RPL 226-c: NY Rent Increase and Non-Renewal Notice Rules Explained

In New York, a landlord must give you written notice before raising your rent by 5% or more or declining to renew your lease, and the New York rent increase notice requirements set that advance warning at 30, 60, or 90 days depending on how long you’ve lived in the unit or the length of your current lease, whichever is longer. The rule sits in Real Property Law Section 226-c and applies to written leases and month-to-month tenancies alike.¹

How Much Notice Your Landlord Must Give

Two numbers decide the notice window: how long you have actually occupied the unit, and the length of your current lease term. Whichever is longer controls.

30 days if you have lived in the unit less than one year and do not have a lease of at least one year.
60 days if you have lived there more than one year but less than two, or your lease term is at least one year but less than two.
90 days if you have lived there more than two years, or your lease term is at least two years.

Two examples show how the “whichever is longer” rule works. A tenant who has been in an apartment eight months but signed a two-year lease is entitled to 90 days of notice, because the lease length controls. A tenant who has been in the unit for three years on rolling month-to-month renewals also gets 90 days, this time based on cumulative occupancy.¹

The 5% Threshold That Triggers the Rule

The notice requirement kicks in only when a proposed rent increase is 5% or more above the current rent. If you pay $1,800 a month, any renewal at $1,890 or above triggers Section 226-c. An increase below 5% does not require notice under this particular statute, though other rules can apply depending on the type of tenancy.¹

The statute uses “rent increase” without separately defining “rent,” and it does not say whether ancillary charges like parking fees, pet fees, or utility surcharges count toward the 5% calculation. If your renewal offer comes with new fees or larger add-on charges alongside a modest base-rent bump, it is worth checking whether the total effective increase crosses the threshold. The statutory text leaves room for interpretation on that point.

Non-Renewals Follow the Same Clock

The same 30, 60, and 90-day windows apply when the landlord simply decides not to renew, whether or not a rent increase is on the table. A landlord who wants you out when the lease ends still owes you the full statutory notice based on your occupancy or lease length. A lease reaching its expiration date does not, by itself, end your right to remain if the landlord never sent the required notice.¹

This protection covers month-to-month tenants too. A landlord cannot wait until the last minute and tell a long-term tenant to be out in two weeks. Even without a fixed expiration date, the landlord has to run out the full notice period before the tenancy can end.

The Notice Has to Be in Writing

A phone call, a text, or a conversation in the hallway does not satisfy Section 226-c. The notice must be written, and it should clearly state whether the landlord is proposing a rent increase or declining to renew, along with the date the change takes effect.¹

The statute does not require certified mail, personal delivery, or any specific method. It just says “written notice.” In practice, landlords who use certified mail or hand delivery with a signed acknowledgment create a paper trail that helps them prove receipt if the case ever reaches housing court. That is a matter of self-preservation for the landlord, not a mandate from the statute, but it also means a tenant who never actually received a notice has room to push back.

What Happens If Your Landlord Misses the Deadline

Late notice does not void the increase or the non-renewal. It postpones it. The tenancy continues under its existing terms, at the existing rent, until the full statutory notice period runs from the date the landlord actually delivered the written notice. No lease clause or side agreement can override this protection.¹

An example: if a landlord sends a 90-day notice only 45 days before a lease expires, the old rent and old terms continue for another 90 days from the date of that late notice. A landlord who tries to collect the higher rent during that gap has no legal basis for it, and a tenant who paid the increased amount before the notice period ripened has grounds to challenge those charges. Section 226-c does not add a separate fine or penalty. The extension itself is the remedy.

Tenancies These Rules Do Not Cover

Section 226-c applies broadly to residential tenancies, but a few categories fall outside it.

Rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments follow their own notice rules. In New York City, rent-stabilized tenants receive a renewal offer between 150 and 90 days before the current lease expires, at rates set by the Rent Guidelines Board. Rent-controlled units operate under the maximum base rent system. If your apartment is rent-regulated, the 226-c windows described above do not apply to you.²

Cooperative housing corporations are also partially exempt. A co-op does not need to send 226-c notice to a tenant who is also a unit owner or shareholder, unless the co-op is subject to Articles 2, 4, 5, or 11 of the Private Housing Finance Law, which govern certain publicly assisted and limited-profit housing cooperatives. Other notice obligations, from separate laws or the parties’ own agreements, still apply.¹

How Good Cause Eviction Interacts With These Notice Rules

New York’s Good Cause Eviction law, which took effect in April 2024 and lives in Real Property Law Article 6-A, does not replace Section 226-c but adds a second layer that can matter enormously for tenants facing non-renewal or a large increase. In covered properties, a landlord who wants to end a tenancy or decline to renew must have a legally recognized reason. Choosing not to renew counts as ending a tenancy under this law.³

Recognized reasons include failure to pay rent, serious lease violations, nuisance behavior, illegal activity, or unreasonable refusal to allow access for repairs. A landlord can also decline to renew so a family member can move in as a primary residence (though not if the tenant is 65 or older or has a disability), or to demolish the building or permanently remove the unit from the rental market.

Good Cause Eviction also puts a soft cap on rent increases in covered units. An increase above 10%, or above 5% plus the local Consumer Price Index (whichever is lower), is presumed unreasonable. The landlord can try to rebut that presumption in court by pointing to property taxes, insurance, or major structural repairs, but the burden sits with the landlord.⁴

Not every unit is covered. The law applies automatically in New York City, and localities outside the city may opt in. Common exemptions include small landlords who own 10 or fewer units statewide, owner-occupied buildings with 10 or fewer units, buildings with a certificate of occupancy issued on or after January 1, 2009 (for 30 years after issuance), already rent-regulated units, condos and co-ops, and various institutional and seasonal housing categories. Tenants in exempt buildings still get the notice protections of Section 226-c but do not get the “good cause” requirement.⁵

Which Version of the Law Is in Effect

Section 226-c first took effect in October 2019 as part of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act.⁶ The current amended version runs from August 18, 2024 through June 15, 2034. A separate version of the statute takes effect on that later date, so the specifics may shift when that transition happens.¹

1
New York State Senate. New York Code RPP 226-C – Notice of Rent Increase or Non-Renewal of Residential Tenancy
2
New York State Attorney General. Residential Tenants’ Rights Guide
3
NYC.gov. Good Cause Eviction
4
NY.Gov. Good Cause Eviction – Homes and Community Renewal
5
New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law
6
New York State Senate. New Rights for Tenants – Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019