New York Month-to-Month Lease Agreement Explained (+ Free Template)

Managing a rental unit in New York City requires either the landlord or property manager to understand the ins and outs of a standard lease agreement according to the city's rental laws.

This includes essential things, such as the minimum termination period required and the number of days’ notice the landlord must give the other party when any changes are being made to the original month-to-month lease agreement.

By changes, we mean alterations that will have a direct impact on the rental contract in terms of rental price, security deposit, length of the lease agreement, or termination of the month-to-month lease.

The following are four of the most important things you need to know before signing a New York City month-to-month lease agreement/rental contract:

New York Month-to-Month Lease Agreement

A month-to-month lease agreement gives the tenant permission to reside in or otherwise have use of a rental unit for a period not exceeding one month.

Such a New York month-to-month lease renews automatically at the end of the lease term and will continue to do so until terminated by the landlord or tenant.

The month-to-month lease works in the following ways:

• Either a verbal or written contract is entered into by the landlord and tenant
• New York landlord/tenant law gives both parties full rights
• The landlord provides a habitable environment and the tenant provides rental payments

Minimum Termination Notice

The number of days’ notice that a landlord must give tenants when terminating a month-to-month lease is set according to the length of time the tenant has been living in the rental unit, for example:

• One (1) month's notice is adequate for New York tenants that have been staying in the residence for less than a year
• Tenancies more than a year but less than two years are entitled to 60 days' notice
• All month-to-month tenancies of more than two years will receive more than 90 days' notice

Written Notice to Raise Rent

Any rent increase on a property outside New York City requires either the landlord or tenant to give 30 days' notice before the month-to-month lease agreement is terminated.

Properties within New York City will require the following written rent increase notices:

• A month's notice for a lease term of less than a year
• 60 days' notice for lease agreements more than a year but less than two years
• 90-day notice for all tenancies over two years old

These notices must be delivered in person to an adult over the age of 18 years or by nail and mail, which means nailing on the door and posting via mail.‍

Eviction Process

When the lease expires and is not renewed by the landlord, the tenant must find alternative accommodation or face eviction.

However, there are laws that need to be followed to properly evict tenants in New York.

Proper notice must be given before the eviction begins and the entire process may last anywhere between one and five months to complete unless other circumstances are interfering with the eviction process.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop has a lot of resources to help you with your New York month-to-month rental agreement.

You can download free forms directly from the website or try the easy-to-use software to build and customize your own templates.

Resources