Tenant & Renter Rights in New York, NY
The short answer
Coverage in New York City is unit-by-unit. Read the exemption list before you rely on it. New York City is covered by New York's Good Cause Eviction law, so a landlord generally needs a listed good cause to evict or refuse to renew. But many units are carved out: premises owned by a small landlord, owner-occupied buildings with no more than ten units, units already rent-regulated, and units renting above 245% of HUD fair market rent.
This is set by law, and the source indicates a lease cannot waive it.
Free legal help: lawhelp.org · call 211
New York City is covered by New York's Good Cause Eviction law, so a landlord generally needs a listed good cause to evict or refuse to renew.
New York City is covered by New York's Good Cause Eviction law, so a landlord generally needs a listed good cause to evict or refuse to renew. But many units are carved out: premises owned by a small landlord, owner-occupied buildings with no more than ten units, units already rent-regulated, and units renting above 245% of HUD fair market rent.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: RPL 214 exempts, among others: premises owned by a small landlord (RPL 211(3): no more than ten units in the state); owner-occupied housing with no more than ten units; units already subject to rent regulation; income-restricted units; condominium and cooperative units; housing with a certificate of occupancy issued on or after January 1, 2009 (exempt for thirty years after issuance); seasonal, hotel/class-B transient, dormitory and religious-institution housing; manufactured homes; and units renting above 245% of HUD fair market rent for the county.
New York City's Right to Counsel law gives every tenant facing an eviction case in NYC Housing Court access to brief legal assistance, and full legal representation if the household's annual gross income is not above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines or the tenant is 60 or older.
New York City's Right to Counsel law gives every tenant facing an eviction case in NYC Housing Court access to brief legal assistance, and full legal representation if the household's annual gross income is not above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines or the tenant is 60 or older.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: The program is expressly 'subject to appropriation' and NYC Admin. Code 26-1302(g) creates no private right of action. Access is not a guarantee that a lawyer will be assigned. Brief legal assistance is for all covered individuals; full representation is only for income-eligible individuals.
Under New York City's FARE Act, in effect since June 11, 2025, a broker hired by the landlord — including the agent who published the listing — cannot charge you the broker fee, and every fee you must pay to rent the apartment has to be disclosed in an itemized writing you sign before the lease.
Under New York City's FARE Act, in effect since June 11, 2025, a broker hired by the landlord — including the agent who published the listing — cannot charge you the broker fee, and every fee you must pay to rent the apartment has to be disclosed in an itemized writing you sign before the lease.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: DCWP states the Act does not prohibit landlords from charging prospective tenants for background checks and credit checks, and does not stop a tenant from hiring and paying their own broker. An obligation to pay a broker that arose before June 11, 2025 may not be covered, depending on the circumstances.
New York City's Housing Maintenance Code makes it unlawful for the owner of a dwelling to harass tenants, and defines harassment to include repeated interruptions of essential services, repeated failures to correct hazardous violations within the required time, and knowingly giving a tenant false or misleading information about the occupancy of the unit.
New York City's Housing Maintenance Code makes it unlawful for the owner of a dwelling to harass tenants, and defines harassment to include repeated interruptions of essential services, repeated failures to correct hazardous violations within the required time, and knowingly giving a tenant false or misleading information about the occupancy of the unit.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: The rebuttable presumption of intent 'shall not apply to such acts or omissions with respect to a private dwelling, as defined in paragraph six of subdivision a of section 27-2004'. The definition of harassment requires BOTH an act or omission that causes or is intended to cause the occupant to vacate or waive rights AND one of the enumerated acts.
When HPD inspects after a 311 complaint in New York City and writes a violation, the owner gets a fixed correction window: 90 days for Class A non-hazardous, 30 days for Class B hazardous, 21 days for lead paint and for window guards, mold and pests, and 24 hours for other Class C immediately hazardous conditions — with heat or hot water immediately.
When HPD inspects after a 311 complaint in New York City and writes a violation, the owner gets a fixed correction window: 90 days for Class A non-hazardous, 30 days for Class B hazardous, 21 days for lead paint and for window guards, mold and pests, and 24 hours for other Class C immediately hazardous conditions — with heat or hot water immediately.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: HPD states that if the owner certifies correction and HPD does not re-inspect, the violation is closed after 70 days. HPD also states the Housing Maintenance Code does not require air conditioning and that the City does not issue violations for it.
New York has no statewide statutory entry-notice period that we could identify.
New York has no statewide statutory entry-notice period that we could identify. The state Attorney General's tenants' rights guide describes the standard as reasonable prior notice, at a reasonable time, with the tenant's consent.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: Rent-regulated units in New York City are separately governed by the Rent Stabilization Code, which we have not verified here.
Safest first steps: Start a dated log of every entry or attempted entry — date, time, who came, what was said — beginning with the most recent one while you remember the details.
What to avoid: Do not change the locks before checking your lease and your state's rules. In some places that can put you in breach of the lease, meaning you broke a promise the lease contains.
