide states the current law, verified against the official statute text published by the New York State Senate.

Eight corrections and completions to start. First, the old page's headline Good Cause claim was wrong about geography: Good Cause Eviction is not statewide. Under section 213 it applies automatically in New York City and, everywhere else, only in a city, town, or village whose local legislative body has adopted it by local law. As of the Attorney General's April 2025 list, the opt-in localities were Albany, Beacon, Binghamton, Catskill, Croton-on-Hudson, Fishkill, Hudson, Ithaca, Kingston, New Paltz, Newburgh, Nyack, Poughkeepsie, and Rochester; the list keeps growing, and the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) publishes the current one. A landlord outside NYC and outside an opt-in locality has no Good Cause duties at all; a landlord inside one who works from a "statewide" summary will misstate the exemptions, which local law may also tighten. Second, the exemption list is much longer than "owner-occupied buildings of 10 or fewer units": section 214 also exempts premises owned by a small landlord (no more than 10 units in the state, counted across every natural-person owner, and reducible by local law), rent-regulated and income-restricted units, condominium and cooperative units, units in buildings whose certificate of occupancy issued on or after January 1, 2009 (for 30 years), seasonal units, manufactured homes, dormitories, and units renting for more than 245 percent of fair market rent, among others. Third, the old page's rent-increase tiers were misstated: section 226-c notice is triggered only by an increase of 5 percent or more or by non-renewal, the tiers run on occupancy or lease term, whichever is longer, and an increase below 5 percent requires no section 226-c notice at all. Fourth, the late-fee rule has a grace period the old page omitted: under section 238-a(2) no late fee may be charged at all unless rent remains unpaid more than five days after its due date, and the fee is capped at the lesser of $50 or 5 percent of the monthly rent. Fifth, application money is capped by the same section: the only charge allowed before or at the start of a tenancy is reimbursement for background and credit checks, capped at the actual cost or $20, whichever is less, waived if the applicant supplies a check run within the past 30 days, and collectible only if the applicant is given a copy of the check and the receipt. Sixth, the deposit inspection rights are two distinct statutory inspections, not one "walk-through": a pre-occupancy inspection under section 7-108(1-a)(c), whose signed condition agreement bars deductions for anything noted in it, and a pre-surrender inspection under section 7-108(1-a)(d), which the landlord must offer in writing, schedule between two weeks and one week before the tenancy ends on at least 48 hours' notice, and follow with an itemized statement the tenant may cure. Seventh, the old page's eviction timelines ("contested NYC cases routinely take 6 to 12 months") were unverified and are removed: no statute sets a case timeline; what the statutes set are the clocks stated in this guide — a 14-day written rent demand, a 30-day post-judgment cure stay in lease-breach cases, and at least 14 days' officer notice before a warrant is executed. Eighth, two 2025-2026 layers were missing entirely: the NYC FARE Act (Local Law 119 of 2024, effective June 11, 2025), under which a broker hired by or listing with the landlord's permission may not charge the tenant, and the Rent Guidelines Board's Order 58, adopted June 25, 2026, which sets the increase for NYC rent-stabilized leases commencing October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 at 0 percent for both one-year and two-year leases.

Disclaimer: this is general information, not legal advice. New York practice splits sharply between New York City and the rest of the state, rent-regulated units carry their own code on top of everything stated here, and opt-in Good Cause localities may adjust the state thresholds; consult a New York landlord-tenant attorney for your situation.

New York stacks more regimes than any other state — a deposit code, a fee code, a notice code, rent regulation, and a locality-by-locality good-cause law. The 50-State Landlord Law Dataset (CSV + JSON) puts all 50 states' deposit caps, return deadlines, damage multipliers, and eviction notice periods in one searchable file so you can compare and comply without re-reading statutes state by state.

Banking and bookkeeping built for landlords

New York treats every deposit as trust money: under GOL § 7-103 it must never be commingled with your own funds, and the 14-day itemized return clock leaves no room for reconstructing records after the tenant leaves. A landlord banking account that keeps each deposit in its own ledger from day one — like Baselane — makes that accounting automatic instead of a deadline-week scramble.

To cross-check that clock before a move-out, use the security deposit deadline matrix (PDF) — one printable page putting New York's 14-day itemized return deadline alongside the refund deadline in every other state.

Affiliate link: we may earn a commission if you open an account, at no extra cost to you. See our disclosure.

At a glance

When the clocks actually start

New York's clocks run from different events, and counting from the wrong one is the classic dismissal. The deposit return clock runs 14 days from when the tenant has vacated the premises (section 7-108(1-a)(e)) — not from lease expiration if the tenant leaves early or late, and not from the landlord's inspection. The pre-surrender inspection window opens once either party has given notice of an intention to terminate: the inspection itself must fall no earlier than two weeks and no later than one week before the end of the tenancy, on at least 48 hours' written notice of its date and time, and it is excused only where the tenant terminates with less than two weeks' notice (section 7-108(1-a)(d)). The late fee cannot attach until rent has gone unpaid for more than five days after the date it was due (section 238-a(2)). The section 226-c notice period runs from the landlord's actual written notice; if it is late or missing, the tenancy simply continues on its existing terms until the full period has run from when proper notice was given (section 226-c(1)(a)). The 14-day rent demand runs from service in the manner RPAPL 735 prescribes, and the separate certified-mail notice of nonpayment under section 235-e(d) is due when rent is five days past its lease due date — missing that notice is an affirmative defense in the nonpayment case, not a substitute for the rent demand. The warrant clock runs from the officer's service: at least 14 days' written notice before execution, which must occur on a business day between sunrise and sunset (RPAPL 749(2)(a)). The retaliation presumption runs one year from the tenant's protected complaint or action (section 223-b(5)).

