Recent Laws Passed in New York: Wages, Evictions, and Deed Theft

Recent laws passed in New York between 2023 and 2025 have reshaped how much workers earn, what landlords can charge, how old convictions follow people, what businesses must disclose at the register, and where firearms can legally be carried. The changes below are the ones most likely to touch your paycheck, your lease, your job search, your medical bills, or your commute.

Minimum Wage

As of January 1, 2026, the minimum wage is $17.00 per hour in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, and $16.00 per hour across the rest of the state. Starting in 2027, the wage will be indexed to inflation and adjusted annually using a three-year average of the Consumer Price Index for the Northeast region.¹

Automatic Sealing of Old Convictions

The Clean Slate Act, codified at Criminal Procedure Law Section 160.57, automatically seals most criminal convictions after a waiting period. A misdemeanor is sealed three years after the sentence is finished; a felony is sealed after eight years. The person must have no new criminal charges pending.²

Sex offenses and most class A felonies are excluded. One exception matters: class A felony drug offenses under Article 220 of the Penal Law are still eligible for sealing.³

Sealed does not mean erased for every purpose. Law enforcement, courts handling pending criminal cases, and qualified government agencies can still see sealed records when acting within their duties. For most private employers and landlords running background checks, the conviction no longer appears.²

Freelance Worker Contracts and Payment

Under Labor Law Section 191-d, the Freelance Isn’t Free Act now applies statewide. Any independent contractor engagement worth $800 or more requires a written contract, and that threshold counts multiple projects for the same hiring party across a 120-day window. The contract must describe the services, the pay, and when payment is due. If it doesn’t specify a payment date, the hiring party has 30 days after the work is completed to pay.⁴

A freelancer who sues over nonpayment can recover double damages, attorney fees, and injunctive relief. Retaliation against freelancers who assert their rights is prohibited.

Salary Ranges in Job Postings

Labor Law Section 194-b requires employers with four or more employees to include a good-faith salary range in every job advertisement, promotion listing, and transfer opportunity. The range must reflect the minimum and maximum pay the employer honestly expects to offer at the time of posting.⁵ The rule applies to any role performed at least partly within New York, including remote jobs that report to a New York supervisor or office.⁶

Initial violations can bring a warning, with escalating civil penalties for repeat failures.

Paid Prenatal Leave

Effective January 1, 2025, every privately employed pregnant worker in New York is entitled to 20 hours of paid leave for prenatal medical care. The leave covers doctor visits, ultrasounds, blood work, and other pregnancy-related care, and it sits on top of any existing sick leave rather than replacing it. There is no length-of-service requirement.⁷

Good Cause Eviction and Rent Caps

Real Property Law Article 6-A limits when a landlord can evict a tenant or decline to renew a lease. Valid reasons include nonpayment of rent, serious lease violations, and the landlord’s genuine intent to use the unit as a primary residence.⁸

The law also puts a cap on rent increases for covered units. An increase is presumed unreasonable if it exceeds 5% plus the annual change in the Consumer Price Index, and the total cannot exceed 10% of the prior rent regardless of inflation.⁹

Not every building is covered. In New York City, a “small landlord” who owns ten or fewer housing units statewide is exempt, and other localities may set a different threshold. Buildings that received a certificate of occupancy on or after January 1, 2009, are generally exempt. LLCs cannot be used to dodge the rule: if any individual with a direct or indirect ownership interest in the entity owns more than ten units, the small-landlord exemption does not apply.⁹ Rent-stabilized tenants remain under the Rent Guidelines Board.

Deed Theft

Under Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Section 1501, a criminal conviction for deed theft now creates a rebuttable presumption that the underlying deed transfer was fraudulent. The presumption applies even if the fraudulent deed was transferred into a business entity beneficially owned by the convicted person.¹⁰ Where there is evidence of fraud or forgery, courts can void the transfer and halt evictions or foreclosures that depended on the bad deed.

