How to Read a NYC Lease: The Clauses That Matter

Term: The Start and End Dates

The term is how long the lease runs, usually 12 months. Check the exact start and end dates, because you owe rent for the whole term even if you move in late or leave early. If you need the place for less than a year, say so before the lease is drafted, not after.

Rent, Due Date and Late Fees

The lease states the monthly rent, the day it is due (usually the 1st) and how to pay. State law sets the late-fee rules: rent is late only if it arrives more than five days after the due date, and the fee cannot be more than $50 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is less. On $2,400 a month, 5% is $120, so the cap is $50.

If you pay by cash or money order, the landlord must give you a written receipt.

Sublet and Assignment

A sublet means someone lives in your place for a while and you come back. An assignment means someone takes over the lease for good. Many leases say you need the landlord’s written consent for either.

In a building with four or more apartments, Real Property Law 226-b gives tenants the right to ask to sublet, and the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse a proper written request. In smaller buildings, the lease decides. Either way, get the landlord’s approval in writing before anyone moves in.

• Is Subletting Legal in NYC?
• How to Ask Your Landlord to Sublet

Guests and Occupants

The lease names the tenants. It may also limit who else can live there. New York’s roommate law overrides the strictest versions: if you are the only tenant on the lease, you may share the apartment with your immediate family, one additional occupant and that person’s dependent children, as long as you live there too.

You must tell the landlord the occupant’s name within 30 days of them moving in, or within 30 days of being asked.

• Splitting Rent with Roommates

Repairs and Access

Look for who fixes what and how to report a problem. Every residential lease in New York carries a warranty of habitability, a promise that the apartment is livable and sanitary. A clause that tries to waive it is void.

The lease will also say when the landlord can enter, typically for repairs or showings with notice, and at once in an emergency.

• Your Rights on Heat and Repairs

Renewal and Rent Increases

A market-rate lease simply ends on its last day unless both sides agree to renew. If the landlord plans not to renew, or to raise the rent by more than 5%, state law requires written notice: 30 days if you have lived there under a year, 60 days for one to two years, 90 days for more than two.

A rent-stabilized lease is different: you have the right to renew, and increases are set by the city’s Rent Guidelines Board. The lease should come with a rent stabilization rider if the unit is stabilized.

• Rent-Stabilized Apartments Explained

Riders

Riders are extra pages attached to the standard form, and they win where they conflict with it. Common ones cover pets, smoking, renters insurance, window guards, lead paint, bedbug history, sprinklers, and house rules such as move-in hours or carpet coverage. Anything you were promised verbally, such as a repair before move-in or a month at a lower rent, belongs in a rider too.

Leaving Early

Most leases have no automatic way out. If you leave early you still owe the rent, but New York law says the landlord must make a good-faith effort to re-rent the apartment, and a lease clause that says otherwise is not allowed. Once a new tenant starts paying, your obligation for those months generally ends.

Some leases include an early termination clause with a set notice period and fee. If yours does, that is the cleanest exit. If not, ask about a sublet or an assignment.

• Leaving Before Your Lease Ends

Before You Sign

1. Read the whole thing once, including riders. Ask about anything you do not understand.
2. Check that every blank is filled in and every handwritten change is initialed by both sides.
3. Get a copy signed by the landlord, not only by you.