Worked example, weekday-verified: a tenant vacates on Monday, March 2, 2026, leaving a $2,000 deposit on $2,000 rent. The itemized statement and the balance are due Monday, March 16, 2026. Documented deductions are $450, so the balance owed is $1,550. If the landlord sends nothing by March 16, the landlord forfeits any right to retain any portion of the deposit — the full $2,000 is owed, the $450 claim survives only as a separate claim the landlord would have to sue on, and a court that finds the violation willful may add punitive damages of up to twice the deposit ($4,000) on top of actual damages. Use our Security Deposit Deadline Finder and the deductions guide to build the record this arithmetic depends on.

How much can a New York landlord charge as a security deposit, and when must it be returned? (GOL 7-103, 7-107, and 7-108)

Two deposit sections divide the state by regulation status: section 7-107 governs deposits for rent-stabilized units and section 7-108 governs non-rent-stabilized units; the holding rules of section 7-103 sit underneath both. For the deposit-only treatment, see our New York security deposit law guide.

• The money stays the tenant's (section 7-103(1)). Money deposited or advanced as security "shall continue to be the money of the person making such deposit" and "shall be held in trust," never mingled with the landlord's personal moneys or treated as the landlord's asset. Any lease provision waiving section 7-103 is "absolutely void" (section 7-103(3)).
• Cap — one month, all-in (section 7-108(1-a)(a)). "No deposit or advance shall exceed the amount of one month's rent." The cap reaches advances as well as deposits, which is why the pre-HSTPA package of first month, last month, and a separate security deposit cannot be reassembled under new labels. The only exceptions in the subdivision are seasonal-use dwelling units (section 7-108(4) and (5)) and owner-occupied cooperative apartments (section 7-108(6)); the subdivision also carves out rent-controlled units and licensed care and senior communities listed in its opening clause.
• Where it must be held (section 7-103(2) and (2-a)). A landlord who deposits the money in a banking organization must notify each tenant in writing of the bank's name and address and the amount deposited, and the bank must have a place of business in New York. For property containing six or more family dwelling units, the money shall be placed in an interest-bearing account earning the prevailing rate for similar deposits in the area. Where the account bears interest, the landlord may retain 1 percent per year as administration expenses, "in lieu of all other administrative and custodial expenses"; the balance of the interest is the tenant's money, held in trust or paid annually. If the lease ends between interest payment dates, the landlord must pay over the interest collectible at termination (section 7-103(2-b)).
• The four lawful deductions — and no others (section 7-108(1-a)(b)). The deposit is refundable on vacating "except for an amount lawfully retained for the reasonable and itemized costs due to" (1) non-payment of rent, (2) damage caused by the tenant beyond normal wear and tear, (3) non-payment of utility charges payable directly to the landlord under the lease, and (4) moving and storage of the tenant's belongings. The same paragraph bars retention for ordinary wear and tear and for damage caused by a prior tenant — the two deductions landlords most often lose on.
• Pre-occupancy inspection (section 7-108(1-a)(c)). After the lease is signed and before occupancy begins, the landlord shall offer the tenant the opportunity to inspect the premises with the landlord or agent. If the tenant requests it, the parties execute a written agreement attesting to the condition and "specifically noting any existing defects or damages." On vacating, the landlord may not retain any amount for a condition noted in that agreement. The agreement is admissible only in proceedings about the deposit — which is exactly where it decides cases.
• Pre-surrender inspection (section 7-108(1-a)(d)). Within a reasonable time after either party notifies the other of an intention to terminate, the landlord must notify the tenant in writing of the right to request an inspection and to be present. The inspection must occur no earlier than two weeks and no later than one week before the end of the tenancy, on at least 48 hours' written notice of the date and time. Afterward the landlord must give an itemized statement specifying the repairs or cleaning proposed as the basis for deductions, and the tenant has the opportunity to cure before the tenancy ends. The exception is narrow: a tenant who terminates with less than two weeks' notice cannot demand the inspection track.
• The 14-day return and forfeiture (section 7-108(1-a)(e)). Within 14 days after the tenant has vacated, the landlord must provide the itemized statement and return the remaining portion. Missing either half forfeits "any right to retain any portion of the deposit." There is no partial-credit version of this rule and no extension for pending invoices stated in the text.
• Burden and penalty (section 7-108(1-a)(f) and (g)). In any dispute over an amount retained, the landlord bears the burden of proof as to its reasonableness. A violator is liable for actual damages, and a person found to have willfully violated the subdivision is liable for punitive damages of up to twice the amount of the deposit or advance.
• Transfers. A successor who takes the property without receiving the deposits is still liable to the tenant for repayment, plus accrued interest, for deposits the successor has actual knowledge of, as section 7-108(2) defines it — including deposits acknowledged in a lease in effect at closing. Buying a tenanted building buys the deposit liability with it.

Worked example, weekday-verified: rent is due Sunday, March 1, 2026 and is not paid. No late fee may be charged on March 2 through March 5; the fee first becomes chargeable once the rent has remained unpaid more than five days after the due date, and on $2,000 rent it is capped at $50 (the lesser of $50 or 5 percent, which here would be $100). Separately, because rent was not received within five days of its lease due date, the landlord must send the certified-mail notice of nonpayment required by section 235-e(d) — skipping it hands the tenant an affirmative defense in the later nonpayment case.

