Your NYC renter rights in 2026
New York City has some of the strongest tenant protections in the country. Here's a plain-English summary of the rules that most affect you when you're applying for an apartment in 2026. This is educational information, not legal advice.
Application fees are capped at $20
Under New York's Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, a landlord cannot charge more than $20 for a rental application (covering background and credit checks combined). Even better: a landlord must waive that fee entirely if you provide your own background or credit check conducted within the last 30 days. A verified profile you already hold — like a CertRent profile — is designed to fit that exemption.
The FARE Act moved broker fees off tenants
As of June 2025, New York City's FARE Act generally requires the party who hires a broker to pay that broker's fee. In practice this means tenants are no longer routinely charged a broker's fee just to move into an apartment the landlord listed.
The tenant "blacklist" ban
Landlords may not reject you simply because you once appeared in housing court. Tenant-screening "blacklists" built from housing-court records are restricted under New York law (RPL §227-f). This is one reason positive, verified data about you — like on-time rent history — is so valuable: it tells your story instead of a court index.
Fair Chance for Housing
Since January 2025, New York City limits when and how a landlord can look at criminal history — generally only after a conditional offer, with a narrow individualized review. You cannot be screened out based on arrests that didn't lead to conviction, sealed cases, and more.
Source-of-income protection
It is illegal in NYC to refuse to rent to someone because they use a housing voucher or other lawful source of income. If your voucher covers the full rent, a landlord generally cannot impose a minimum credit score to reject you.
Other money rules worth knowing
- Security deposit: capped at one month's rent.
- Late fees: capped at the lesser of $50 or 5% of the monthly rent.
Official sources
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