New York Lease Agreements for Landlords

Every New York residential lease must include a bold-face sprinkler notice, a flood disclosure, and a Good Cause Eviction notice stating whether the unit is covered by that law. In New York City, add the gas-leak procedures notice, bedbug history form, applicable lead paint notice, and rent stabilization rider for stabilized units; buildings with 3 or more apartments also need the window guard notice, indoor-allergen notice and fact sheet, and building smoking policy. The 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act caps what a lease can charge: a deposit of one month's rent, $20 for a background or credit check, and a late fee of $50 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is less, only after rent is more than 5 days late. Clauses that waive your negligence liability, make attorney's fees one-sided, or block the roommate law are void.

Which notices must every New York lease include?

These three apply statewide, in New York City and elsewhere.

1. Sprinkler notice. Real Property Law section 231-a requires every residential lease to state, in conspicuous bold-face type, whether the premises have a maintained and operative sprinkler system. If there is one, the lease must also give the date of its last maintenance and inspection.
2. Flood disclosure. Under section 231-b, the lease must say whether the premises are wholly or partly in a FEMA-designated floodplain, in the Special Flood Hazard Area (the 100-year floodplain), or in a Moderate Risk Flood Hazard Area (the 500-year floodplain), and describe any past flood damage you know about or reasonably should know about. It must also include the statute's standard notice that renters can buy flood insurance through FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program and that standard renters policies usually do not cover flood damage.
3. Good Cause Eviction notice. Section 231-c requires you to attach the Good Cause Eviction Law notice to, or incorporate it in, every initial lease and every renewal lease. The notice states whether the unit is covered and, if not, which exemption applies.

Who does Good Cause cover?

The Good Cause Eviction Law took effect in New York City on April 20, 2024, and the notice requirement began August 18, 2024. Outside the city, it applies only where a city, town, or village has opted in, and the notice form lists that as one of the exemptions to check. Other common exemptions include:

• owners within the local small-landlord limit: in NYC, 10 or fewer units statewide (for an LLC, each individual owner must meet the limit); opt-in municipalities can set a lower limit
• owner-occupied buildings with 10 or fewer units
• rent-regulated units, condo and co-op units, and units with affordability restrictions
• buildings with a first certificate of occupancy issued on or after January 1, 2009, for 30 years
• units renting above the local high-rent threshold: in NYC, more than 245% of the area's fair market rent; opt-in municipalities can set a different percentage

For covered units, a rent increase above the local rent standard is presumed unreasonable. In New York City, the standard as of May 4, 2026 is 8.38% (inflation of 3.38% plus 5%, capped at 10%). Covered tenants can also be removed only for a listed good cause. Our New York eviction guide explains those grounds and the notice periods.

What extra riders does a New York City lease need?

With the lead notice, also give the city's "Lead Paint Hazards in the Home" pamphlet. The window guard notice can be combined with the lead notice on a form the Health Department approves, and both are repeated in an annual notice each January. For stabilized units, renewals use form RTP-8, and our New York rent stabilization guide covers renewal rules and legal rent.

Statewide, federal law also requires lead-based paint disclosures for most housing built before 1978 before the tenant becomes contractually bound, ordinarily before signing, even if move-in is later. Give the tenant the EPA-approved "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" pamphlet, disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, and provide all available lead records and reports. Include the Lead Warning Statement and signed disclosure acknowledgments in the lease or an attachment. These federal materials are separate from the NYC lead notice and pamphlet.

What fees and deposits can a New York lease set?

The 2019 law set caps that a lease cannot exceed. A lease clause that waives them is void.

Before charging the screening fee, you must give the applicant a copy of the check and the receipt or invoice from the company that ran it.

Late fee example: on $1,800 rent, 5% is $90, so the cap is $50. On a $900 apartment, 5% is $45, which becomes the cap because it is less than $50. Rent due on the 1st is not late for fee purposes until it is still unpaid after the 6th.

The deposit rules also require you to offer a move-in inspection and, before move-out, to tell the tenant in writing that they can request an inspection. You must return the deposit with an itemized statement of any amount kept within 14 days after the tenant leaves, or you lose the right to keep any of it. Our New York security deposit guide covers those steps.

Which lease clauses does New York void?

According to the Attorney General's tenant guide and the statutes behind it, a New York lease may not:

• Excuse your negligence. General Obligations Law section 5-321 makes a clause exempting a landlord from liability for injuries or property damage caused by the landlord's negligence void and unenforceable.
• Give only you attorney's fees. If the lease lets you recover attorney's fees, Real Property Law section 234 automatically gives the tenant the same right when the tenant wins.
• Waive the warranty of habitability. Any clause waiving it is void. See our New York repair obligations guide.
• Waive a jury trial in a personal injury or property damage suit.
• Excuse you from mitigating damages when a tenant leaves early, meaning trying to re-rent the unit.
• Require the tenant to pledge household furniture as security for rent.
• Limit occupancy to the named tenant and immediate family.

How the roommate law limits your lease

Under Real Property Law section 235-f, a tenant on a one-person lease may live with immediate family, one additional occupant, and that occupant's dependent children, as long as the tenant or the tenant's spouse lives there as a primary residence. An "occupant" here means someone living there with a tenant's permission who is neither a tenant nor a member of a tenant's immediate family. On a lease with two or more tenants, the total of tenants and occupants (not counting tenants' immediate family or occupants' dependent children) cannot exceed the number of tenants on the lease. You can require the tenant to tell you an occupant's name within 30 days after the occupant moves in or within 30 days after you ask. An occupant gains no right to stay if the tenant leaves unless you agree in writing, and you can still enforce legal overcrowding limits. For when to add someone as a co-tenant instead, see signing a lease with more than one person.