Ithaca, NY — landlord and rental rules

Good Cause Eviction applies in Ithaca, subject to the statute's property, tenancy, rent and owner exemptions.

The local small-landlord exemption is portfolio-wide: an owner with no more than 1 unit anywhere in New York State is exempt. It is not a building-unit threshold.

The HCR notice is the current authoritative opt-in list. A buyer must test beneficial ownership across the statewide portfolio and the unit's rent against the current county/bedroom FMR before treating the protection as binding.

Unit counts

See note

Fair market rent exemption

345% of HUD FMR

A residential nonpayment case requires a written 14-day rent demand. Rent increases of 5% or more and nonrenewals require 30, 60 or 90 days' notice according to occupancy and lease length; a late fee cannot exceed $50 or 5% of monthly rent, whichever is less.

These are statutory notice periods, not an estimate of how long a court case will take.

Rent demand

14 days

Nonrenewal / 5%+ increase

30, 60 or 90 days

Late fee

lesser of $50 or 5%

In effect since 2019-06-14.

New York caps a residential security deposit at one month's rent and requires return with an itemized statement within 14 days after the tenant vacates.

The cap applies statewide. Keep the deposit in trust, provide the required pre-move-out inspection opportunity, and document deductions rather than treating the deposit as the final month's rent.

In effect since 2019-07-14.