NYC Landlord-Tenant Law: Rent, Repairs, Fees, and Eviction

New York City landlord-tenant law combines state statutes and city codes to give renters some of the strongest protections in the country, covering what a landlord can charge, what they must fix, what they can collect at move-in, who they can refuse, and how they can end your tenancy. The rules that apply to you depend on your building and your lease, but a few things are true for almost every apartment in the five boroughs. This is a working map of them.

Is Your Apartment Rent-Regulated?

Roughly one million apartments in the city are rent-regulated, and whether yours is one of them determines how much your rent can go up and what happens when your lease ends.

Rent stabilization is the far larger of the two systems. It applies broadly to buildings with six or more units built before 1974, and to newer buildings that received 421-a or J-51 tax exemptions for the duration of that benefit.¹ Each year the Rent Guidelines Board votes on the maximum increases landlords can apply to one-year and two-year renewal leases.² For leases beginning between October 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026, the approved increases are 3% on one-year renewals and 4.5% on two-year renewals.³

Rent control is a much smaller system, covering about 16,400 apartments citywide. These units are occupied by tenants (or lawful successors) who have lived there continuously since before July 1, 1971, generally in buildings built before February 1, 1947.⁴ When a rent-controlled tenant leaves without a qualifying successor, the apartment usually shifts into rent stabilization rather than going to market rate.

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 made rent regulation permanent for covered units. Before 2019, landlords could add a 20% vacancy bonus every time a stabilized apartment turned over, and apartments could leave regulation once rent crossed a high-rent threshold or the tenant’s income exceeded $200,000. The 2019 law eliminated the vacancy bonus and repealed both forms of decontrol, so a stabilized apartment stays stabilized regardless of rent level or tenant income.⁵

If You Think You’re Being Overcharged

Every stabilized lease must include a Rent Stabilization Rider showing the prior rent, the basis for any increase, and the apartment’s registration number. Checking that rider against the registration is the fastest way to spot an overcharge.⁶

If the numbers don’t match, you can file a rent overcharge complaint with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal using Form RA-89 or the online Rent Connect portal. Rent-controlled tenants file Form RA-89C. If DHCR finds an overcharge, it can order the landlord to lower the rent and refund the excess. When the overcharge was willful, DHCR can assess treble damages, three times the overcharge amount.⁷

Repairs, Heat, and the Warranty of Habitability

Every residential lease in New York, regulated or not, written or oral, carries an implied warranty that the apartment is fit to live in. Real Property Law § 235-b makes the landlord responsible for keeping conditions free of anything dangerous to your life, health, or safety, and no lease clause can waive that obligation.⁸

The city enforces specific heat and hot water standards. During heat season, October 1 through May 31, indoor temperatures must reach at least 68°F between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. when it’s below 55°F outside, and at least 62°F overnight regardless of the outdoor temperature. Hot water must stay at a minimum of 120°F year-round.⁹ The warranty also covers working plumbing and electrical systems, weathertight windows, and the absence of pest infestations, lead paint hazards, and persistent water damage.

Forcing Repairs in Housing Court

When a landlord won’t respond to repair requests, the main enforcement tool is an HP action in NYC Housing Court. You do not need a lawyer to file one. The court can schedule a Department of Housing Preservation and Development inspection between the filing date and your court appearance, so the inspector’s findings are already in the record when you see a judge.¹⁰

Violations found during the inspection fall into three classes with different cure deadlines:

Class A, non-hazardous: must be corrected within 90 days.
Class B, hazardous: must be corrected within 30 days.
Class C, immediately hazardous: must be corrected within 24 hours.