What fees can a New York landlord charge, and what are the screening and receipt rules? (RPL 238-a, 227-f, and 235-e)

• No general application fee (section 238-a(1)(a)). Except where another statute or regulation provides for a charge, no landlord may demand any payment "for the processing, review or acceptance of an application, or demand any other payment, fee or charge before or at the beginning of the tenancy," other than the background and credit check reimbursement in paragraph (b). A lease-processing, holding, or amenity-reservation charge collected at signing is a section 238-a problem, not a negotiable extra.
• The $20 screening cap (section 238-a(1)(b)). Reimbursement is capped at the actual cost of the background and credit checks or $20, whichever is less. The fee must be waived if the applicant provides a copy of a background or credit check conducted within the past 30 days, and it may not be collected at all unless the landlord gives the applicant a copy of the check and the receipt or invoice from the company that ran it.
• Dishonored checks (section 238-a(2-a)). A returned-check charge is allowed only if the lease provides for it, and it is capped at the actual costs incurred or the amount set in General Obligations Law section 5-328(3), whichever is greater — with substantiation owed to the tenant on request if the charge exceeds the statutory amount.
• No eviction-history blacklists (section 227-f). A landlord may not refuse to rent because a prospective tenant "was involved in a past or pending landlord-tenant action or summary proceeding." Requesting screening-bureau or court-record information about such actions and then refusing the applicant creates a rebuttable presumption of violation, and the Attorney General may seek a civil penalty of $500 to $1,000 for each violation. Screening criteria must therefore be built on credit, income, and rental-history facts other than the existence of a case.
• Receipts (section 235-e). Rent paid in cash, or by any instrument other than the tenant's personal check, must be receipted in writing with the date, amount, premises and period, and the signature and title of the person receiving it; a tenant who asks in writing gets receipts for personal checks too, for the rest of the tenancy. Cash-receipt records must be kept at least three years. A receipt personally handed over must issue immediately; an indirect payment must be receipted within 15 days.

See how to screen tenants for a compliant screening workflow built around these caps.

Rent: increases, stabilization, and the local rent standard

• No statewide percentage cap for unregulated units — but a notice code (section 226-c). Outside rent regulation and Good Cause localities, New York does not cap the size of an increase. What it regulates is notice: a landlord who intends to raise rent by 5 percent or more, or not to renew a tenancy, must give written notice of at least 30 days (occupancy under one year and no lease term of at least one year), 60 days (occupancy of one to two years, or a lease term of at least one year but less than two), or 90 days (occupancy of two years or more, or a lease term of at least two years), measured by whichever is longer (section 226-c(1) and (2)). If the landlord fails to give timely notice, "the occupant's lawful tenancy shall continue under the existing terms" until the notice period has run from actual written notice — the increase is not merely postponed a month, it is unenforceable until the clock is run correctly. An increase also cannot take effect mid-lease on a fixed term unless the lease itself so provides; section 226-c is a renewal-and-termination rule, not a mid-term repricing right. See how to raise rent legally.
• Rent stabilization is a separate rent code, not a guideline. Stabilized units (in New York City, generally units in buildings of six or more units built before 1974, plus units made stabilized by tax-benefit programs; and in the ETPA localities of Nassau, Rockland, and Westchester counties that have declared an emergency) may be increased only by the percentage the local Rent Guidelines Board adopts for the lease term, on the DHCR renewal forms, with the deposit governed by section 7-107 rather than 7-108. For NYC leases commencing October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, Order 58 sets 0 percent for a one-year lease and 0 percent for a two-year lease; leases commencing in the prior year took 3 percent and 4.5 percent under Order 57. Rent-controlled units — the small, pre-1971 tenancy class — run on the maximum-base-rent system instead. Treating a stabilized unit as a market unit because the building is small, or because a prior owner deregulated it informally, is the single most expensive classification error in New York landlording; HSTPA ended vacancy and high-rent deregulation for tenancies after June 14, 2019.
• The Good Cause local rent standard is a soft cap where Article 6-A applies. For covered units, an increase above the local rent standard — the lower of the inflation index (CPI plus 5 percent) or 10 percent, published annually by DHCR (section 211(7) and (8)) — is presumptively unreasonable, and rent that results from an unreasonable increase is not a valid basis for a nonpayment eviction (section 216(1)(a)). The presumption is rebuttable: the court must consider the landlord's property tax expenses and may consider fuel, utilities, insurance, maintenance, and completed significant repairs (permitted replacement or substantial modification of structural, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical systems, or hazardous-material abatement — cosmetic work does not qualify). At or below the standard, an increase is by statute not unreasonable.
• Algorithmic rent-setting that coordinates across landlords is unlawful (GBL 340-b). Since December 15, 2025 — Chapter 437 of 2025 (S7882/A1417-B), signed October 16, 2025 and effective the sixtieth day after it became law — General Business Law section 340-b, part of the Donnelly Act, attacks pooled-data rent pricing from both sides. It is an unlawful violation for a person or entity to knowingly or with reckless disregard facilitate an agreement between or among two or more residential rental property owners or managers not to compete, including by operating or licensing a software, data analytics service, or algorithmic device that performs a "coordinating function" (section 340-b(2)). And it is an unlawful agreement for an owner or manager to knowingly or with reckless disregard set or adjust rental prices, lease renewal terms, occupancy levels, or other lease terms based on recommendations from a tool performing that function (section 340-b(3)). A tool performs a coordinating function only when it does all three: (i) collects historical or contemporaneous prices, supply levels, or lease termination and renewal dates from two or more owners or managers — at least two of whom are not wholly-owned subsidiaries of the same parent or otherwise owned or managed by the same owner or manager; (ii) analyzes or processes that data computationally, including using it to train an algorithm; and (iii) recommends rental prices, lease renewal terms, ideal occupancy levels, or other lease terms (section 340-b(1)(c)). The practical line follows from that definition: revenue-management software that pools other landlords' data to recommend your rent is exactly what the statute targets, while a tool that works only from your own portfolio's data does not collect from two or more independent owners and so does not meet the definition. Products used to establish rent or income limits under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, the rent stabilization law, the city rent and rehabilitation law, the emergency housing rent control law, or a government-administered affordable housing program are expressly not performing a coordinating function (section 340-b(1)(c)). Section 340-b(4) leaves every other part of the Donnelly Act and other state law fully applicable. Enforcement note: on September 29, 2026, U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni (S.D.N.Y.) preliminarily enjoined enforcement of section 340-b(3) in RealPage, Inc. v. James, finding RealPage marginally likely to succeed on its First Amendment challenge — a question the court called a close call. The injunction is preliminary, not a final decision on the statute's validity, and it covers subdivision (3) only: the subdivision (2) facilitation prohibition and other antitrust law remain in force while the case proceeds.
• NYC broker fees — the FARE Act. Since June 11, 2025, in New York City a broker who represents the landlord, or who publishes a listing with the landlord's permission, may not charge the tenant a fee; whoever hires the broker pays the broker. A tenant who independently hires their own broker pays that broker under their own agreement. Listings and leases must disclose every fee the tenant will be required to pay, and relabeling the landlord's broker fee as an administrative or processing charge does not cure it — state law independently bars such upfront charges under section 238-a. The FARE Act is a New York City law; outside the five boroughs it does not apply.

