Renting a Home in New York: Tenant Rights Everyone Should Know

Although New York State Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act 2019 covers everything from application fees for rent to notice of rent increases - many tenants in New York still do not know all of their rights under this law. Edition Bushwick daily clarified all the nuances.

Brokerage and application fees

When the law was passed in 2019, brokerage fees were canceled, but later the court reinstated them. Basically, the brokerage fee is 15% of the annual value of the house or apartment rented by the tenant.

Another provision of this law limits the application fee to $ 20 and is currently in force.

Rent increase for rent stabilized apartments

If you rented an apartment with a rent stabilized back in 2006 and then left the lease (of your choice or the landlord's choice), the next tenant will be protected from astronomical rent price increases.

In addition, the law prevents landlords from raising their rents by more than 2% for major capital improvements. Prior to the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, rents could be increased by $ 200, $ 300, and $ 400 - huge sums of capital improvements that homeowners made.

legal aid

To learn about your rights as a tenant, Ellen Davidson, a housing justice attorney with 20 years of experience in Legal Aid Societyrecommends tenants to contact local community organizations.

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New York City tenants can get free legal advice by calling 311 or using the tenant hotline.

Researching potential apartments

Before concluding a lease, you can find information about the apartment you like in the database of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). HPD Online offers, among other things, a history of complaints and litigation regarding this apartment, as well as reports of harassment of tenants and annual reports of bedbugs.

In addition, you can to consider apartment on OpenIgloo - an app for viewing apartment buildings in New York. It introduces users to a network of other tenants who can tell a lot about the house in which the apartment you like is located. To use the program, users must first leave a review of the building they live in or move out of. The app contains a ton of information about NYC apartment buildings.

Applying for renting an apartment

Previously, some landlords used “blacklist of tenants”By applying public court protocols to discriminate against tenants who have participated in legal proceedings with the owner of the property. This action is now illegal and tenants can report landlords to the attorney general if they suspect they have been discriminated against for this reason.

However, for this charge, the maximum fine for a landlord is $ 1. And litigation is an expensive and time-consuming process.

Signing a new lease

Your landlord cannot charge more than one month's rent as pledge.

Pet fee is legal in New York City and ranges from monthly premiums ranging from $ 25 to $ 50 to lump sum payments that average $ 250 to $ 500, although they can go as high as $ 1000.

When you check into an apartment

There is no upper rent increase for flats with uncontrolled rent. However, in order to increase your rent by more than 5% or not renew your lease, the landlord must give you 30 to 90 days written notice before the price increase or check out.

Late Rent and Eviction Court

Property managers may charge fines for delay payment only if the rent is more than five days overdue. At this point, they can charge up to $ 50 or five percent of the rent, whichever is less.

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Prior to this law, notifying the tenant was required for three days pending the execution of the eviction order. The law now requires written notice for 14 days before. If you are able to pay the rent due during that two-week period, the court must cancel the eviction order.

In some cases, tenants will be given up to a year to move if they pay their rent on time.

Withdrawal from the lease

If you go out from the lease agreement ahead of schedule, your landlord must make some effort to rent the apartment to a new tenant before fining you.