In New York, a landlord must give you an itemized statement and return the remaining deposit within 14 days after you vacate.
In New York, a landlord must give you an itemized statement and return the remaining deposit within 14 days after you vacate. Missing that deadline forfeits the right to keep any of it.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: This section does not cover units under New York City rent control or the emergency housing rent control law, licensed continuing-care and assisted-living settings, or certain senior communities. Rent-stabilized units fall under a different section.
Safest first steps: Send your landlord your forwarding address in writing and keep proof you sent it. In some states the refund clock does not start until you do.
What to avoid: Do not treat a partial refund as final before checking your state's deadline and itemization rules. In some states a missed landlord deadline forfeits their right to keep any of it.
New York City sets its own heat rules.
New York City sets its own heat rules. Heat season runs October 1 through May 31: at least 68°F indoors between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. when it is below 55°F outside, and at least 62°F between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. regardless of the outdoor temperature. Hot water must be at least 120°F year-round.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: The daytime requirement is triggered only when the outdoor temperature is below 55°F; the overnight minimum has no outdoor trigger.
Safest first steps: Send your landlord a dated written report of the outage today — a text or email counts — and keep a copy.
What to avoid: Do not stop paying rent to force the repair. In some states withholding rent can lead to an eviction case even when the problem is real.
About 8.5 million people live in New York City, and a renter here is standing under three rulebooks at once: New York State law, the City's own Housing Maintenance Code, and — for some apartments only — a rent-regulation system the State administers. Most bad advice about renting here comes from mixing those three up. This page keeps them apart.
Each rule above was read against the official source named beside it and carries its own verification date. None of it has been reviewed by an attorney, and Renter Shield is not a law firm. Whether a rule reaches your apartment depends on your building, your lease and your unit's regulatory status — so treat this as a map, not an answer about your case.
State, city, court, lease: which one governs your problem
New York State law sets the floor for a New York City tenancy, and the City's Housing Maintenance Code adds a second layer on top of it — which is why a renter in the five boroughs can have a remedy a renter upstate does not.
What New York State decides
The security deposit — its one-month ceiling, the itemized statement, and the 14-day return clock — is state law, and so is the entry standard, the statewide warranty of habitability, and the notice a landlord owes before a rent increase or a non-renewal, which Real Property Law § 226-c scales to how long you have lived there. Good Cause Eviction is also a state statute; it reaches New York City by force of law rather than through any City ordinance, and that is exactly how the answer above frames it.
What the City adds on top
New York City writes its own minimum indoor temperatures and hot-water floor, its own correction deadlines for owners once HPD writes a violation, its own definition of owner harassment, and — since the FARE Act — its own rule about who pays a broker the landlord hired. None of that comes from Albany. All of it is enforced by City agencies, mostly through 311.
Who actually runs the process
Housing Court is a part of the New York City Civil Court — a state court system sitting in the five boroughs, not a City agency, and with no counterpart outside them. Rent stabilization and rent control are administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal, again not by the City. Conditions in NYCHA public housing are routed through NYCHA's own channel rather than the ordinary HPD complaint path.
What your lease decides
New York has no statewide number of hours a landlord must give before entering, so in most unregulated apartments the entry clause in your lease is the operative rule — a lease can create a notice duty the statute does not. Your lease also governs pets, guests, subletting mechanics and renewal windows. Under the FARE Act, anything you are required to pay in order to rent the place must appear on an itemized sheet you sign ahead of the lease itself — so that sheet is evidence.
Start with what just happened
Pick the situation you are actually in. Each one below is supported by a rule set out at the top of this page — nothing here is a general guess about what “most cities” do.
My heat or hot water is off
New York City, not New York State, writes the indoor temperature floors and the year-round hot-water minimum, and HPD treats a heat or hot water failure as the most urgent class of violation there is.
Repairs are being ignored
Once HPD inspects and writes a violation, the owner is on a fixed clock whose length depends on how hazardous the condition is. The catch a lot of renters never hear: if the owner certifies the repair and HPD does not re-inspect, the violation can close on its own.
I got an eviction notice or court papers
A notice is not a judgment, and a judgment is not a warrant — three different stages with three different clocks. New York City's Right to Counsel law gives every tenant with a Housing Court eviction case access to brief legal assistance, and full representation where the household sits at or under 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, or where the tenant has turned 60.
I think my landlord is trying to push me out
The City's Housing Maintenance Code makes owner harassment unlawful in its own right, and it names the patterns: repeatedly cutting essential services, repeatedly failing to fix hazardous violations inside the required window, and knowingly lying to a tenant about who may occupy the unit. Read the exception in the harassment answer above before you rely on the presumption of intent.
I am being asked to pay a broker fee
Under the FARE Act a broker the landlord hired — including whoever published the listing — cannot bill you for that broker's fee, and whatever you are required to pay has to appear on an itemized sheet you sign ahead of the lease. You can still choose to hire and pay your own broker, and a landlord may still charge for background and credit checks.