Worked example, weekday-verified: a tenant who has occupied a market-rate unit for more than two years receives a renewal offer raising rent 8 percent, effective Wednesday, April 1, 2026. Section 226-c requires at least 90 days' written notice, so notice delivered after the start of January 2026 cannot support an April 1 increase at the new figure; the tenancy continues at the old rent until 90 days have run from actual written notice. If the unit is also a covered Good Cause unit in New York City, the landlord must additionally append the section 231-c notice, and an 8 percent increase stands or falls against that year's local rent standard as described above.

What does New York's warranty of habitability require of landlords? (RPL 235-b)

Section 235-b implies, in every written or oral residential lease, a covenant and warranty that the premises and all common areas "are fit for human habitation and for the uses reasonably intended by the parties" and that occupants "shall not be subjected to any conditions which would be dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to their life, health or safety." Three consequences drive practice:

1. It cannot be waived. "Any agreement by a lessee or tenant waiving or modifying his rights as set forth in this section shall be void as contrary to public policy" (section 235-b(2)). A lease clause shifting repair duties to the tenant does not move the warranty.

New York voids any lease agreement waiving or modifying these rights, so inherited form leases are worth auditing: the free Lease Clause Scanner checks a pasted lease against a plain-English clause checklist, entirely in your browser.

2. Tenant-caused conditions are not breaches. The warranty is not breached where the condition "has been caused by the misconduct of the tenant or lessee or persons under his direction or control" (section 235-b(1)) — which is why the move-in condition record matters on the repair side as much as on the deposit side.

3. Damages are measured by the breach, without an expert-testimony requirement, and are reduced by any DHCR rent reduction already awarded for the same conditions in a regulated unit (section 235-b(3)).

Underneath the statute run the codes: New York City's Housing Maintenance Code and Housing Court enforcement, the Multiple Dwelling Law duties to repair (sections 78, 79, and 80, which section 223-b also protects complaints about), and local property-maintenance codes elsewhere in the state. In New York City a tenant may bring an HP proceeding in Housing Court to compel repairs and the correction of violations, and code violations are classified and fined by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development; outside the City, tenants raise the warranty as a defense and counterclaim in the summary proceeding and pursue code enforcement through the local building department. New York has no general statutory repair-and-deduct remedy of the kind many states codify: a tenant who self-funds a repair and deducts it without an agreement or a court order is gambling that a court will credit the expenditure against rent under the warranty, which is why the documented track — written notice, a reasonable time to cure, a code complaint if the landlord stalls, and rent escrowed rather than spent — is the one this guide recommends landlords expect and tenants follow. See how to handle late rent for the nonpayment-side workflow and our lease agreement guide for clauses that support, rather than fight, the warranty.

Entry: no general state notice statute

New York has no general statute prescribing a number of hours of notice for landlord entry into an occupied residential unit. What governs is the lease, the tenant's right of quiet enjoyment, the habitability and retaliation rules, and — for regulated units and in New York City practice — lease and code provisions on access for repairs and inspections. Two statutory edges do exist: under Good Cause, a tenant's unreasonable refusal of access for necessary repairs, legally required improvements, or showings to prospective purchasers or mortgagees is itself a ground for removal (section 216(1)(f)), which necessarily implies access on reasonable terms is part of the tenancy; and entry used to pressure a tenant out can become evidence in an unlawful-eviction or retaliation case. The standard practice — 24 hours' written notice in the lease, reasonable daytime hours, emergencies excepted, and a written log of every entry — is sound practice worth writing into every New York lease, but it is a contract term and a habit, not a statutory command, and this page does not present it as law.

