Under the Good Cause Eviction law in Albany, NY, a landlord of a covered unit cannot evict you, refuse to renew your lease, or raise your rent by more than a formula-based cap without justifying the decision in court. Albany opted into New York State’s Good Cause Eviction Law, Article 6-A of the Real Property Law, becoming one of the first municipalities outside New York City to adopt it after the state legislature passed the enabling statute in April 2024.
The protections are strong, but they are not universal. Whether they apply to you depends on who owns your building, how big it is, when it was built, and what you pay in rent.
Is Your Apartment Covered
Most Albany rentals fall under the law, but several categories are carved out. The exemptions most likely to affect you:
- Small landlords. Owners who hold ten or fewer total rental units across all of New York State are exempt. If a landlord claims this exemption in court, they must disclose every natural person who owns the property and how many units each owns statewide.1New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 213 – Voluntary Participation by Local Governments Outside the City of New York2New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 214 – Covered Housing Accommodations
- Owner-occupied buildings. If the landlord lives in the building and it contains ten or fewer units, it is exempt.2New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 214 – Covered Housing Accommodations
- New construction. Buildings that received a certificate of occupancy on or after January 1, 2009 are exempt for 30 years from that date.2New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 214 – Covered Housing Accommodations
- High-rent units. Units renting above a percentage of the HUD Fair Market Rent are excluded. The default threshold is 245% of Fair Market Rent, though Albany’s local law may set a different figure.1New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 213 – Voluntary Participation by Local Governments Outside the City of New York
- Already-regulated or subsidized housing. Units covered by other rent regulation, local or federal eviction protections, or an income-restricted affordable housing agreement are excluded.2New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 214 – Covered Housing Accommodations
Condos and co-ops, buildings subject to an offering plan filed with the Attorney General, and employer-provided housing where the employment has ended are also outside the law.2New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 214 – Covered Housing Accommodations3New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law
If none of those categories describes your situation, your unit is covered.
How Much Can Your Rent Go Up
The law does not freeze rent. It sets a cap called the local rent standard: the lower of 10%, or 5% plus the annual change in the Consumer Price Index. Because Albany is outside New York City, the calculation uses the Northeast Region CPI published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.4New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 211 – Definitions
Any increase at or below that cap is automatically considered reasonable. An increase above it carries a rebuttable presumption of being unreasonable, which means the court treats it as excessive unless the landlord proves otherwise.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
As of early 2026, the Northeast Region CPI showed a 12-month increase of roughly 3.6% to 4.4% depending on the month measured.6U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index Overview Table – Northeast Applied to the formula, the local rent standard currently falls in the range of about 8.6% to 9.4%. The exact cap depends on the CPI at the time your increase takes effect.
What a Landlord Can Argue to Justify a Larger Increase
An above-cap increase is not automatically illegal. The landlord can defend it with evidence of real cost pressures. Courts must consider property tax expenses and recent tax increases, and may consider utility, insurance, and maintenance costs.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
Landlords can also point to significant completed repairs, but the statute defines “significant” narrowly. It means replacing or substantially modifying structural, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical systems that require a government permit, or abating hazardous materials such as lead paint, mold, or asbestos. Painting and minor fixes do not qualify. And a landlord cannot claim credit for repairs that were only needed because they neglected the building to begin with.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
When Your Landlord Can Actually Evict You
If your unit is covered, your landlord cannot remove you simply because your lease expired, and the absence of a written lease is not a reason to evict either. The landlord must file in court and prove one of these specific grounds:5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
- Nonpayment of rent that was legally due. If part of the unpaid amount comes from a rent increase the court finds unreasonable, the court can refuse to grant eviction for that portion.
- Violation of a substantial lease term or reasonable house rule. The landlord must first send written notice giving you ten days to cure the problem. The rule cannot be one invented to get around Good Cause.
- Creating or permitting a nuisance.
- Using the unit for an illegal purpose.
- Unreasonably refusing the landlord entry to make legally required repairs or to show the unit to prospective tenants or buyers.
- Landlord personal use. The landlord wants the unit as a primary residence for themselves or a qualifying family member, no other suitable unit in the building is available, and no other ground applies.
The Personal-Use Ground Has Strict Limits
A landlord claiming personal use must prove good faith by “clear and convincing evidence,” which is a higher burden than the normal civil standard. The qualifying family members are listed in the statute: spouse, domestic partner, child, stepchild, parent, step-parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, parent-in-law, and sibling-in-law.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
And there is a hard limit many tenants don’t know about: a landlord cannot use the personal-use ground to evict a tenant who is 65 or older or who has a disability, regardless of the landlord’s intentions.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
The Notice Your Landlord Is Required to Give You
New York requires landlords to provide tenants with a standardized Good Cause Eviction Law Notice stating whether the unit is covered and, if not, which specific exemption applies. The form is published by the state court system.7New York State Unified Court System. Good Cause Eviction Law Notice
This matters in court. No eviction judgment can be entered unless the landlord has complied with all applicable notice requirements, including the content, timing, and manner of service.8New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 217 – Preservation of Existing Requirements for Eviction Proceedings If you never received the required notice, that alone can be grounds to challenge the proceeding.
If Your Landlord Retaliates for Asserting Your Rights
Separate from Good Cause, New York’s anti-retaliation statute protects tenants who complain about health or safety code violations, enforce lease rights, or join a tenants’ organization. If a landlord moves to evict, refuses to renew, or demands an unreasonable rent increase within one year of a protected activity, the court presumes retaliation. The landlord then has to prove a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason, or the case gets dismissed. A tenant who proves retaliation can also recover damages, attorney’s fees, and injunctive relief.9New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 223-B – Retaliation by Landlord Against Tenant
These protections do not apply in owner-occupied buildings with fewer than four units. And invoking them does not excuse unpaid rent; you still owe whatever is legally due while the dispute is resolved.9New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 223-B – Retaliation by Landlord Against Tenant
What to Do If You Receive an Eviction Notice or Non-Renewal
Start by confirming coverage. Check how many rental units your landlord owns statewide, whether they live in the building, and when the building received its certificate of occupancy. If any single exemption fits, Good Cause will not help you. If none does, the landlord has to prove one of the recognized grounds in court.
For a lease-violation case, look at whether you got a proper written cure notice with ten days to fix the issue. If the landlord skipped that step, or wrote a rule designed to push you out rather than enforce a legitimate obligation, the case has a serious weakness.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants For a nonpayment case, figure out whether any part of the unpaid amount comes from a rent increase above the local rent standard; the court can refuse to grant eviction for that portion.
Then show up. Tenants who appear in Albany housing court and raise Good Cause defenses fare significantly better than those who default. Local legal aid organizations can help you prepare.