What Are Subtenant Rights Without a Written Agreement in NYC?

If you pay rent to live in a New York City apartment without ever signing a lease, you are still a tenant in the eyes of the law. An oral agreement to exchange rent for a place to live creates a month-to-month tenancy under New York law, and subtenant rights without a written agreement in NYC include written notice before the arrangement can be ended, protection from being physically removed except by court order, a habitable apartment, and a capped security deposit.¹ The single most important line to remember: once you have lawfully lived in the apartment for 30 consecutive days, no one can remove you without going to court.²

You Are a Tenant Even Without Paperwork

New York law allows residential leases to be oral. Someone who pays rent monthly without a written lease is treated as a month-to-month tenant with the protections that status carries.¹ One limit: an oral lease for more than one year cannot be enforced, so a handshake deal for two years still falls back to the month-to-month framework.³

Because nothing is in writing, proving the tenancy exists falls to you if a dispute comes up. Build the record now, not later. The strongest evidence is a consistent payment trail: bank statements showing recurring transfers, canceled checks, Venmo or Zelle histories, or signed receipts for cash. Text messages and emails about rent amounts, move-in dates, or repair requests all help. Roommates and neighbors who can confirm you live there can testify if things reach court.

One practical step most subtenants skip: on the day you move in, photograph every room and email the dated images to yourself. That timestamped record is what protects your security deposit later if the prime tenant claims you caused damage that was already there.

How Much Notice You Must Get Before Being Asked to Leave

A prime tenant cannot tell you on Monday to be out by Friday. New York Real Property Law requires written notice before a month-to-month tenancy can end, and the length depends on how long you have actually lived in the apartment:⁴

Less than one year of occupancy: at least 30 days’ written notice.
One to two years: at least 60 days’ written notice.
Two or more years: at least 90 days’ written notice.

The notice period runs on how long you have occupied the place, not on any lease term. Written notice is not the eviction itself. It does not force you out. It starts the clock, and only after the period runs can the prime tenant file a Housing Court case to try to remove you.

If the prime tenant skips notice or gives you less than the law requires, any eviction case built on that defective notice will typically be dismissed by the court.

No One Can Lock You Out

Once you have lawfully occupied the apartment for 30 consecutive days, no one is allowed to physically remove you without a court order. Not the prime tenant. Not the building owner. Not anyone.² The absence of a written lease does not change this.

Specifically, a prime tenant cannot:

Change the locks or remove the door
Take your belongings out of the apartment
Shut off heat, hot water, or electricity to pressure you to leave
Use threats or physical force
Otherwise interfere with your ability to live there

All of these violate New York’s unlawful eviction laws.⁵ Cutting utilities to make the apartment unlivable is treated the same as barring the door.

Each violation is a Class A misdemeanor and carries civil penalties of $1,000 to $10,000 per violation, plus up to $100 per day from the date you request to be restored until you are actually let back in.⁵ Each prohibited act counts separately, so a prime tenant who changes the locks and dumps your belongings can be hit twice.

If It Happens to You

Call the police first. Officers can sometimes resolve a lockout on the spot. If that does not work, go to Housing Court and file for an emergency restoration to possession. A judge typically hears it within a day or two. Bring whatever you have: rent payment records, mail addressed to you at the apartment, utility bills, and photo ID.² If you cannot afford the filing fee, you can apply to proceed without paying.

The Only Legal Way to Remove You Is Housing Court

Even after proper notice runs out, the prime tenant still cannot force you out personally. They have to file a case, appear before a judge, and obtain a judgment of possession.⁶ In New York City, only City Marshals and deputy sheriffs can actually execute an eviction warrant — no landlord, no super, no roommate.⁷ The whole process routinely takes months, which is part of why some prime tenants try illegal shortcuts instead.

What You Can Be Charged, and the Deposit Cap

If the apartment is rent-stabilized, the prime tenant cannot charge you whatever they want. Your rent cannot exceed your proportionate share of the legal regulated rent. In a stabilized one-bedroom with a regulated rent of $2,000 shared by two people, neither should be paying more than $1,000. Overcharges can be reported to the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.⁸ Buildings constructed before 1974 with six or more units often fall under rent stabilization; DHCR can confirm.

