New York’s Good Cause Eviction law stops landlords of covered apartments from evicting tenants or refusing to renew a lease without a legally recognized reason. It took effect on April 20, 2024, and is codified as Article 6-A of the Real Property Law.1New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law If your unit qualifies, your landlord can no longer let your lease run out and tell you to leave. They have to prove one of the specific grounds the statute allows, and the burden sits on them, not you.
Whether the law reaches your apartment depends on four things: your city, your building’s size, when it was built, and how high your rent is.
Where the Law Applies
Coverage is automatic for qualifying units in New York City.2Justia. New York Real Property Law Article 6-A – Good Cause Eviction Law Outside the city, each municipality has to opt in by passing a local law. As of mid-2025, seventeen had done so, including Albany, Rochester, Kingston, Ithaca, Poughkeepsie, White Plains, Binghamton, Beacon, Newburgh, and Middletown.3New York State Senate. 1+ Year Later, Good Cause Eviction Adopted by 17 NY Municipalities If your city or town hasn’t opted in, the law doesn’t apply to your unit, period. Check with your local government or New York State Homes and Community Renewal for the current list.
Which Apartments Are Exempt
Even in a covered location, several exemptions can pull your unit out of the law.
Small Landlords
A landlord who owns ten or fewer residential units statewide is exempt. The count follows the natural person behind the ownership: if someone holds property through several LLCs, every unit across those entities counts toward the ten.4New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 211 – Definitions A landlord claiming this exemption in court has to disclose the names of all individual owners and the addresses of all units. Opt-in municipalities outside NYC can set a different threshold.
Owner-Occupied Buildings
If your landlord lives in the building and it has ten or fewer units, it’s exempt.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 214 – Covered Housing Accommodations Some opt-in cities lowered the ceiling. Albany, for example, set it at four units.1New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law
New Construction
Buildings that received a temporary or permanent certificate of occupancy on or after January 1, 2009, are exempt for thirty years from the date on the certificate.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 214 – Covered Housing Accommodations A building with a 2010 certificate stays exempt until 2040.
High-Rent Units
A unit is exempt if its rent is above 245% of the Fair Market Rent set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the county where the apartment sits.6New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Good Cause Eviction Law Notice February 2025 FMR varies by county and bedroom count and is updated annually. To check, look up the current FMR for your county on HUD’s site and multiply by 2.45. Opt-in municipalities outside NYC can set a different threshold.
Other Excluded Housing
Several categories sit outside the law entirely:5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 214 – Covered Housing Accommodations
- Apartments already covered by rent stabilization, rent control, or other government rent restrictions.
- Units required to be affordable at a specific income level under a regulatory agreement with a government entity.
- Condominiums, cooperatives, and units subject to an offering plan filed with the Attorney General.
- Sublets where the sublessor is seeking the unit back for personal use.
- Housing tied to employment where the job has lawfully ended.
- Hospitals, assisted living residences, adult care facilities, continuing-care retirement communities, and similar institutional housing.
Your Right to a Lease Renewal
If your unit is covered, your landlord cannot refuse to renew your lease just because the term is ending.1New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law Before the law, landlords of unregulated apartments could decline to renew for any reason or none. Now they need one of the recognized grounds in RPL 216.
A renewal offer can also be challenged. An offer is unreasonable if it carries a rent increase above the allowed threshold or alters important lease terms, such as newly prohibiting pets or subletting that the current lease permits.1New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law Your landlord has to give advance notice of the renewal terms, 30, 60, or 90 days before expiration depending on how long you’ve lived there. Refusing to sign a renewal is itself a ground for eviction, but only when the offered terms were reasonable.
The Grounds a Landlord Must Prove
Under RPL 216, the landlord carries the burden of proving one of these grounds.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
Nonpayment of Rent
Failing to pay rent that is lawfully owed is still a valid ground. There’s a built-in safeguard: if any part of the unpaid rent comes from an increase that qualifies as unreasonable, the landlord cannot use that inflated amount as the basis for a nonpayment case.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
Lease Violations
A landlord can seek eviction for a violation of a substantial lease term or building rule, but only after giving written notice and ten days to cure the problem.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants The obligation has to be a real one you agreed to in writing, not a rule invented later as a pretext.