What is Good Cause Eviction in New York, and when does it apply? (RPL Article 6-A, sections 211 to 218)

Where it applies — and where it does not

Article 6-A took effect April 20, 2024. Under section 213, it applies in New York City and in any other city, town, or village that adopts it by local law. An opt-in locality may set its own high-rent exemption threshold and may define "small landlord" as a landlord of no more than a locally chosen number of units; if it does neither, the state defaults apply (245 percent of fair market rent; 10 units). DHCR publishes the list of opt-in localities, the applicable fair market rent thresholds, and each locality's small-landlord definition annually (section 213(6)). The Attorney General's list as of April 2025 covered, outside New York City: Albany, Beacon, Binghamton, Catskill, Croton-on-Hudson, Fishkill, Hudson, Ithaca, Kingston, New Paltz, Newburgh, Nyack, Poughkeepsie, and Rochester. Article 6-A is scheduled to be repealed June 15, 2034, as the "NB Repealed" notes on its sections record.

Coverage and exemptions (section 214)

Where the article applies, it covers all housing accommodations except: (1) premises owned by a small landlord — no more than 10 units in the state (or the local-law number), counted per natural-person owner, directly or indirectly, and a landlord claiming the exemption in an eviction proceeding must disclose each owner's name, unit count, and unit addresses; (2) owner-occupied housing accommodations with no more than 10 units; (3) sublet units where the sublessor seeks in good faith to recover the unit for personal use; (4) units occupied solely incident to employment that has lawfully ended; (5) units otherwise subject to rent or eviction regulation under local, state, or federal law — rent-stabilized and rent-controlled units are exempt because their own regimes are stronger; (6) income-restricted affordable units under a statute, regulation, restrictive declaration, or regulatory agreement; (7) condominium and cooperative units; (8) units in buildings whose certificate of occupancy issued on or after January 1, 2009, for 30 years from issuance; (9) seasonal-use dwelling units; (10) hospitals, continuing-care, assisted-living, adult-care, and similar licensed communities; (11) manufactured homes in manufactured home parks; (12) hotels and other transient class B multiple dwellings; (13) dormitories of educational institutions; (14) housing within and for use by a religious facility or institution; and (15) units renting for more than 245 percent of fair market rent (or the local-law percentage). Note the two separate small-building rules: the small-landlord exemption counts the owner's statewide portfolio and applies whether or not the owner lives in the building; the owner-occupied exemption counts the building's units and requires the owner to live there.

The rule and the grounds (sections 215 and 216)

Section 215 states the rule in one sentence: no landlord shall remove a covered tenant — "by action to evict or to recover possession, by exclusion from possession, by failure to renew any lease, or otherwise" — except for good cause as defined in section 216. Lease expiration is therefore not, by itself, a ground. Section 216(1) requires the landlord to establish one of these grounds in court:

• (a) Nonpayment of rent due and owing — unless the rent, or part of it, resulted from an unreasonable increase above the local rent standard, as analyzed in the rent section above.
• (b) Substantial lease or rules violation, uncured 10 days after written notice to cease — provided the obligation was not imposed to circumvent Article 6-A and the rules are reasonable and were accepted in writing or made part of the lease at its start.
• (c) Nuisance or damage: committing or permitting a nuisance, maliciously or by gross negligence substantially damaging the unit, building, or property, or interfering with the comfort and safety of the landlord or other occupants.
• (d) Violation of law requiring vacatur, where an agency has issued a vacate order, the court finds removal is required to cure, and the landlord did not create the condition by neglect or deliberate failure.
• (e) Illegal use of the unit, building, or property.
• (f) Unreasonable refusal of access for necessary repairs, legally required improvements, or showings to a prospective purchaser, mortgagee, or other person with a legitimate interest.
• (g) Owner's personal use as a principal residence for the landlord or a listed family member (spouse, domestic partner, child, stepchild, parent, step-parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, parent-in-law, or sibling-in-law), proven by clear and convincing evidence, where no other suitable unit in the building is available — and never against a tenant who is 65 or older or disabled.
• (h) Demolition, in good faith, proven by clear and convincing evidence.
• (i) Withdrawal from the rental market, in good faith, proven by clear and convincing evidence.
• (j) Refusal of reasonable renewal changes, including increases that are not unreasonable, where written notice of the changes was given at least 30 and no more than 90 days before the current lease expires.

A tenant displaced under grounds (g), (h), or (i) has a damages action, with attorney's fees, against a landlord or purchaser who makes a fraudulent statement about the proposed use, withdrawal, or demolition (section 216(2)).

The notice that must ride along (section 231-c)

A landlord must append or incorporate the statutory Good Cause Eviction Law notice into every initial lease, renewal lease, section 226-c notice, section 711(2) rent demand, and section 741 petition. The notice tells the tenant whether the unit is or is not covered and, if it is exempt, which exemption applies; if the unit is covered and the lease is not being renewed, it states the section 216 ground relied on. The form also flags, for increases, whether the proposed rent exceeds the local rent standard. Omitting the notice is a defect that follows the case from the lease signing into the petition.

How does eviction work in New York? (the RPAPL Article 7 track)

Whatever the ground, possession changes hands only through a court. The sequence:

1. Predicate notice. Nonpayment requires a written rent demand with at least 14 days' notice, served as RPAPL 735 prescribes (RPAPL 711(2)); the demand must append or contain the section 231-c Good Cause notice. Holdover grounds run on the termination of the term or tenancy, layered with the section 226-c notice where the tenancy is periodic, and lease-breach grounds in practice run on the lease's own notice-to-cure and notice-of-termination pair — in New York City the courts' guidance describes a 10-day notice to cure followed by a notice of termination. Occupants with no landlord-tenant relationship (squatters, licensees, post-foreclosure occupants) are proceeded against under RPAPL 713, generally on a 10-day notice to quit.

