Tenant & Renter Rights in New York (2026)
The clearest statewide rule is the deposit: capped at one month's rent, with an itemized statement and any refund due within 14 days after you vacate. Entry is different — New York has no statewide statutory notice period we could identify. New York City and some other communities add rent-stabilization rules on top.
The short answer
The deposit is capped at one month's rent, and the landlord carries the burden of proving any deduction was reasonable. 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.
This is set by law, and the source indicates a lease cannot waive it.
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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 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 serve a written 14-day rent demand before a nonpayment eviction case can be maintained (RPAPL 711(2)).
In New York a landlord must serve a written 14-day rent demand before a nonpayment eviction case can be maintained (RPAPL 711(2)). That demand is the landlord's own paper, not a court order. Only a special proceeding, and later a warrant, can remove you.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: The fourteen-day figure is specific to the nonpayment ground in RPAPL § 711(2). A holdover proceeding under § 711(1) rests on continuing in possession after the term expires and has no fourteen-day rent demand. Acceptance of rent after a holdover proceeding has started does not terminate that proceeding. Where the landlord's right to terminate rests on a lease clause allowing termination if the tenant is deemed objectionable, § 711(1) requires the landlord to establish by competent evidence that the tenant is objectionable. Where a tenant dies during the lease term, a possessory judgment may be sought only against the estate and any warrant is not effective against the occupants.
New York court papers arrive as a notice of petition and petition.
New York court papers arrive as a notice of petition and petition. Outside a nonpayment case they must be served at least ten and not more than seventeen days before the hearing (RPAPL 733(1)). Judgment is a separate stage, and the warrant of eviction later still.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: RPAPL § 753(3) removes the stay where the landlord establishes by competent evidence that a holdover occupant is objectionable. Under § 749(3) a nonpayment warrant need not be vacated on tender if the petitioner establishes that the tenant withheld the rent in bad faith. Outside a city of one million or more, 'neighborhood' under § 753(1) means the same town, village or city, or, where school-aged children live with the applicant, the school district they attend or may attend. The RPAPL § 732 ten-day answer track applies only where the Appellate Division has adopted it for that court.
In New York it is unlawful to evict or try to evict someone who has lawfully occupied a home for thirty consecutive days or longer, or who has a lease, without a warrant of eviction or a court order (RPAPL 768).
In New York it is unlawful to evict or try to evict someone who has lawfully occupied a home for thirty consecutive days or longer, or who has a lease, without a warrant of eviction or a court order (RPAPL 768).
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: RPAPL § 768(1)(a) does not reach removal carried out under a warrant of eviction, another court order, or a governmental vacate order. RPAPL § 853 requires a forcible or unlawful ouster or a forcible holding out, so it does not attach to every dispute about access. RPAPL § 711 excludes squatters from tenant status, and the interaction between that exclusion and § 768 is a question for a lawyer on the specific facts.
New York sets heat minimums by building law, not by one statewide code.
New York sets heat minimums by building law, not by one statewide code. In cities of 325,000 or more the Multiple Dwelling Law requires 68F between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. from October 1 through May 31 whenever it is below 55F outside.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: MDL § 79(2) excludes a dwelling in a resort community rented or occupied seasonally between April fifteenth and October fourteenth and not occupied for living purposes for the rest of the year, a dwelling certified as being in an area to be acquired for a public improvement or redevelopment, and a dwelling for which a demolition permit has been issued. MDL § 79(1) also directs that single room occupancy heating systems conform to MDL § 248. This row states no figure for older buildings in municipalities governed by the Multiple Residence Law.
Every New York residential lease, written or oral, carries a warranty of habitability: the home and its common areas must be fit to live in and free of conditions dangerous to life, health or safety (RPL 235-b(1)).
