Renting an apartment in New York City, step by step

1. Set your budget

Start with the rent you can qualify for, not the rent you'd like. Many landlords ask for yearly income of 40 times the monthly rent, and more from a guarantor. That is landlord practice, not law: no statute sets it, and buildings vary. Find the rent you qualify for with your household's income, or with a guarantor's.

Then work out the cash to move in. A landlord can't take a security deposit of more than one month's rent for any apartment (NYS Homes and Community Renewal), so expect the first month's rent and a deposit of up to one more, plus your own broker's fee if you choose to hire one, and moving costs.

2. Search, and read listings carefully

Gross against net effective rent. Many listings quote a "net effective" rent, the average after free months, while the lease states the full gross rent. Your deposit and first month's payment are normally set from the gross figure, and so is the income test. Convert any listing between net effective and gross before you compare.

Who pays the broker. Since 11 June 2025 New York City's FARE Act stops a landlord's agent, including a listing agent, from charging fees to people applying to rent. You may still hire your own broker and pay them, but no one can make renting an apartment depend on hiring a broker. Listings must show every fee a tenant has to pay (NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection). Our guide to what you can be charged explains the rules and how to complain.

3. View the apartment

A viewing is your chance to check what a listing can't show. These are common sense rather than law, but worth doing every time:

• Water pressure and hot water in the kitchen and bathroom; signs of leaks or mould under sinks and on ceilings.
• Heating and cooling: radiators, and who controls the heat. Ask which utilities you pay.
• Light, noise and phone signal at the times you'll be home.
• Windows, locks, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
• Laundry, storage, bike room, packages, and any amenity fees.
• The commute, timed at the hour you'd travel.

Log every apartment you see in the rental tracker: it ranks them by your own priorities and shows each one's real monthly cost, cash to move in and income needed.

4. Apply

Have your documents ready before you view, because good apartments go quickly. State law limits what you can be charged to apply: a landlord can't charge for processing an application, and can charge only for a background and credit check, at the actual cost or $20, whichever is less, with a copy of the report and the invoice. If you bring your own check from the past 30 days, they must waive the fee (Real Property Law §238-a).

Our application checklist lists the documents landlords commonly ask for, what they can and can't ask, and how guarantors work.

5. Read the lease before you sign

Read every page, including riders. Check that the lease matches what you were told:

• Rent and concessions. The gross rent, how any free month is given, and when the lease ends.
• Fees. In New York City, the landlord or agent must give you an itemised written list of every fee you must pay the landlord before you sign the lease, and you sign it (DCWP). Nothing should appear later that wasn't on it.
• Deposit. No more than one month's rent, and in a building with six or more apartments it must be held in an interest-bearing New York bank account (NY Attorney General).
• Flood disclosure. Every residential lease must say whether the property is in a FEMA flood zone and disclose known flood damage (Real Property Law §231-b).
• Good Cause Eviction notice. Leases must include a notice saying whether the apartment is covered by the state's Good Cause Eviction law, and if not, which exemption applies (Real Property Law §231-c). Coverage affects your renewal.
• Rent stabilisation. Ask whether the apartment is rent-stabilised; it changes how the rent can rise and your right to renew. Our guide to rent-stabilised apartments explains how to check.

6. Move in, and protect your deposit

After you sign but before you move in, the landlord must offer you an inspection of the apartment. If you ask for it, you and the landlord sign a written record of its condition and any existing damage, and the landlord can't later keep deposit money for anything listed in it (General Obligations Law §7-108). Take it, and add your own dated photos.

Keep a copy of the lease, the fee disclosure and every payment receipt in one place. The rental tracker can hold your lease dates and notes.

7. Renewal

If your landlord plans to raise the rent by 5% or more, or not to renew, they must tell you in writing in advance: at least 30 days if you have lived there less than a year, 60 days for one to two years, and 90 days for two years or more (or a lease of that length). If they give late notice, your current terms continue until the notice period has run (Real Property Law §226-c).

Start thinking about renewal early. The rental tracker adds a renewal decision to your "Coming up" list three months before the lease ends, which gives you time to compare the renewal offer with what else is available.

8. Move out and get the deposit back

Once either side gives notice to end the tenancy, the landlord must tell you in writing that you can ask for an inspection before you leave. If you ask, it happens one to two weeks before the end, with at least 48 hours' notice, and the landlord gives you an itemised list of proposed deductions, which you may fix before you go. Within 14 days of moving out, the landlord must return the deposit with an itemised statement of anything kept; miss that deadline and they lose the right to keep any of it. In a dispute the landlord must show the amount kept is reasonable, and a wilful violation can cost up to twice the deposit in punitive damages (GOL §7-108).

If a deposit isn't returned, you can file a complaint with the Attorney General's office or sue in small claims court (NY Attorney General).