In a market-rate apartment, no agency caps what you can be charged. The amount is whatever you and the prime tenant agreed to, including verbally. This is exactly the scenario where a text message confirming the number saves you later.

Whatever the apartment type, a security deposit is capped at one month’s rent. Extra move-in fees or “last month’s rent” charges piled on top of a one-month deposit are not allowed. When you move out, the prime tenant has 14 days to either return the full deposit or send an itemized statement of any deductions with the balance. Miss that 14-day window and they forfeit the right to keep any of it, no matter what damage they claim.⁹ If they refuse to return what they owe, Small Claims Court in New York City handles cases up to $10,000.

Your Apartment Has to Be Livable

Every residential rental in New York, written lease or not, carries a warranty of habitability. It is a legal guarantee the apartment is fit to live in and free of conditions that endanger your life, health, or safety. You cannot waive it, even if you agreed to put up with something when you moved in.¹⁰

That means heat and hot water, working plumbing, freedom from serious pest infestations, and no hazardous conditions like lead paint exposure or structural problems. When the prime tenant controls these services or is the one responsible for calling the building landlord about repairs, that obligation runs to you. If conditions get bad and nothing is done, a court can award a rent reduction based on the lost value of the apartment, and your own testimony about what it was like to live without heat for two weeks in January counts as evidence.¹⁰

If the Prime Tenant Never Got Permission to Sublet

Here is a complication many subtenants only learn about later. A tenant who wants to sublet usually has to send a written request to the building’s landlord, who then has 30 days to consent or give reasons for refusing. Silence counts as consent.¹¹

If the prime tenant skipped this and sublet to you without authorization, the building’s landlord may have grounds to start eviction proceedings against the prime tenant, and your housing could be caught up in that. The important protection: even in an unauthorized sublet, the landlord still has to go through Housing Court to remove you. The ban on lockouts and self-help eviction applies regardless of how the subletting arrangement was set up.

Lead Paint in Pre-1978 Buildings

If the building was built before 1978, federal law requires a lead-based paint disclosure before you commit to a sublet, including an EPA pamphlet on lead hazards and any known information about lead in the apartment.¹² Informal sublets routinely skip this. The obligation does not disappear because it was ignored; you can request the information now, which matters most if you have young children in the apartment.

Why Avoiding a Court Filing Is Worth Something

A Housing Court filing can appear on tenant screening reports for up to seven years under federal law, even if you won the case.¹³ If a money judgment against you gets discharged through bankruptcy, it can stay for up to ten years. That is why negotiating a voluntary move-out with a written agreement that no case will be filed is sometimes worth considering, even when you are confident you would win. In the New York City rental market, a filing on your record makes the next apartment harder to get.

1
New York State Attorney General. Residential Tenants’ Rights Guide
2
NYCOURTS.GOV. Illegal Lock-outs – NY Housing
3
nyc.gov. Tenants’ Rights Guide
4
New York State Senate. New York Laws RPP – Real Property Article 7 226-C – Notice of Rent Increase or Non-Renewal of Residential Tenancy
5
NYCOURTS.GOV. Illegal Eviction Law
6
NY CourtHelp. Evicting a Tenant
7
Department of Investigation. Marshals Evictions Frequently Asked Questions
8
HCR. Rent Increases and Rent Overcharge
9
New York State Senate. New York Laws GOB – General Obligations Article 7 Title 1 7-108 – Deposits Made in Connection With Residential Leases
10
New York State Senate. New York Laws RPP – Real Property Article 7 235-B – Warranty of Habitability
11
New York State Senate. New York Laws RPP – Real Property Article 7 226-B – Right to Sublease or Assign
12
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint and Lead-Based Paint Hazards Upon Sale or Lease of Residential Property
13
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Can Information, Like Eviction Actions and Lawsuits, Stay on My Tenant Screening Record