What are my tenant rights?

All tenants

All tenants in New York City have certain rights regardless of the type of apartment they live in. Some of the most common tenant’s rights include:

The right to safe and habitable housing

The landlord is responsible for keeping your apartment safe and livable. An owner must provide and maintain all services and equipment, including making repairs, providing heat and hot water, maintenance, painting and janitorial services.

Learn more here.

The right to a roommate

A tenant has the right to live with one non-familial roommate and that roommate’s dependent children. If there is more than one tenant on the lease, the number of roommates can not exceed the number of tenants.

See, New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal on Leases, Security Deposits, Roommates, Sublets and More here.

The right to assign or sublease

While you must ask for consent to assign or sublease your apartment, the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse to give consent. If they do, you may be entitled to terminate your lease.

See, Division of Homes and Community Renewal Fact Sheet #7 here.

The right to be free of harassment

It is illegal for landlords to harass tenants as a way of getting them to move out of their apartments or surrender their rights. Harassment of tenants by landlords and their employees can include not offering leases or lease renewals, repeatedly trying to pay you to move out, bringing unjustified eviction cases or illegally locking you out, threatening or intimidating you, failing to provide necessary repairs or utilities, or deliberately causing construction related problems for tenants.

Learn more here.

The right to be free from discrimination

It is illegal for landlords to discriminate against a tenant due to age, immigration or citizenship status, color, disability, gender, gender identity, marital or partnership status, national origin, pregnancy or lactation accommodations, race, religion/creed, height and weight, secutal orientation, status as a veteran or active military member, lawful source of income, the presence of children, or status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking and/or sex offenses.

See, Information on the New York City Human Rights Law here.

The right to due process

Your landlord cannot evict you without a court process. Your landlord cannot physically remove you or your belongings from your apartment before receiving an order from the Court authorizing an eviction.

See, New York State Division of Homes and Community Renewal Overview on Eviction here.

The right to organize

Tenants have the right to organize as a group to discuss conditions within the building, harassment, or any other issues that concern them as tenants. Tenants can meet in their building’s common areas, as long as they do not create a fire hazard.

See, Guidance from the New York State Attorney General’s office here.

Rent regulated tenants

Tenants that live in regulated housing like rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartments, buildings receiving a tax benefit, or public housing have additional rights. These rights include:

The right to succession

The family members of a rent regulated tenant who have lived with that tenant, and in the case of public housing have been listed on the family composition, can take over their lease when that tenant leaves the apartment or passes away. This is called “succession”.

Non-traditional family members can also have succession rights in many cases.

Learn more h ere.

Also, see Division of Homes and Community Renewal on Succession here.

The right to manageable rent increases

For rent stabilized and rent regulated tenants, landlords cannot charge more rent than what is legally allowed. Many times tenants are unaware that they have been overcharged and are paying more rent than they should. To work out what your rent should be, a tenant can call or visit the Division of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR) and request a rent history print out for your apartment here.

For public housing tenants, your landlord cannot charge you more than 30% of your income in rent and you have a right to get your rent adjusted if your income changes.

Resources:

For free legal help, call Legal Services NYC at 917-661-4500 Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Learn more about our intake process here.

* The information does not constitute legal advice. You should always consult an attorney regarding your matter. Legal help subject to capacity and location.

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