2. Petition and service. The proceeding is commenced by petition and notice of petition under RPAPL 731 and 735, in Housing Court in New York City or the city, district, town, or village court with jurisdiction elsewhere. Defective predicate notices and defective service are jurisdictional in practice: cases are dismissed over them every day, and the landlord starts again.

3. Hearing and judgment. The tenant may answer, assert the warranty of habitability, retaliation, the section 235-e(d) missing-notice defense, and — in a Good Cause locality — the absence of a section 216 ground, and may seek the hardship stay of RPAPL 753(1), which can stay a warrant for up to one year on findings including good faith, inability to find suitable similar premises in the neighborhood, and extreme hardship, weighed against hardship to the landlord and conditioned on depositing use and occupancy with the court.

4. The cure stay in breach cases (RPAPL 753(4)). Where the proceeding rests on a claimed breach of the lease, "the court shall grant a thirty day stay of issuance of the warrant, during which time the respondent may correct such breach." Judgment is therefore not the end of a breach case; a tenant who cures inside the stay keeps the tenancy.

5. Pay-and-dismiss in nonpayment cases. In a nonpayment judgment, the court shall vacate the warrant on the tenant's tender or deposit of the full rent due at any time before the warrant is executed, unless the landlord establishes the tenant withheld the rent in bad faith (RPAPL 749(3)).

6. The warrant and its execution (RPAPL 749). The warrant issues to the sheriff, constable, or marshal — never to the landlord — states the earliest execution date the court ordered, and the officer must give at least 14 days' written notice to the persons to be evicted and execute on a business day between sunrise and sunset. The officer must also check for companion animals and coordinate their safe care before executing.

Self-help is unlawful eviction. RPAPL 768 makes it unlawful to evict or attempt to evict an occupant who has lawfully occupied a unit for 30 consecutive days or longer, or who holds a lease, except under a warrant or court or governmental order — by force or threats, by conduct disturbing the occupant's comfort or quiet (including interrupting essential services), by removing possessions, by removing the entrance door, or by disabling or changing the lock without supplying a key. Intentional violation is a class A misdemeanor, each violation a separate offense, plus a civil penalty of $1,000 to $10,000 per violation, with an added penalty of up to $100 per day (capped at six months) for failing to restore an occupant after request. Independently, a person forcibly or unlawfully put out of possession may recover treble damages under RPAPL 853. The old page's "triple damages" line was therefore right in substance; what it omitted is that the criminal and civil-penalty exposure sits in section 768 alongside it.

Retaliation, mitigation, and discrimination

• Retaliation (section 223-b). A landlord may not serve a notice to quit, bring a possession action, or substantially alter the terms of the tenancy — expressly including refusing to renew or offering renewal at an unreasonable increase — in retaliation for a tenant's good-faith complaint to the landlord, the landlord's agent, or a governmental authority about a health or safety law, code, or ordinance, the warranty of habitability, the Multiple Dwelling Law repair duties, or rent-gouging law; for good-faith action to secure or enforce rights under the lease or any such law; or for participating in a tenant organization. Violation supports a civil action for damages, attorney's fees and costs, and equitable relief, and is a complete defense posture in the possession case itself. The rebuttable presumption of retaliation arises where the landlord acts within one year after the protected complaint or action.
• Mitigation (section 227-e). If a tenant vacates early in violation of the lease, the landlord must, "in good faith and according to the landlord's resources and abilities," take reasonable and customary actions to re-rent at fair market value or the lease rate, whichever is lower; once a new tenant's lease takes effect, the old tenant's lease terminates and damages are mitigated accordingly. The burden of proof sits on the party seeking damages, and a lease clause exempting the landlord from this duty is void. The pre-2019 "a lease is a conveyance, so there is no duty to mitigate" rule is dead for residential tenancies.
• Discrimination. The federal Fair Housing Act sits underneath the New York State Human Rights Law (Executive Law section 296), which adds protected classes including source of income — a landlord may not refuse to rent, or impose different terms, because a lawful income source includes housing assistance or vouchers — as well as marital status, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, arrest record (within the limits of Article 23-A), and familial and disability status with the usual reasonable-accommodation duties, including for assistance animals, which are not pets. The New York City Human Rights Law is broader still and is construed liberally in the tenant's favor; arrest and conviction history and caregiver status are among its added classes. Screening criteria should be written, income-based without regard to the income's source, and applied identically to every applicant, with the section 227-f blacklist ban built in.

Compliance checklist

1. Classify the unit first: market-rate, rent-stabilized, rent-controlled, or affordable-regulated — the deposit section, the increase rule, and the eviction grounds all change with the answer.

2. Determine Good Cause coverage separately: New York City, an opt-in locality (check the current DHCR list and any local thresholds), or neither — then test every section 214 exemption, including the owner's statewide unit count.

3. Collect no more than one month's rent in deposits and advances combined, and no upfront fee other than a screening reimbursement of the actual cost or $20, whichever is less.

4. Offer the pre-occupancy inspection in writing; sign and file the condition agreement before the tenant moves in.

5. Deposit the money in trust in a New York banking organization, send the written bank notice, and use an interest-bearing account at the prevailing rate for any property of six or more units.

6. Calendar the late-fee rule (no fee until rent is more than five days late; lesser of $50 or 5 percent) and the certified-mail nonpayment notice (section 235-e(d)) as two separate steps.

7. For any increase of 5 percent or more or any non-renewal, serve the section 226-c notice on the 30/60/90-day tier measured by occupancy or lease term, whichever is longer — and append the section 231-c Good Cause notice.

8. For stabilized units, use the DHCR renewal forms and the Rent Guidelines Board percentage for the lease's commencement window (0 percent and 0 percent for October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 in New York City).

