New York Good Cause Eviction 2026: Where It Applies Now

New York Good Cause Eviction 2026: Where It Applies Now

New York's Good Cause Eviction law — effective April 2024 — has moved from a New York City story into a statewide patchwork, and 2026 is the year operators can no longer treat it as a five-borough concern. The law guarantees lease renewals for covered tenants, puts a soft ceiling on annual rent increases, and strengthens tenant protections in eviction proceedings. It is mandatory in New York City. Outside the city, it applies only where a municipality has opted in — and the opt-in list keeps growing, with some places adopting stronger local versions than the state default. This guide gives landlords and property managers the practical framework, with the one takeaway that matters most: check whether the specific municipality has opted in, and on what terms.

The law and agencies to build around

For New York, anchor every renewal and eviction policy to the Good Cause Eviction statute, with guidance from the New York State Attorney General (ag.ny.gov) and New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR, hcr.ny.gov). The mistake portfolios make is applying a single "New York policy" across the state. Good Cause is not uniform — its force depends entirely on where the unit sits and which local version is in effect.

The first operating rule is to resolve jurisdiction before drafting a notice: is this unit in New York City (mandatory), in an opted-in municipality (covered, possibly on stronger terms), or in a place that has not opted in (not covered)? The second rule is to separate business judgment (whether you want to renew or raise rent) from legal procedure (what the law lets you do once a unit is covered).

What the law does

For covered tenancies, Good Cause changes three things:

• It guarantees lease renewals for covered tenants who pay rent and follow the lease. You generally cannot decline to renew a covered tenant absent a permitted good-cause ground.
• It makes an annual increase above 10%, or above 5% + CPI (whichever is lower), presumptively unreasonable. This is a rebuttable presumption, not a hard cap — but an increase over that threshold is exposed to challenge and must be justified. Because the CPI component moves, confirm the current-year figure rather than assuming a fixed percentage.
• It strengthens tenant protections in eviction proceedings, raising what a landlord must show to remove a covered tenant.

Where the notice timing for a non-renewal or increase is not something you are certain of, confirm the current notice period with HCR or a local attorney before serving anything.

Where it applies now — the opt-in map

This is the part that changed and keeps changing:

• Mandatory in New York City. Covered units in the five boroughs are subject to Good Cause automatically.
• Municipalities outside NYC may opt in. As of 2025–2026, opted-in places include Albany, Ithaca, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Beacon, Newburgh, Nyack, Hudson, New Paltz, Fishkill, Catskill, Croton-on-Hudson, and Binghamton. This list has grown over time — treat any snapshot as a point-in-time view and re-check before relying on it.
• Some opt-in municipalities adopted stronger local versions. Several lowered the covered-portfolio threshold to a single unit, meaning small landlords who would be exempt under the state default can be fully covered locally. The state framework is a floor, not a ceiling — a local ordinance can reach further.

The operator takeaway: do not assume a unit is exempt because it sits outside New York City. Confirm whether that specific municipality has opted in, and on what terms — including whether it lowered the portfolio threshold.

Common mistakes

Avoid applying one statewide "New York policy" to every unit, assuming units outside NYC are automatically exempt, declining to renew a covered tenant who pays rent and follows the lease, issuing an increase above the 10%-or-5%+CPI threshold without justification, using last year's CPI figure without confirming the current one, missing that a municipality lowered the covered-portfolio threshold to a single unit, or serving a non-renewal or increase without confirming the current notice period.

Managing this in software

Your system should tag each property with its jurisdiction and Good Cause status — NYC mandatory, opted-in (and which local terms), or not covered — and drive renewal and increase logic from that tag. It should flag any proposed increase above the presumptively-unreasonable threshold for a covered unit, block a non-renewal of a covered tenant absent a recorded good-cause ground, and store the local portfolio threshold so single-unit coverage is caught where a municipality lowered it. Keep the opt-in map as editable data, not hard-coded, because the list grows. Treat a non-renewal or over-threshold increase as a compliance event with a second review.

How Proprietio helps

Proprietio's compliance engine tracks these state rules and flags what changed, so your leases, notices, and rent increases stay current as the law moves — without you watching every bill. See how on your portfolio — free rental audit.

Sources

New York State Attorney General — ag.ny.gov. New York State Homes and Community Renewal — hcr.ny.gov. Confirm the current-year rent-increase threshold, the list of opted-in municipalities and their local terms, the covered-portfolio threshold, and required notice periods on the official pages before acting.

⚠️ This is general information, not legal advice. Landlord-tenant law is state-specific and changes often — verify the current rule with your state agency or a local attorney before acting.