LANDLORD GUIDE · NEW YORK
Reviewed November 13, 2026
For an existing private residential tenancy. Fixed-term changes, assisted housing, mobile-home spaces and required local forms need a separate review. This guide explains selected rules; it is not a coverage determination or legal advice for a particular property.
Classify the apartment before choosing a rent
First determine whether the unit is rent stabilized, rent controlled, covered by Good Cause Eviction protections, exempt from those protections or subject to a housing program. These categories do not share one universal rent-increase percentage. A notice period that is correct for an unregulated apartment does not establish a lawful stabilized renewal.
Keep the tenancy start date, lease term, rent registration or regulatory records and any claimed exemption evidence. This monthly tool does not replace a regulated renewal form, an agency calculation or legal review of a Good Cause exemption.
The 5% notice threshold under RPL §226-c
For an increase of 5% or more, advance notice depends on occupancy or lease duration: 30 days where the tenant has occupied less than a year and does not have a lease term of at least a year; 60 days for the intermediate one-to-two-year category; and 90 days for the two-year-or-longer category. Read the statute against both occupancy and lease length rather than looking only at the most recent renewal.
The tool conservatively uses 90 days for every ordinary monthly increase. That is not the statewide minimum for every tenant, nor does an increase below 5% eliminate applicable contract, rent-regulation or Good Cause obligations.
Good Cause is not simply a hard rent cap
For covered housing, an increase exceeding the lesser of 10% or 5% plus the applicable inflation measure is presumptively unreasonable under Good Cause Eviction law. A court can consider the statutory justification; this is different from an automatic permission to charge the threshold or an absolute cap in every circumstance.
Use HCR's current annual notice for the applicable inflation figures, fair-market-rent exemption levels and municipalities. RPL §231-c requires the Good Cause status disclosure with specified notices and leases. The PDF packet retains the disclosure pages; complete the actual coverage or exemption explanation rather than leaving a boilerplate conclusion.
[1] New York §231-c - required Good Cause disclosure [3] New York Attorney General - Good Cause Eviction law [4] New York HCR - Good Cause Eviction information and annual notice
New York City: rent stabilization
NYC Rent Guidelines Board Order 58 sets a 0% general adjustment for both one-year and two-year rent-stabilized apartment leases commencing October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, subject to further adjustments separately authorized by law. It is the commencement date and applicable order that matter.
Do not apply a generic 5% increase to a stabilized unit because the statewide notice threshold mentions 5%. Regulated renewal documents, lawful-rent records and any independently authorized adjustment require their own process. The ordinary monthly form is not a replacement.
Albany, Ithaca, Kingston and Rochester: Good Cause opt-ins
The New York Attorney General lists these municipalities among the jurisdictions that adopted Good Cause protections. Verify the actual city boundary and use HCR's municipal list to identify the local small-landlord and high-rent exemption choices. Those choices can differ from New York City's.
Do not assume that an Albany mailing address means a rental is within the City of Albany, or that every property in the county is covered. Record the municipality and the specific basis for coverage or exemption on the required disclosure.
Worked example and service review
For a non-stabilized monthly tenancy occupied for three years, a proposed change from $2,000 to $2,100 is exactly 5%, so the applicable 90-day category needs review. That does not answer Good Cause reasonableness, a lease restriction or the disclosure requirement.
Keep the lease, duration calculation, rent history, current HCR figures, exemption support, completed disclosure and delivery evidence. If the proposed date is too soon or the coverage classification is wrong, correct the notice before collection. A contested increase is not authority to bypass the separate termination and court process.
The local sections are selected examples, not an exhaustive municipal directory. Verify city boundaries and unit coverage. A longer notice period does not authorize an otherwise prohibited increase.
Official sources and updates
Dated caps apply only to the periods stated. Check the official sources before preparing a later increase.