Every New York residential lease, written or oral, carries a warranty of habitability: the home and its common areas must be fit to live in and free of conditions dangerous to life, health or safety (RPL 235-b(1)). A lease term waiving it is void.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: RPL § 235-b(1) creates no breach where the condition was caused by the misconduct of the tenant or persons under the tenant's direction or control. RPAPL § 755(1)(c) directs that no stay shall be granted where the condition was created by the wilful or negligent act of the tenant or the tenant's agent, and the stay may be vacated on three days' notice if a deposit is missed by more than five days. RPL § 235-b(3)(b) limits recovery where the breach is attributable to a strike or labor dispute not caused primarily by the landlord, and § 235-b(3)(c) reduces damages by the amount of any rent reduction order the Division of Housing and Community Renewal has already granted for the same matters.
New York bars a landlord from serving a notice to quit or starting an eviction case in retaliation for a good faith health or safety complaint, for enforcing the warranty of habitability, or for tenant organization activity (RPL 223-b(1)).
New York bars a landlord from serving a notice to quit or starting an eviction case in retaliation for a good faith health or safety complaint, for enforcing the warranty of habitability, or for tenant organization activity (RPL 223-b(1)).
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: RPL § 223-b(6) excludes owner-occupied dwellings with less than four units. The section has no effect where it is established that the condition the complaint or action arose from was caused by the tenant, a member of the tenant's household, or a guest of the tenant, and it does not apply where a tenancy was terminated under the lease terms as a result of a bona fide transfer of ownership. Under § 223-b(2) a landlord is not required to offer a new lease or renewal for a term greater than one year. Under § 223-b(4) the tenant is not relieved of the obligation to pay any rent otherwise owed.
New York's Good Cause Eviction law applies in New York City by force of RPL 212.
New York's Good Cause Eviction law applies in New York City by force of RPL 212. Everywhere else it applies only where a village, town or city has adopted it by local law (RPL 213(1)). Your landlord has to tell you which is true.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: The RPL § 231-c notice itself lists the exemption categories a landlord may check, including that the municipality outside New York City has not adopted the law; a small landlord under RPL § 211(3); an owner-occupied housing accommodation with no more than ten units; a unit already subject to rent or eviction regulation; an income-restricted unit; a condominium or cooperative unit or one in a building subject to an offering plan filed with the attorney general; a building issued a temporary or permanent certificate of occupancy on or after January 1, 2009, for thirty years after issuance; a seasonal use unit; hospital, continuing care, assisted living, adult care and certain senior housing; a manufactured home in a manufactured home park; a hotel room or other class B transient use; a dormitory owned and operated by a school or institution of higher education; religious facility housing; and a unit renting above the applicable percent of fair market rent. Where a small landlord exemption is claimed in a proceeding, RPL § 231-c(1) requires the landlord to disclose each natural person owner, the number of units each owns and the addresses of those units, excluding each owner's principal residence.
New York caps residential late fees.
New York caps residential late fees. None may be demanded unless the rent is more than five days late, and the fee may not exceed $50 or five percent of the monthly rent, whichever is less (RPL 238-a(2)). A lease term waiving that is void.
Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: RPL § 238-a(1)(a) does not reach entrance fees charged by licensed continuing care retirement communities, assisted living providers, adult care facilities, senior residential communities that have submitted an offering plan to the attorney general, or not-for-profit independent retirement communities offering personal emergency response, housekeeping, transportation and meals, and it allows certain cooperative housing corporations to charge processing fees to prospective shareholders. A cooperative housing corporation may charge up to eight percent of the monthly maintenance fee as a late fee where the proprietary lease or occupancy agreement provides for it. Dishonored check fees are allowed only where the lease provides for them and only up to actual cost or the General Obligations Law § 5-328(3) amount, whichever is greater.