Nuisance or Property Damage
Conduct that interferes with the comfort or safety of the landlord, other tenants, or neighbors in an adjacent building qualifies. So does substantial damage to the unit or common areas caused by malice or gross negligence.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
Illegal Use
Using the apartment for illegal purposes is a ground. A separate provision applies when your occupancy causes a code violation and a government agency has ordered you to vacate.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
Refusing Landlord Access
Unreasonably denying access for legally required repairs, or for showings to a prospective buyer or mortgagee, is a ground.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
Owner or Family Occupancy
A landlord can recover the apartment to use as a primary residence for themselves or a family member. The statute defines eligible family broadly: spouse, domestic partner, child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, parent-in-law, or sibling-in-law. The intent has to be genuine, and courts examine this closely. There is a significant carve-out: a landlord cannot use this ground against you if you are 65 or older, or if you have a disability.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 216 – Grounds for Removal of Tenants
Refusing a Reasonable Renewal
If a landlord offers a renewal on reasonable terms, including a permissible rent increase, and you refuse to sign, that’s a ground. Written notice of the proposed changes has to go out at least 30 days before the current lease expires.8New York State Unified Court System. Good Cause Eviction Law Notice What counts as reasonable turns on the rent increase rules below.
How Much a Landlord Can Raise Your Rent
The law doesn’t set a hard rent cap. Instead, any increase above the “local rent standard” is presumed unreasonable, and the landlord has to justify it.9NYC.gov. Good Cause Eviction
The local rent standard is 5% plus the annual change in the Consumer Price Index for the region, capped at 10%. If CPI rose 3%, the standard is 8%. If CPI rose 6%, the math produces 11%, but the cap holds the standard at 10%.9NYC.gov. Good Cause Eviction
An increase above the standard isn’t automatically illegal; it shifts the fight to the landlord, who can try to justify it based on major repairs, rising operating costs, or capital improvements. Without that justification, a court is likely to side with the tenant. The presumption is a powerful defense in a nonpayment case: if a landlord sues over unpaid rent that includes an unjustified increase above the standard, you can use it to push back.1New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law
The Notice Your Landlord Owes You
Every covered landlord has to provide a written Good Cause Eviction Law Notice that tells you whether your unit is protected. This kicked in on August 18, 2024.1New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law The notice has to come with:10NYC.gov. Good Cause Eviction Information for Tenants
- Every new lease.
- Every renewal lease.
- Notices of nonrenewal or lease termination.
- Notices of a rent increase of 5% or more.
- 14-day rent demands.
- Eviction petitions filed with the court.
The notice has to state clearly whether the unit is covered. If the landlord is claiming an exemption, the notice has to spell out which one, such as the small-landlord exemption or a post-2009 certificate of occupancy. The statute prescribes the exact language and format, and fillable forms are available through the state court system.11New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 231-C – Good Cause Eviction Law Notice
What Happens If the Landlord Ignores the Law
The notice requirement has teeth. If a landlord fails to provide the required Good Cause Eviction Law Notice, eviction cases may be dismissed in court.10NYC.gov. Good Cause Eviction Information for Tenants If you’re facing eviction and never received the notice, raise it with the court right away.
More broadly, a landlord who tries to evict you from a covered unit without proving one of the RPL 216 grounds will not succeed. The burden is on the landlord to show good cause, not on you to disprove it.1New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law If you suspect a landlord is hiding units to claim the small-landlord exemption, you can ask the court for discovery to force disclosure of ownership back to a natural person.
Protection Against Retaliation
A separate statute, Real Property Law 223-b, bars landlords from retaliating against tenants who exercise their legal rights. Retaliation includes serving eviction notices, refusing to renew a lease, or demanding an unreasonable rent increase in response to a protected action.12New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 223-B – Retaliation by Landlord Against Tenant
Protected actions include filing a good-faith complaint about health or safety violations, enforcing your lease rights or the warranty of habitability, and taking part in a tenants’ organization. If a landlord takes adverse action within one year of any of those activities, courts presume the action is retaliatory, and the landlord has to prove otherwise.12New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 223-B – Retaliation by Landlord Against Tenant A retaliation finding dismisses the eviction, and you may be entitled to damages, attorney’s fees, and injunctive relief.
Challenging a rent increase above the local rent standard, or asserting your right to a renewal, counts as exercising a protected right. A landlord who responds by manufacturing a reason to evict is risking a retaliation finding that collapses the whole case.