The DHPD attorney at the hearing represents the city rather than you personally, but typically shares the goal of getting violations fixed. If the landlord ignores court-ordered repairs, the judge can impose civil penalties, and the filing itself creates a record that will matter if the landlord later retaliates.¹⁰

What a Landlord Can Collect at Move-In

Security Deposit

General Obligations Law § 7-108 caps security deposits at one month’s rent for virtually all residential apartments in the city. A landlord cannot collect last month’s rent on top of that; the full upfront security payment is capped at one month.¹¹

In buildings with six or more units, the landlord must place your deposit in an interest-bearing account at a New York bank and tell you the bank’s name and address. The interest belongs to you, though the landlord may keep 1% of the deposit per year as an administrative fee.¹²

When you move out, the landlord has 14 days to return your full deposit or hand you an itemized statement of deductions. Deductions are limited to unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear and tear, and unpaid utility charges owed directly to the landlord. Miss the 14-day deadline or skip the itemization, and the landlord forfeits the right to withhold any part of the deposit.¹¹

Application Fees

Rental application fees are capped at the lesser of $20 or the actual cost of the background or credit check. If you hand over a credit report pulled within the last 30 days, the landlord should waive the fee entirely. Anything charged above the actual screening cost is unlawful.

Broker Fees Under the FARE Act

Broker fees in New York have historically run 12% to 15% of a year’s rent. That shifted when the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act took effect on June 11, 2025. Brokers who represent the landlord, including any broker who publishes a listing with the landlord’s permission, cannot charge fees to the tenant. If a landlord’s agent breaks that rule, the landlord is on the hook.¹³

You can still hire your own broker and pay voluntarily for that service, and landlords can still charge the capped background and credit check fees. Landlords must disclose all fees a tenant will owe in the listing itself and in an itemized written statement you sign before the lease. The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection enforces the law, and tenants charged illegal fees can also sue in civil court.¹³

Documents You Should Receive at Signing

For a stabilized apartment, the Rent Stabilization Rider is mandatory and lets you verify the legal rent. A missing rider can support an overcharge complaint later.⁶

Every landlord must also provide a bedbug disclosure covering infestation history for the previous year in both the specific unit and the building overall.¹⁴

For any building constructed before 1978, federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint hazards, hand over any inspection reports, and give you the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home.” Both parties sign a lead warning statement, which the landlord must keep for three years.¹⁵ NYC’s Local Law 1 of 2004 goes further, requiring landlords to ask whether a child under six lives or regularly spends time in the unit and, if so, to identify and fix lead paint hazards.¹⁶

Every residential lease must include a conspicuous bold-type notice stating whether the apartment has a maintained and operative sprinkler system, and if one exists, the date it was last inspected.¹⁷

Discrimination and Source of Income

Three layers of law protect NYC tenants against housing discrimination: the federal Fair Housing Act, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the NYC Human Rights Law. The city law is the broadest.

It prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, immigration or citizenship status, lawful source of income, lawful occupation, veteran or active military status, the presence of children, status as a victim of domestic violence, and height and weight.¹⁸

The source of income protection matters a lot in practice. Landlords cannot refuse to rent to you because you pay with a Section 8 voucher, CityFHEPS, SSI, or other public assistance. They cannot advertise with phrases like “No Section 8” or “No Programs,” and they cannot require voucher holders to show income equal to a multiple of the full rent. Most rental properties are covered, with narrow exceptions for small owner-occupied buildings and units not publicly advertised.¹⁹

Assistance Animals

Landlords must grant reasonable accommodations for assistance animals, which include trained service animals and emotional support animals. A no-pets policy, breed restriction, weight limit, or pet deposit does not apply to them.²⁰

If your disability or need for the animal is not obvious, the landlord can ask for reliable documentation from a healthcare provider but cannot demand your diagnosis. The animal needs no registration, certification, or special ID, though dogs in NYC must carry a standard city dog license. A landlord can deny the accommodation only in narrow situations: undue financial burden, a fundamental alteration of the housing operation, or a specific animal that poses a direct safety threat or would cause significant unmitigable property damage.²¹

How Eviction Actually Works

No landlord in New York can evict you without going through the courts. Self-help evictions, meaning changing the locks, shutting off utilities, or removing belongings, are a misdemeanor. If this happens, call 911 immediately. The NYPD has authority to intervene, and you can file an emergency order in Housing Court in your borough to be restored to the apartment.²²

A lawful eviction starts with one of two court proceedings. A nonpayment case is filed when the landlord claims you owe rent. A holdover case covers everything else, such as an expired lease, an alleged lease violation, or a claim that you have no legal right to the apartment. Both begin with formal service of a Notice of Petition and Petition under strict procedural rules.²³

If the court rules for the landlord, it issues a judgment of possession and a warrant of eviction. A city marshal or sheriff then serves a notice of eviction giving you at least 14 days to vacate. Only after that notice period expires can the marshal or sheriff return to perform the physical lockout.²⁴ These cases often take months, and at every stage you can appear, raise defenses, and negotiate.