New York answers a renter question in layers, and knowing which layer you are in saves time. State law sets the rent demand, the court stages, the retaliation presumption, the fee caps and the increase-notice periods, and it applies everywhere. Rent stabilization and the 2024 Good Cause Eviction law are two different laws with different coverage: Good Cause reaches New York City by force of statute and reaches anywhere else only where a village, town or city has opted in by local law. Heat minimums come from building law that depends on your municipality's size, and repairs are enforced by your local code or health department. Confirming whether your unit is regulated is usually the first step.
Educational overview — information, not legal advice, and not a substitute for an attorney, and its content has not been attorney-reviewed. Rules depend on your city, lease, and situation; the app shows the current verified rule for New York. Last reviewed August 21, 2026.
Security deposits in New York
The deposit is capped at one month's rent, and the landlord must give an itemized statement and return the remainder within 14 days after you vacate. Missing that deadline forfeits the right to keep any of it, and the landlord carries the burden of proving a deduction was reasonable. Exclusions (NYC rent-controlled and rent-stabilized units, licensed care settings, some senior communities) are listed in the deposit answer above. N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law §7-108.
Repairs & habitability in New York
Report every problem in writing with dated photos, and reach free help first for anything dangerous. Every New York lease, written or oral, carries a warranty of habitability that a lease term cannot waive: the home and its common areas must be fit to live in and free of conditions dangerous to life, health or safety. No general New York repair-and-deduct right was located in the sections checked, so do not stop paying rent to force a repair — the safer route is a free inspection by the municipal department that enforces the housing code, because an order from that department is what opens the statutory court route where a judge may stay a nonpayment case if you deposit the rent with the clerk.
New York sets heat minimums through building law rather than one statewide code. In cities of 325,000 or more, the Multiple Dwelling Law requires heat from October 1 through May 31: at least 68F between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. whenever it is below 55F outside, and at least 55F overnight whenever it is below 40F outside. Smaller cities, towns and villages fall under the Multiple Residence Law instead, and no figure for them is stated here. New York City adds its own Housing Maintenance Code rule on top — see the NYC page. Log your indoor temperature with the date and time, and ask your local code enforcement or health office to inspect.
Eviction & notices in New York
If you received a notice, the clock is short. A written rent demand giving at least fourteen days comes before any nonpayment case, and it is your landlord's paper rather than a court order. Court papers arrive as a notice of petition and petition, served at least ten and not more than seventeen days before the hearing outside a nonpayment case. A judgment is a separate stage after that, and a warrant of eviction is later still, with at least fourteen days' written notice before an officer carries it out. Free help first: bring every page to a Court Help Center or, in the five boroughs, to Housing Court.
Rent increases in New York
New York sets a statewide notice period for rent increases. A landlord who intends to renew with an increase of five percent or more, or not to renew at all, must give at least thirty days' written notice if you have lived there under a year, sixty days between one and two years, and ninety days at two years or more, based on the longer of your cumulative occupancy or your lease term. A late notice does not shorten your tenancy: it continues on the existing terms until the notice period has run. Rent stabilization and the Good Cause Eviction law are separate from this and from each other, so confirm your unit's status before you act on any figure.
Late fees & payments in New York
New York limits these by statute. No late fee may be demanded unless rent is more than five days late, and it may not exceed $50 or five percent of the monthly rent, whichever is less. Application processing fees are barred, and a background and credit check may cost no more than $20 or the actual cost, whichever is less, with the fee waived if you supply a check conducted within the past thirty days. Any lease term waiving these limits is void. Read the fee clause anyway, keep proof of every on-time payment, and get any change to how you pay in writing.
Landlord entry & privacy in New York
New York has no statewide statutory entry-notice period that we could identify — the widely repeated "24 hours" is not supported statewide. The state Attorney General's guide describes the standard as reasonable prior notice, at a reasonable time, with your consent. In an emergency such as a fire or a water leak, a landlord may enter without either. Rent-regulated NYC units fall under the Rent Stabilization Code, which we have not verified. See the entry answer above.