9. On termination notice, send the written pre-surrender inspection offer; inspect between two weeks and one week out on 48 hours' notice; deliver the itemized statement and let the cure window run.

10. Return the deposit and the itemized statement within 14 days of vacatur, keep the proof of deductions (the burden is yours), and never use self-help: possession changes hands only on a warrant executed by a sheriff, constable, or marshal after 14 days' officer notice.

FAQ

What is the security deposit cap in New York?

One month's rent, for deposits and advances combined, under General Obligations Law section 7-108(1-a)(a) for non-stabilized units and section 7-107 for stabilized units. The only statutory exceptions are seasonal-use dwelling units and owner-occupied cooperative apartments. Collecting a separate "last month's rent" deposit on top of a one-month security deposit exceeds the cap. Check a proposed deposit against that one-month cap with our Security Deposit Max Checker.

How long does a New York landlord have to return a security deposit?

Fourteen days after the tenant has vacated the premises. By that deadline the landlord must provide an itemized statement of any amount retained and return the remaining portion (section 7-108(1-a)(e)). If the landlord fails to provide the statement and the deposit within 14 days, the landlord forfeits any right to retain any portion of the deposit.

What is the penalty for wrongfully withholding a New York security deposit?

Actual damages, and for a willful violation, punitive damages of up to twice the amount of the deposit or advance (section 7-108(1-a)(g)). The landlord also bears the burden of proving that any amount retained was reasonable (section 7-108(1-a)(f)), and the four lawful deduction categories in section 7-108(1-a)(b) are exclusive: unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear and tear, unpaid utility charges payable directly to the landlord under the lease, and moving and storage of the tenant's belongings.

Does Good Cause Eviction apply everywhere in New York?

No. It applies automatically in New York City. Everywhere else it applies only in a city, town, or village that has adopted Article 6-A by local law under section 213, and opt-in localities may set their own high-rent threshold and small-landlord definition. Even where it applies, section 214 exempts small landlords (10 or fewer units statewide, by default), owner-occupied buildings of 10 or fewer units, rent-regulated and income-restricted units, condominium and cooperative units, buildings with certificates of occupancy issued on or after January 1, 2009 for 30 years, and units renting above 245 percent of fair market rent, among others.

How much can a landlord charge for an application or screening in New York?

Nothing for the application itself. The only permitted charge is reimbursement for background and credit checks, capped at the actual cost or $20, whichever is less (section 238-a(1)(b)). The fee must be waived if the applicant provides a check conducted within the past 30 days, and it cannot be collected unless the applicant receives a copy of the check and the provider's receipt or invoice.

What is the maximum late fee in New York, and when can it be charged?

The lesser of $50 or 5 percent of the monthly rent, and only if the rent has not been paid within five days of the date it was due (section 238-a(2)). A fee charged on the second day of lateness, or a flat fee above $50 on a low rent, violates the section even if the lease authorizes it; a lease provision waiving or limiting section 238-a is void.

How much notice is required for a rent increase or non-renewal in New York?

For an increase of 5 percent or more, or a decision not to renew, section 226-c requires written notice of 30 days if the tenant has occupied the unit for under one year, 60 days for one to two years, and 90 days for two years or more, measured by occupancy or the lease term, whichever is longer. If timely notice is not given, the tenancy continues on its existing terms until the full period has run from actual written notice. Increases below 5 percent do not trigger section 226-c, and no increase can take effect mid-lease unless the lease provides for it.

What did the Rent Guidelines Board set for 2026-2027 in New York City?

Zero. Order 58, adopted June 25, 2026, sets the adjustment for rent-stabilized leases commencing October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 at 0 percent for a one-year lease and 0 percent for a two-year lease. Leases commencing in the prior window (October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026) took 3 percent and 4.5 percent under Order 57. Market-rate units are not governed by these orders.

How long is the rent demand before a New York nonpayment eviction?

At least 14 days, in writing, served in the manner RPAPL 735 prescribes (RPAPL 711(2)). The landlord must also have sent the certified-mail notice of nonpayment required by section 235-e(d) once rent was five days past due; failure to send it is an affirmative defense for the tenant. After judgment, the court must vacate the warrant if the tenant tenders the full rent due before the warrant is executed, unless the landlord proves the rent was withheld in bad faith. To run these same dates for your own case — the 14-day written rent demand under RPAPL 711(2), the petition and service track under RPAPL 731 and 735, and the officer's at least 14 days' written notice before warrant execution under RPAPL 749(2)(a) — use the Eviction Timeline Calculator.

Can a New York tenant cure a lease violation after losing in court?

In a proceeding based on a breach of the lease, yes: RPAPL 753(4) requires the court to grant a 30-day stay of the issuance of the warrant, during which the tenant may correct the breach. That post-judgment cure right is separate from any pre-filing notice to cure the lease requires, and separate from the 10-day cure notice built into the Good Cause substantial-obligation ground (section 216(1)(b)).

Can a New York landlord use rent-pricing software?

Yes — unless the software performs a "coordinating function" under General Business Law section 340-b, effective December 15, 2025. Since that date it has been an unlawful Donnelly Act agreement for a landlord to set or adjust rent, renewal terms, occupancy levels, or other lease terms based on recommendations from software, a data analytics service, or an algorithmic device that collects price, supply, or lease-date data from two or more independent landlords, analyzes it (including training an algorithm on it), and recommends prices or terms. A tool that analyzes only your own properties' data does not meet that definition, and products used to set rent or income limits under rent stabilization, the ETPA, rent control, or a government affordable housing program are expressly excluded. Facilitating the coordination — operating or licensing the coordinating tool — is separately unlawful under section 340-b(2). One current limit: enforcement of the section 340-b(3) owner/manager rule is preliminarily enjoined as of September 29, 2026 in RealPage, Inc. v. James (S.D.N.Y.) while that First Amendment case proceeds; the injunction does not cover section 340-b(2) and is not a final ruling.