Credit Card Surcharges at Checkout

General Business Law Section 518 now requires any business that passes credit card processing fees along to customers to display the full credit card price up front. A sign reading “3% fee for credit card use” with the charge added at the register no longer satisfies the law. The price tag or menu must show the actual amount a card user will pay.¹¹

The surcharge cannot exceed what the credit card company charges the business, and the final price with the surcharge cannot be higher than the posted price. Civil penalties run up to $500 per instance.¹¹

Right to Repair

The Digital Fair Repair Act, codified at General Business Law Section 399-nn, requires manufacturers of digital electronic equipment to make diagnostic tools, repair manuals, and parts available to consumers and independent repair shops on the same terms they give authorized technicians. The law covers digital electronic products first sold or used in New York on or after July 1, 2023.¹²

Carve-outs are broad. Motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment, medical devices, off-road and farm equipment, commercial and industrial electrical equipment, and e-bicycles are excluded.¹² For devices that are covered, such as laptops and tablets, independent shops now have access to the information and parts they used to be shut out of.

Medical Debt on Credit Reports

New York prohibits hospitals and other healthcare providers from reporting unpaid medical bills to credit reporting agencies, which keeps medical debt from pulling down a consumer’s credit score or blocking loan approval. That state protection has become more important after a federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule aimed at removing medical debt from credit reports nationwide was struck down by a federal court in Texas in July 2025.¹³

E-Bike and Lithium-Ion Battery Safety

In response to fires caused by defective batteries, New York City Administrative Code Section 20-610 bars the sale, lease, or rental of powered bicycles and mobility devices that lack proper safety certification. Powered bicycles must be certified to Underwriters Laboratories standard UL 2849, powered mobility devices to UL 2272, and storage batteries to UL 2271. Each uncertified sale or rental is a separate violation carrying a civil penalty of up to $1,000.¹⁴

Lower NYC Speed Limits

Sammy’s Law, which amended Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1642, lets New York City set a default speed limit as low as 20 miles per hour in designated areas. On streets with physical traffic calming measures installed, the limit can drop to 10 miles per hour. The statute defines traffic calming measures as physical engineering changes that reduce the negative effects of motor vehicle use and improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. A limit below 20 mph cannot rest on a sign alone; the physical changes have to be there too.¹⁵

Firearms in Sensitive Locations

Penal Law Section 265.01-e makes it a crime to possess a firearm, rifle, or shotgun in a wide range of “sensitive locations.” The list includes government buildings and courts, schools and universities, places of worship, libraries, public parks and playgrounds, healthcare facilities, homeless shelters, public transit vehicles and stations, and locations run by children’s services agencies. The offense requires that the person know or reasonably should know the location qualifies.¹⁶

Body Armor Sales

Penal Law Section 270.22 makes it illegal to sell body armor to anyone not employed in an eligible profession, such as law enforcement or private security. A first offense is a class A misdemeanor; subsequent violations are class E felonies. The restriction falls on the seller, not the buyer, so retailers and distributors carry the legal risk when they sell to ineligible customers.¹⁷

1
New York State Department of Labor. New York State Minimum Wage
2
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.57 – Automatic Sealing of Convictions
3
New York State Unified Court System. What Records Will Be Sealed Under the Clean Slate Act?
4
New York State Senate. New York Consolidated Laws, Labor Law 191-d – Payment of Wages for Freelance Workers
5
New York State Senate. New York Code LAB – Mandatory Disclosure of Compensation or Range of Compensation
6
New York State Department of Labor. Pay Transparency
7
NY.gov. New York State Paid Prenatal Leave
8
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law Article 6-A – Good Cause Eviction Law
9
New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law
10
New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Code 1501 – Who May Maintain an Action
11
New York State Senate. New York Code GBS 518 – Credit Card Surcharge Notice Requirement
12
New York State Senate. New York Code GBS 399-NN – Sale of Digital Electronic Equipment; Diagnostic and Repair Information
13
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Finalizes Rule to Remove Medical Bills from Credit Reports
14
American Legal Publishing. New York City Administrative Code 20-610 – Sale, Lease, and Rental of Powered Bicycles, Powered Mobility Devices, and Storage Batteries for Such Devices
15
New York State Senate. New York Consolidated Laws, Vehicle and Traffic Law – VAT 1642
16
New York State Senate. New York Penal Code 265.01-E – Criminal Possession of a Firearm, Rifle or Shotgun in a Sensitive Location
17
New York State Senate. New York Penal Code 270.22 – Unlawful Sale of Body Armor