Retaliation Is Presumed

New York law prohibits landlords from evicting you, refusing to renew your lease, or substantially changing your terms in retaliation for protected activities. Those include complaining to the landlord or a government agency about health or safety violations, enforcing your rights under the lease or warranty of habitability, and participating in a tenants’ organization.²⁵

If the landlord files an eviction or serves a notice to quit within one year of a protected activity, the law creates a rebuttable presumption that the action is retaliatory, and the landlord must then prove a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason. That is why filing an HP action or a 311 complaint builds a paper trail that matters later; it starts the clock on the presumption.²⁵

Free Legal Representation

NYC guarantees free legal representation to income-eligible tenants facing eviction. For a single person, the cutoff is $29,160 per year; for a household of four, $60,000. Each additional household member above eight adds $10,280 to the limit.²⁶ If you’re served with eviction papers and think you might qualify, contact the court or a legal services provider listed on the Housing Court website before your first appearance. Showing up without representation when free help is available is one of the most costly mistakes tenants make.

Breaking a Lease Early

If you leave before your lease ends, you generally remain responsible for rent through the term, but your landlord has a legal duty to mitigate damages by making reasonable efforts to re-rent the apartment. If a replacement tenant is found, your liability stops. If the landlord makes no effort, a court may reduce or eliminate what you owe. Documenting your own search for a replacement and the landlord’s response matters if the dispute reaches a courtroom.

Two groups can walk away cleanly under state and federal law.

Tenants 62 and Older

Under Real Property Law § 227-a, tenants who are 62 or older, or who will turn 62 during the lease, can terminate to move into an adult care facility, nursing home, subsidized senior housing, or the home of a family member if a physician certifies they can no longer live independently. You deliver written notice to the landlord with documentation of the qualifying move, and the lease ends 30 days after the next rent payment due date following delivery. Any lease clause purporting to waive this right is void.²⁷

Active-Duty Military

The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets active-duty members terminate a residential lease in three situations: the lease was signed before entering military service; the member receives permanent change of station orders or deployment orders of 90 days or more after signing while already in service; or a stop-movement order prevents occupancy. Termination requires written notice with a copy of the orders, and the lease ends 30 days after the next rent payment due date following delivery.²⁸

1
Rent Guidelines Board. Rent Stabilized Building Lists
2
New York State Senate. Emergency Tenant Protection Act 576/74
3
NYC311. Rent Increases
4
Homes and Community Renewal. Rent Control
5
New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019
6
Homes and Community Renewal. Tenant/Owner Forms
7
Homes and Community Renewal. Rent Increases and Rent Overcharge
8
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law RPP 235-B – Warranty of Habitability
9
Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit. Heat Season – Know Your Rights and Stay Warm
10
New York Courts. Appearing on an HP Case – Tenant Initiated Action
11
New York State Senate. New York General Obligations Law GOB 7-108 – Deposits Made by Tenants
12
New York State Attorney General. Recovering Rent Security Deposits and Interest
13
NYC.gov. Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act
14
American Legal Publishing. NYC Administrative Code 27-2018.1 – Notice of Bedbug Infestation History
15
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards
16
NYC.gov. Lead-Based Paint – HPD
17
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law RPP 231-A – Sprinkler System Notice in Residential Leases
18
NYC.gov. Protected Classes under the Human Rights Law
19
NYC.gov. Source of Income Discrimination
20
NYC.gov. Service and Emotional Support Animals
21
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assistance Animals
22
NYC.gov. Illegal Lockouts
23
Homes and Community Renewal. Eviction
24
New York Courts. NYC Housing Court Eviction
25
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law RPP 223-B – Retaliation by Landlord Against Tenant
26
New York Courts. Universal Access to Legal Services Law
27
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law RPP 227-A
28
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3955 – Termination of Residential or Motor Vehicle Leases