Who pays the broker fee in New York City now?

Whoever hired the broker. Under the FARE Act, effective June 11, 2025, a broker representing the landlord or listing the unit with the landlord's permission may not charge the tenant; the landlord pays. A tenant who independently hires their own broker pays that broker. Listings and leases must disclose all fees the tenant is required to pay. Outside New York City the FARE Act does not apply, although the state screening cap in section 238-a applies statewide.

Primary sources

All sources were read for this verification in the official text published by the New York State Senate or in the official state and city publications noted.

• GOL 7-108 — Deposits made by tenants of non-rent stabilized dwelling units (NY Senate) — the one-month cap at (1-a)(a), the four deduction categories at (1-a)(b), the pre-occupancy inspection at (1-a)(c), the pre-surrender inspection and cure at (1-a)(d), the 14-day return and forfeiture at (1-a)(e), the landlord's burden at (1-a)(f), and actual plus up-to-double punitive damages at (1-a)(g); read with section 7-107 for stabilized units.
• GOL 7-103 — Money deposited or advanced for use or rental of real property (NY Senate) — the trust and no-commingling rule at (1), the bank notice and the 1 percent administration allowance at (2), the mandatory interest-bearing account for six or more family units at (2-a), and the void-waiver rule at (3).
• RPL 238-a — Limitation on fees (NY Senate) — the ban on application and other upfront fees at (1)(a), the actual-cost-or-$20 screening cap, 30-day waiver, and copy-and-receipt rule at (1)(b), the five-day grace and lesser-of-$50-or-5-percent late fee at (2), and the dishonored-check rule at (2-a).
• GBL 340-b — Agreements to not compete with respect to residential rental dwelling units (NY Senate, S7882, Chapter 437 of 2025) — the three-part "coordinating function" definition and the rent-regulation/affordable-housing carve-out at (1)(c), the facilitation violation at (2), the owner/manager unlawful-agreement rule at (3), and the savings clause at (4); signed October 16, 2025, effective December 15, 2025 (the sixtieth day after it became law).
• RPL 226-c — Notice of rent increase or non-renewal of residential tenancy (NY Senate) — the 5 percent trigger, the 30/60/90-day tiers measured by occupancy or lease term, whichever is longer, and the continuation-on-existing-terms consequence of late notice.
• RPL Article 6-A, sections 211 to 218 — Good Cause Eviction Law (NY Senate) — the section 216 grounds (a) through (j); read with section 213 (NYC application and local opt-in, with local thresholds), section 214 (the fifteen exemption categories), section 215 (good cause required for removal, non-renewal, or exclusion), and section 231-c (the statutory applicability notice and its contents).
• New York State Good Cause Eviction Law (Attorney General) — the AG's coverage summary and the opt-in locality list as of April 2025 relied on in the text, with DHCR as the source for the current list.
• RPL 235-b — Warranty of habitability (NY Senate) — the implied covenant, the tenant-misconduct carve-out, the void-waiver rule, and the damages measure at (3).
• RPL 223-b — Retaliation by landlord against tenant (NY Senate) — the protected complaints and actions, the ban on retaliatory substantial alterations, damages and fees, and the one-year rebuttable presumption at (5).
• RPL 227-e — Landlord duty to mitigate damages (NY Senate) and RPL 227-f — Denial on the basis of involvement in prior disputes prohibited (NY Senate) — the re-rental duty and void lease waivers; the eviction-history blacklist ban, its rebuttable presumption, and the $500 to $1,000 Attorney General penalty.
• RPL 235-e — Duty to provide a written receipt (NY Senate) — the receipt contents and timing, the three-year cash-receipt record, and the certified-mail nonpayment notice and its affirmative-defense consequence at (d).
• RPAPL 711 — Grounds where landlord-tenant relationship exists (NY Senate) — the holdover ground at (1) and the written 14-day rent demand at (2); read with RPAPL 713 (non-tenant occupants) and RPAPL 735 (service).
• RPAPL 749 — Warrant (NY Senate) — issuance to the sheriff, constable, or marshal, the officer's 14-day notice and business-day sunrise-to-sunset execution at (2)(a), the companion-animal rule at (2)(b), and the mandatory vacatur on full tender at (3).
• RPAPL 753 — Stay in premises occupied for dwelling purposes (Justia, current text) — the hardship stay at (1) and the mandatory 30-day cure stay in lease-breach proceedings at (4).
• RPAPL 768 — Unlawful eviction (NY Senate) and RPAPL 853 (treble damages for forcible or unlawful ouster) — the 30-day occupant and leaseholder protection, the prohibited self-help acts, the class A misdemeanor, and the $1,000 to $10,000 civil penalty per violation.
• Adopted Summary of Guidelines 2026-27 (NYC Rent Guidelines Board) — Order 58, adopted June 25, 2026: 0 percent for one-year and 0 percent for two-year rent-stabilized apartment leases commencing October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
• FARE Act (NYC Local Law 119 of 2024), enforced by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection — whoever hires the broker pays; a landlord's broker may not charge the tenant; fee disclosure duties in listings and leases; effective June 11, 2025.

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This is general information, not legal advice. NYC adds layers of local regulation — consult a New York landlord-tenant attorney for specific situations.