My landlord let himself in
There is no statewide hour count in New York — the widely repeated “24 hours” is not supported by any statute we could find. The Attorney General's guide puts the test as notice that is reasonable, given in advance, at a reasonable hour, and with your consent; a rent-regulated apartment is governed separately by the Rent Stabilization Code.
My deposit was not returned
This one is state law rather than city law: an itemized statement and the balance are due within 14 days of your moving out, the deposit is capped at one month's rent, and the landlord carries the burden of proving a deduction was reasonable. Rent-controlled units and rent-stabilized units sit under different sections.
I need free local help
Free legal aid comes before any paid service, always — including before anything Renter Shield offers. If your unit may be regulated, finding that out is often the single most valuable hour you can spend, because the rules for regulated apartments differ sharply from the rules for everything else.
Official help in New York City, and what each office actually does
These are the offices with authority over a New York City tenancy. Each entry says who it helps, what it will and will not take on, and what to bring. Service details retrieved 2026-08-07.
HPD Division of Code Enforcement, reached through NYC311
HPD is the City agency that inspects conditions and writes violations against the owner, across all five boroughs. Conditions in NYCHA public housing go down a separate NYCHA path, and privately managed NYCHA buildings go to the management company first. HPD does not recover your rent and does not represent you.
HRA / Office of Civil Justice — Universal Access to Counsel
This is the City office behind Right to Counsel. HRA states the service reaches every ZIP code in all five boroughs, regardless of immigration status, and its desks sit inside the Housing Courts. Read it as access, not as a promise: the law is expressly subject to appropriation and creates no private right of action, so a lawyer is not guaranteed to you.
New York City Housing Court, self-represented resources
Housing Court is where a nonpayment or holdover case is decided, and it is also where you can start an HP action asking a judge to order repairs. Court staff will tell you plainly that they cannot give legal advice — that is not obstruction, it is the rule they work under.
NYC Commission on Human Rights (housing discrimination)
If you were refused, steered, priced differently or denied a disability-related accommodation, this is the City body that takes the complaint, and its services are free. Two things decide whether it can help: how long ago the last act was, and whether you have already filed the same complaint with the State, HUD or a court — filing elsewhere first can close this door.
Free help for New York City renters
You never need Renter Shield to reach any of these:
- No heat, no hot water, or a dangerous condition: 311 — HPD enforces the City's rules.
- Free legal aid, including eviction defence: lawhelp.org.
- Rent arrears, food and referrals: 211 or 211.org.
- Federal overview: HUD tenant rights. Immediate danger: 911.
New York City renter questions
How do I get my security deposit back in New York?
Take dated move-out photos, give your landlord your forwarding address in a form you can prove you sent. The deposit rule here is New York State law rather than a City ordinance: an itemized statement and the balance are due within 14 days of your vacating, the cap is one month's rent, and the landlord must justify each deduction. Units under New York City rent control, and rent-stabilized units, sit under different sections.
My landlord won't make repairs in New York — what can I do?
Put the request in writing and keep dated photos. For no heat or hot water in New York City, call 311 — HPD inspects, and a heat or hot water failure is treated as the most urgent violation class the City has. If HPD writes a violation the owner is on a fixed correction clock, and if the owner certifies a repair that never happened, say so rather than letting it close quietly. Do not stop paying rent to force a repair.
Can my landlord evict me without going to court in New York?
Eviction normally runs through the courts, and many states tightly restrict what a landlord may do alone. In New York City the case is heard in Housing Court, a part of the Civil Court, and Right to Counsel gives you access to a lawyer there — brief assistance for everyone with a case, full representation if you are income-eligible or 60 or older. We have not verified New York's self-help rule on this page, so ask legal aid about it directly.
Is a broker allowed to charge me a fee in New York City?
Not if the landlord hired the broker. Under the FARE Act, the broker working for the landlord — including the one who published the listing — cannot pass that fee to you, and everything you are required to pay must appear on an itemized sheet signed ahead of the lease. You may still hire and pay a broker of your own, and background and credit check charges are not covered by the ban.
Does Good Cause Eviction protect my apartment?
It might not. Good Cause is a New York State statute that applies in New York City by force of law, but coverage is decided unit by unit and the exemption list is long — small landlords, owner-occupied buildings at or under ten units, already-regulated units, condominium and co-op units, newer certificates of occupancy, and units renting above 245% of the HUD fair market rent for the county. Read the exemptions in the answer at the top of this page before relying on it.
Is Renter Shield free?
Yes — free to start, no credit card. You get New York-specific rights and deadlines with the official source shown for each one, a private evidence vault that stays on your device, and help writing a calm letter. It is information rather than advice, it has not been reviewed by an attorney, and free legal aid is surfaced ahead of anything we offer.
Know which rulebook your problem lives in.
City rules, state rules and your lease, kept separate — plus a private on-device evidence vault and calm letters. Free to start.
Renter rights in other cities
Rules change completely at the city line, so pick the place you actually live.