How the check works
If your landlord wants to raise the rent by 5% or more at renewal, or does not plan to renew at all, New York Real Property Law §226-c says you must get written notice in advance. How far in advance depends on how long you have lived there or how long your lease is, whichever is longer.
The checker first works out the increase: (new rent − current rent) ÷ current rent. Under 5%, the §226-c notice rule does not apply. At 5% or more, it picks the notice period from the table below, subtracts it from your lease end date to get the last on-time notice date, and compares that with the date you actually got written notice.
| Your situation (longer of occupancy or lease term) | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| Under 1 year in the unit and a lease under 1 year | 30 days |
| 1 to 2 years in the unit, or a lease of 1 to 2 years | 60 days |
| More than 2 years in the unit, or a lease of 2 years or more | 90 days |
Worked example
You moved in on November 1, 2024. Your second one-year lease ends October 31, 2026, at $3,000 a month. On September 5, 2026, the landlord offers a renewal at $3,300, a 10% increase, so notice is required. By the end of this lease you will have lived there two years, so the period is 90 days. Ninety days before October 31 is August 2, 2026, so the notice came about a month late.
You keep paying $3,000 until the 90 days from September 5 run out, which is December 4, 2026. The new rent can start then instead of November 1. That is roughly 33 extra days at the old rate, about $325 less than the landlord asked for.
Edge cases
- Exactly one or two years. The statute talks about "less than" and "more than" one and two years. We count the time you will have lived there by the end of the current lease and treat reaching the mark as crossing it, which gives the longer period. Ask the landlord or a lawyer if a few days decide your tier.
- Rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments have their own renewal rules. Use the rent-stabilized renewal calculator and read rent-stabilized renewal leases.
- Co-op shareholders who own their unit are generally excluded from this notice rule.
- Good Cause Eviction. In the current version of §226-c, the notice must include or attach the Good Cause Eviction notice. If your apartment is covered by Good Cause, a large increase may also be presumed unreasonable. Check it with the Good Cause rent increase checker.
What to do next
Keep the notice and the envelope or email showing when it arrived. If it was late, tell the landlord in writing that you will pay the current rent until the notice period ends. If the increase is on time but steep, read how to negotiate a market-rate renewal and the broader guide to rent increase notice in New York.