Renewing or breaking a lease in New York

Notice of a rent increase or non-renewal

If your landlord plans to renew with a rent increase of 5% or more, or not to renew at all, they must tell you in writing in advance. The notice period depends on how long you have lived there or the length of your lease, whichever is longer: 30 days for less than a year, 60 days for one to two years, and 90 days for two years or more. If the notice comes late, your current terms continue until the notice period has run (Real Property Law §226-c).

For a rent-stabilised apartment the rules are different: the owner must offer a renewal, and the increase is limited by the Rent Guidelines Board. Our rent-stabilisation guide explains the timing and this year's guideline.

Good Cause Eviction: are you covered?

Since 20 April 2024, New York City renters in apartments covered by the state's Good Cause Eviction law have stronger protection. A covered landlord generally can't refuse to renew just because the lease has ended; they need good cause, such as non-payment, a breach of the lease, or a good-faith plan to live in or demolish the unit. A rent increase above the local rent standard, 5% plus the annual change in the consumer price index and capped at 10%, is presumed unreasonable, though a landlord can try to justify it in court, for example with higher taxes or major repairs (NY Attorney General; NYS Homes and Community Renewal).

Many apartments are exempt, including those of small landlords (in the city, owners of ten or fewer units), owner-occupied buildings of ten or fewer units, rent-regulated and income-restricted units, condo and co-op units, buildings with a certificate of occupancy issued from 1 January 2009, high-rent units above a threshold set each year, and sublets (NY Attorney General). Your lease or renewal must include a notice saying whether the apartment is covered, and if not, which exemption applies (Real Property Law §231-c). Outside the city, the law applies only where a city or village has adopted it.

Check whether Good Cause covers your apartment and what increase it allows.

Deciding whether to renew

A renewal offer is a price, and the alternative is the market plus the cost of moving: a new deposit, movers, any broker you choose to hire, and time off work. If you moved in with a free month, remember the renewal is usually priced from the gross rent on the lease, so the step up can look larger than the percentage suggests. Convert between net effective and gross rent before you compare.

Compare renewing with moving to see the cost of each over the next lease, and log the apartments you're considering in the rental tracker, which reminds you of the renewal decision three months before your lease ends.

Asking costs nothing. Common practice is to reply in writing, point to comparable rents, ask for a smaller increase or a longer term at the same rent, and say whether you would accept other terms. None of that is a legal right; it is ordinary negotiation.

Breaking a lease early

A lease is a contract for its whole term. If you leave early without a legal right to do so, you can owe rent for the rest of it, but only up to a point. New York law requires a landlord whose tenant leaves in breach of the lease to make good-faith efforts, within their resources and abilities, to re-rent the apartment at fair market value or the rent you agreed, whichever is lower. A new lease at that rent replaces yours and reduces what the landlord can claim from you. A lease clause that waives this duty is void, and the party seeking damages has to prove them (Real Property Law §227-e).

In practice, the cheapest exit is usually agreed: read your lease for an early-termination clause, give the landlord as much notice as you can, offer to help find a replacement tenant, and get any agreement to release you in writing, with the date your rent stops and what happens to the deposit.

When the law lets you end a lease early

Some tenants have a statutory right to end a lease before it runs out:

• Tenants aged 62 or over, or with a qualifying disability, who are moving into a care facility, subsidised or senior housing, or in with a family member because they can no longer live independently. Written notice and supporting documents are required; the lease ends no sooner than 30 days after the next rent due date after the landlord receives the notice (Real Property Law §227-a).
• Victims of domestic violence, or a household member who is, who reasonably fear staying. Give written notice with a termination date at least 30 days later, provide documentation within 25 days, and pay prorated rent to that date; the landlord can't keep the deposit because you used this right (Real Property Law §227-c).
• Tenants entering military service after signing the lease. On a monthly lease, termination takes effect 30 days after the next rent due date following your written notice (Military Law §310).

In each case, a lease clause waiving the right doesn't stop you using it.

Subletting or assigning instead

In a building with four or more apartments, you have a right to sublet with the landlord's written consent, which can't be unreasonably withheld. You send a request by certified mail with the details the law lists, including the subtenant, the term and a copy of the sublease; the landlord may ask for more information within ten days and must answer within 30, or consent is deemed given. You remain liable under your lease while the subtenant lives there (Real Property Law §226-b).

Assigning the lease, handing it over entirely, also needs the landlord's written consent, which they may refuse. If they refuse unreasonably, you can ask to be released from the lease on 30 days' notice (RPL §226-b). Rent-stabilised apartments have their own rules, and co-op proprietary leases are excluded.

Moving out and your deposit

Whether you leave at the end of the lease or early, the deposit rules are the same: you can ask for an inspection before you go, and the landlord must return the deposit with an itemised statement of anything kept within 14 days of your moving out, or lose the right to keep any of it (General Obligations Law §7-108). Our step-by-step renting guide covers move-out in full.