USA – NEW YORK Law and Practice Contributed by: Lindsey E. Haubenreich, Joseph P. Heins, Timothy P. Moriarty and Kimberly R. Nason, Phillips Lytle LLP
Good Cause Eviction in Residential Leases In April 2024, New York State passed “good cause eviction” law, which applies to New York City and any other municipalities that opt in. Where the good cause eviction law is in effect, landlords must prove that they have good cause to refuse to renew a residential lease and certain limitations are placed on rent increases. Tenants have a presumed right to renew a lease at the end of the term unless an exception applies. 6.22 Termination by a Third Party Portions of the leased premises may be taken by the government through eminent domain (con - demnation). Condemnation provisions in leases are negotiated by landlords and tenants. Typi - cally, in the event of a condemnation that takes a significant portion of the leased premises such that it is no longer useable for the tenant’s pur - poses, the parties have the option to terminate the lease. Typically, the landlord retains the right to the majority of the claim, and tenants have the right to claim for their fixtures and relocation costs associated with the condemnation. 6.23 Remedies/Damages for Breach In commercial leases, remedies and damages for a tenant breach and termination of a lease are negotiated between landlords and tenants. There are no statutory or customary limitations on damages a landlord may collect. Security deposits are negotiated between land - lords and tenants. If landlords do hold a security deposit, it can be in cash or letter of credit.
A tenant may negotiate the right to an early ter - mination of the lease, but such early termination rights are often expensive as tenants may need to pay a termination fee, reimburse a landlord for its unamortized costs and continue to pay rent for a negotiated period of time. 6.20 Registration Requirements There are no registration requirements under New York law, other than with respect to regulat - ed residential apartments. Memoranda of leases may be recorded in the county’s land records. However, not all landlords agree to execute a memorandum of lease because landlords do not want the memorandum of lease encumber - ing title to the property. Recording fees are paid by a per-page formula and are generally paid by the party requesting and recording the memo - randum of lease. 6.21 Forced Eviction A tenant can be forced to vacate in the event of default (such as failure to pay rent) or upon the expiration of the lease. Such actions are gov - erned by the Real Property Actions and Pro - ceedings Law (RPAPL) of the State of New York. In residential leases, the HSTPA amended the RPAPL to extend the time periods in non-pay - ment proceedings. The HSTPA eliminated oral demands to vacate and increased the notice period for written demands to 14 days, while also increasing the tenant’s time to provide an answer to ten days. In addition, the HSTPA amended RPL Section 235-e to require that ten - ants be reminded if rent is not received within five days of the due date. Failure to provide such a reminder can be used as an affirmative defense in a non-payment proceeding. The time period for completion of an eviction action varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
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