What your NYC landlord must give you

The checklist

Tick these off as you go. Some depend on the building's age, size or rent status, as the third column shows.

Before you sign

Fees. In New York City, the landlord or their agent must give you an itemised written list of every fee you must pay the landlord, with a description of each, before you sign the lease; you sign it, and they keep a copy for three years (NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection). Our guide to what you can be charged covers broker fees and the limits on application fees and deposits.

Lead paint, federal rule. For housing built before 1978, the landlord must, before you're bound by the lease, give you EPA's pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home", tell you about any known lead paint or hazards and give you any records or reports, and include a lead warning statement in or attached to the lease. Some housing is exempt, including leases of 100 days or less and homes found free of lead paint by a certified inspector (US Environmental Protection Agency).

In the lease itself

Good Cause Eviction notice. Leases and renewals must include a notice saying whether the apartment is covered by the state's Good Cause Eviction law, and if it isn't, which exemption applies (Real Property Law §231-c). Our renewal guide explains what coverage means, and you can check it here.

Flood disclosure. Every residential lease must say whether the property is in a FEMA flood zone, disclose flood damage the landlord knows of or reasonably should, and tell you that flood insurance for renters is available through the federal programme (Real Property Law §231-b).

Sprinklers. Every residential lease must state, in bold type, whether the apartment has a working, maintained sprinkler system, and if it does, the date it was last maintained and inspected (Real Property Law §231-a).

Rent stabilisation rider. If the apartment is rent-stabilised, the owner must attach the state's lease rider (form RA-LR1, revised October 2024) to the vacancy lease and every renewal (NYS Homes and Community Renewal). It sets out your rights; our rent-stabilisation guide explains how to check your status and what the rider tells you.

Health and safety forms

Bedbugs. Owners must give new tenants a bedbug disclosure form setting out the infestation history for the past year. Owners of multiple dwellings also file a report with the city each December, and must either give you the filing receipt when your lease starts or renews, or post it in the building; and they must give you, or post, the city's "Stop Bed Bugs Safely" guide (NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development).

Lead paint, city rule. In covered buildings (apartment buildings built before 1960, and those built from 1960 to 1978 where the owner knows there is lead paint), the owner must give you, at lease signing and renewal, a notice asking whether a child under six lives with you or spends ten or more hours a week there, together with the pamphlet "Lead Paint Hazards in the Home", and certify on the notice that the required turnover work was done before you moved in (NYC HPD). If a young child is there, tell the owner: it triggers annual inspections and repairs.

Window guards. Owners must give new tenants a window guard lease notice when they first sign (NYC Health Department). In buildings of three or more apartments, the owner must install approved guards if a child aged ten or younger lives in the apartment, or if you ask for them for any reason. Windows onto fire escapes are exempt (NYC Health Department).

Every year

Each January the owner must send an annual notice asking about young children in the apartment. For window guards it goes out between 1 and 15 January and you return it by 15 February (NYC Health Department); the lead paint notice also arrives in January, and HPD asks tenants to return it by 16 February (NYC HPD). Use the date printed on the form you receive. If you don't reply, the owner must inspect the apartment to find out (NYC Health Department).

Renewal brings its own notices: a written notice before a rent increase of 5% or more or a non-renewal, and the Good Cause notice in the renewal lease. Our renewal guide sets out the timing.

Your deposit

In a building with six or more apartments, the landlord must hold your deposit in an interest-bearing New York bank account and tell you in writing the name and address of the bank (NY Attorney General). After you sign and before you move in, the landlord must offer you an inspection with a signed record of the apartment's condition, which protects your deposit when you leave (General Obligations Law §7-108). Our step-by-step renting guide explains the move-in and move-out rules.

If something is missing

Ask for it in writing and keep a copy of your request. A missing fee disclosure is a FARE Act matter: you can complain to the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection online (DCWP). If you didn't get the federal lead disclosure for pre-1978 housing, EPA takes reports through its lead violation page (EPA). For the rest, the agency behind each rule in the checklist above explains what to do. Log what you received for each apartment in the rental tracker's notes so you can compare buildings before you sign.