Buffalo, NY — landlord and rental rules

The 2024 Good Cause Eviction law requires good cause to evict or to refuse renewal, but exempts landlords owning 10 or fewer units statewide.

The exemption is counted on the *owner's* total holdings, not the building — and there is active litigation attempting to pierce LLCs to aggregate beneficial ownership.

Municipalities outside New York City opt in, and several have tightened the exemption to 1–4 units, so upstate is harder than the statewide baseline rather than softer.

Unit counts

Up to 10 units

In effect since 2024-04-20.

Non-owner-occupied one- and two-family rentals register annually and receive proactive inspection and a Certificate of Rental Compliance every three years; three-or-more-unit buildings require a Certificate of Occupancy inspection.

The city source does not state a renewal cadence for the three-or-more-unit Certificate of Occupancy, so none is inferred.

The city's three-year proactive inspection of non-owner-occupied one- and two-unit rentals checks lead hazards; lead hazards can block a Certificate of Occupancy.

A separate state overlay reaches pre-1980 properties with two or more rental units only in specified Erie County community-of-concern ZIP codes. Confirm the address before applying that overlay.

Construction

Built before 1978

The state proactive lead-rental registry reaches pre-1980 buildings with two or more rental units only in listed Erie County community-of-concern ZIP codes.

Two or more rental units, and only inside the state's listed community-of-concern geography.

This is not Buffalo-only and not county-wide. Confirm the full ZIP/geographic qualifier, including partial-ZIP boundaries, before applying the three-year inspection and certification regime.

Unit counts

2+ units

Construction

Built before 1980

In effect since 2025-11-03.