Renting a home in New York.

Fees, deposits, and the first payment

A landlord's charge for processing an ordinary rental application is generally limited to the actual cost of a credit and background check, up to $20 total. The landlord must give you a copy of the report and the receipt or invoice. If you provide a qualifying report completed within the last 30 days, the fee must be waived. Special rules can apply when the applicant would become an owner or shareholder in a cooperative.

Keep a broker fee separate from the screening rule. Outside New York City, a licensed broker you hire may charge an agreed commission; confirm who the broker represents, what work earns the fee, and when it becomes due. In New York City, the FARE Act bars a landlord or the landlord's broker from imposing a broker fee on the tenant. A renter may still choose to hire and pay their own broker. City listings and rental agreements must disclose tenant-paid fees, and the tenant must receive an itemized fee disclosure before signing.

For an ordinary residential rental, the security deposit is generally no more than one month's rent. That also means the landlord generally cannot collect both a one-month deposit and last month's rent in advance. A higher rent can bring a request to raise the deposit to the new one-month amount. Certain seasonal rentals, owner-occupied cooperative rentals, and special residential settings have exceptions, so check the exact housing type before treating the one-month rule as universal.

Pay only after the address, lease, owner or broker, amount, and refund terms line up. Get a receipt that says what the payment covers. A building owner or property manager should not demand extra "key money" or a reservation deposit to hold the home outside the lawful rent, deposit, and permitted charges.

Regulated and unregulated checks

Rent stabilization is tied to legal facts about the building and apartment. In New York City, common clues include a building with six or more homes built before 1974 or a newer building that received certain tax benefits. Outside the City, the Emergency Tenant Protection Act applies only in communities that have adopted rent stabilization; HCR's current coverage includes Kingston and participating communities in Nassau, Westchester, and Rockland, and other localities can adopt it after the required housing-emergency process.

Start with HCR's building search and request the apartment's free rent history. Then compare the history with the lease, rent-stabilization rider or ETPA addenda, annual registration, and any tax-benefit notice. A building list or rent history is useful evidence, but it comes from owner filings and does not make the final legal decision. A home can be missing from a list and still be regulated, or appear in old records without proving its current status.

A rent-stabilized tenant generally receives a one- or two-year renewal choice on the regulated form, with lawful increases set by the responsible rent guidelines board. Rent control, public housing, Section 8, Mitchell-Lama, income-restricted housing, and homes under a regulatory agreement follow other rules. Keep the program papers and ask the agency that runs the program when the lease and program terms conflict.

Good Cause Eviction is another lane for some homes that are not rent regulated. It applies in New York City and in outside-City municipalities that opt in, but it has several building, owner, rent, and housing-type exemptions. Look for the required notice saying whether the home is covered or exempt and why. For a covered home, the law can require a lawful reason for nonrenewal and treats an increase above the local standard as presumptively unreasonable. That standard is not a simple rent cap, and a court may need to decide a disputed case.

Condition and move-in record

The statewide deposit rules covering ordinary and rent-stabilized rentals require the landlord to offer a joint inspection after signing and before occupancy. Ask for it. Put every existing stain, crack, hole, broken part, pest sign, appliance problem, and missing item in a written agreement signed by both sides. That agreement can protect the deposit from a later deduction for a listed condition. Rent-controlled and certain special housing can follow a different deposit rule.

On move-in day, take clear, dated photos and a slow video of every room, wall, floor, ceiling, window, appliance, fixture, meter, key, alarm, and common path to the home. Send the condition list to the owner or manager in a form you can save. Keep the listing, lease, riders, inspection agreement, photos, payment proof, utility readings, and repair messages in one folder.

The lease should include New York's flood-history and flood-risk notice. Check the notice against the home's lower level, past water marks, nearby water, drainage, and FEMA map. Ordinary renters insurance usually does not cover flood damage. Many homes built before 1978 also come with federal lead-paint disclosure duties, and local lead, window-guard, bedbug, smoke-alarm, and carbon-monoxide rules may add notices or checks.

Repairs and utility service

Every written or oral residential rental carries a warranty of habitability. The home and shared areas must be fit to live in and free of conditions that are dangerous or harmful to health and safety. A lease cannot validly erase that basic protection. The renter remains responsible for damage caused by the renter, household, or guests and for giving reasonable access for needed work.

Report a problem to the owner or manager in writing. State the condition, where it is, when it started, and the repair needed. Add photos, save every message, and follow up after access or repair. For danger involving fire, gas, carbon monoxide, a live wire, a major leak, or immediate health risk, contact the emergency service, utility, or local agency first.

Rent withholding or paying for a repair and subtracting it from rent can lead to a nonpayment case. The facts and local procedure matter. Get advice from a tenant lawyer or official tenant service before using either path. A rent-regulated tenant may also have an HCR service or rent-reduction complaint after giving the required written notice.

The lease should name each utility and the person who pays it. Record meter numbers and move-in readings. If the gas, electric, or steam meter in your name also serves a hall, another home, shared laundry, or building equipment, ask the utility for a shared-meter inspection. New York's Department of Public Service says the utility must place the account in the owner's name while a confirmed shared-meter condition is corrected, subject to the governing rules and limited exceptions.

Renewal and rent changes

Put the lease end date and any tenant notice deadline on a calendar when the tenancy starts. An unregulated fixed lease can end under its terms, though Good Cause or another program can change the renewal rules. If a landlord plans not to renew or plans an increase of at least 5%, state law generally requires 30, 60, or 90 days' written notice. The period depends on the longer of the tenant's time in the home or the lease term: under one year, one to two years, or at least two years.

Those are landlord notice periods. A tenant's own move-out notice comes from the lease and the law that fits the tenancy. Outside New York City, a month-to-month tenant generally gives one month's notice. Do not assume the landlord's 30-, 60-, or 90-day schedule is also the tenant's schedule. Read any automatic-renewal clause early and send notice in the way the lease requires, with proof of delivery.

A landlord cannot remove a tenant by changing locks, cutting essential service, or moving belongings without the required court process. Do not ignore a rent demand, termination notice, petition, or court date. Deadlines can be short even when a defense is strong.

Move-out and security-deposit path

The inspection and 14-day steps below apply to ordinary and rent-stabilized rentals covered by the statewide deposit rules. Confirm the process for rent-controlled or special housing.

1. Give the right notice. Use the lease and local rule, save delivery proof, and give a forwarding address and reliable way to return the deposit.
2. Request the pre-move inspection in writing. When timely notice was given, the inspection is generally held one to two weeks before the tenancy ends, with at least 48 hours' written notice. The tenant may be present.
3. Use the repair list. After the inspection, the landlord should give an itemized list of proposed cleaning or repair deductions. The tenant has a chance to cure those conditions before leaving.
4. Close the condition file. Remove belongings and trash, clean, repair tenant-caused damage, photograph the empty home, record meters, return keys, and keep written proof of the handoff.
5. Mark the 14-day date. Within 14 days after the tenant vacates, the landlord must return the balance and provide an itemized statement for any amount kept. Permitted deductions can include unpaid rent, certain lease-payable utilities, tenant damage beyond normal wear, and lawful moving or storage costs. Normal wear is not a deduction.
6. Dispute with records. Ask in writing for the deposit, itemization, photos, invoices, and repair proof. If the matter stays unresolved, the Attorney General accepts rent-security complaints, and a money claim may fit the local small-claims court.