Retaliation in New York
New York has a retaliation statute with a stated window. A notice to quit, an eviction case, or a substantial change to your tenancy within one year after a good-faith health or safety complaint, an attempt to enforce your rights, or tenant organization activity creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliation, and the landlord must then show a non-retaliatory motive by a preponderance of the evidence. Refusing to renew, or offering a new lease with an unreasonable rent increase, counts as a substantial change. The section covers all rental residential premises except owner-occupied dwellings with less than four units, and it does not cancel rent you owe. Write down the date you complained and the date of whatever came next.
Lease termination in New York
Ending a lease early is usually governed by the lease itself, with important exceptions. Unsafe conditions, active military service and domestic violence can each carry separate statutory protections, and which one fits depends on facts a page cannot know — so this page states no figure for them and points you instead to people who can read your situation. Read your termination clause, put any notice in writing and keep proof you sent it, and speak to a Court Help Center or a legal-aid office before you give notice or move out.
Documentation tips in New York
Three records decide most disputes: dated move-in and move-out photos, your written forwarding address, and every repair request in writing.
When to contact legal aid in New York
For an eviction notice, a lockout, or unsafe conditions, reach free help first — you never need Renter Shield to get it. Outside New York City start at CourtHelp; in the five boroughs, at Housing Court, which also runs a right-to-counsel programme for income-eligible tenants. Free legal aid: lawhelp.org. Rental assistance: 211. Federal overview: HUD tenant rights. Call 911 if someone is in immediate physical danger.
Key New York renter laws
- Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019
- Emergency Tenant Protection Act
Official sources and exact figures are cited in the answers above.
Notable in New York
- Deposits are capped at one month's rent; the itemized statement and refund are due within 14 days of vacating.
- A landlord who misses that 14-day deadline forfeits the right to keep any of the deposit.
- No statewide entry-notice period was identified — the "24 hours" figure is not supported statewide.
- Rent stabilization applies in New York City and in communities that opt in, so confirm your unit's status first.
Renter rights in New York cities
Free help for New York renters
New York routes split at the New York City line, so start with the one that matches your county. Whichever you use, bring the rent demand or petition with its envelope, your lease or renewal offer, proof of every payment, dated photos, and any inspection order you already have.
- CourtHelp: Homes and Evictions — the court system's official self-help section for landlord-tenant cases outside New York City, covering starting a case, answering a notice of petition and petition, common defenses, judgments and warrants of eviction, with Tenant Questions and Answers booklets for nonpayment and holdover cases. Statewide, no eligibility screen; court information rather than advice on your case. Evictions outside NYC
- New York City Housing Court — the route for cases in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. The city also runs a right-to-counsel programme for income-eligible tenants. NYC Housing Court
- Court Help Centers and community organizations — a directory of in-courthouse Help Centers and community groups that assist people without a lawyer. Statewide for self-represented litigants; hours, locations and the level of help differ by courthouse, and court staff can explain procedure but cannot act as your lawyer. Find a Help Center
- Homes and Community Renewal referral index — the state housing agency's index routing renters by problem: eviction and nonpayment to the courts and legal help, repairs and code violations to local enforcement, discrimination to the Division of Human Rights, deposits to the Attorney General's rent security complaint form and small claims, and rent help to energy and voucher programmes. Each listed body applies its own rules. Housing resources and referrals
- Good Cause Eviction notice and opt-in table — the state agency page hosting the required notice, which lists every municipality outside New York City that has opted in, each one's exemption percentage and small-landlord definition, and the county fair market rent tables. This is where you check whether Good Cause reaches your address. Good Cause Eviction
- Local code enforcement or health department — a free inspection by the municipal department that enforces the Multiple Dwelling Law, the Multiple Residence Law or the local housing code. A notice or order from that department shifts the burden onto the landlord to disprove the condition as the order describes it. Every city, town and village has one, though the office name differs; in New York City the function sits with Housing Preservation and Development.
Know exactly where you stand in New York.
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