Lease Renewal Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what New York law says, what's specific to New York City - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Real Property Law 226-c requires 30, 60, or 90 days' written notice before a landlord can decline to renew.
- The tier tracks tenure: under one year gets 30 days, one to two years 60, two years or more 90.
- The same tiered notice applies to any renewal offer that raises your rent 5% or more.
- Miss the deadline and your tenancy continues on the existing terms until the full notice period actually runs.
- Rent-stabilized NYC tenants must be offered a renewal lease 90 to 150 days before the term expires.
Understanding the Lease Renewal Clause
A lease renewal clause covers what happens as your term runs out - whether you get an offer, how much warning comes first, and whether the agreement rolls over on its own. In New York that clause rarely controls, because state law sets a floor your landlord can't undercut.
You're owed 30, 60, or 90 days' written notice before a property manager declines to renew, keyed to how long you've lived there. The same clock covers any renewal offer that raises your rent 5% or more.
What renters assume
Renters assume a landlord can simply let the lease run out and hand over a move-out date a few weeks before the end date.
What is actually true
Real Property Law 226-c requires 30, 60, or 90 days' written notice first. Skip it and your tenancy continues on the existing terms until that full period has run.
New York's 90 days sits at the top of this chart, while Austin, Phoenix, and Nashville require zero notice when a fixed term simply expires. The New York number isn't fixed either - it steps up with tenure, so a first-year renter is on the 30-day tier.
Plain English Version
It's like a job that owes you notice before your contract ends, with the warning period growing the longer you've been there. If that notice never arrives, nothing expires - your existing terms keep running until the clock has actually run out.
Lease Renewal Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in New York City, NY
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
This one is from 1968, and from a trial-level New York City Civil Court. It is printed here for the shape of the clause, not as a statement of current New York law:
If the tenant continues in possession after the expiration of the term granted herein, then this lease is hereby renewed for a further period of one year and the rent during said period shall be increased $420.00 per year payable by the increase of each monthly payment in the sum of $35.00, unless the parties enter into a new written agreement.
Quoted from the published opinion in Renoir House, Inc. v. Solomon, 58 Misc. 2d 994 (N.Y. Civ. Ct. 1968). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“If the tenant continues in possession”
Holding over is the act that renews here, and the tenant is the one who performs it. New York's modern statute contains a version of the same idea pointed the other way: where the landlord misses the notice deadline in Real Prop. Law § 226-c, the tenancy continues on the existing terms until the full notice period has run. Staying put is not automatically a wrong; sometimes it is precisely what the statute contemplates.
“then this lease is hereby renewed”
Automatic in form, but the direction is everything. General Obligations Law § 5-905 makes an automatic-renewal clause inoperative unless the landlord reminds the tenant 15 to 30 days before the tenant's own notice deadline - a protection aimed at clauses that bind a tenant who fails to give notice to quit. The 1968 decision below read the statute as doing that job and no more, so it would not let the landlord use it to escape a renewal running the tenant's way.
“shall be increased $420.00 per year”
A figure fixed in advance is what made the increase in this case predictable, and what made the landlord's attempt to go higher fail. The modern New York equivalent is procedural rather than substantive: under § 226-c, a renewal offer raising the rent by five percent or more triggers the same 30, 60 or 90 day notice as a refusal to renew, scaled to your tenure.
“unless the parties enter into a new written agreement”
The escape from the formula is a fresh signed lease, and the tenant here refused to sign one. Before signing a renewal in New York City, work out which regime you are in: a rent-stabilized owner must offer a renewal 90 to 150 days before expiration, and since 2024 the Good Cause Eviction law in RPL Article 6-A applies citywide by default, so a refusal to renew is not always the landlord's to make.
Read the date first. This is 1968, and a trial-level New York City Civil Court decision, so it carries little precedential weight - one trial judge reading one lease, not a rule laid down by an appellate court. Treat it as an illustration of a clause shape, never as controlling authority, and check current New York law before relying on any part of it. What the court did: it called paragraph 14 “crystal clear and unambiguous” and read it as an option the tenant exercises simply by staying in possession, at a fixed increase the lease itself named. The tenant held over and refused to sign a new agreement, so the lease was extended for a year at $292 a month, and the landlord's written notice raising the rent above that figure was “completely ineffectual.” The court also held that General Obligations Law § 5-905 did not let the landlord negate the option: that statute exists to protect tenants from automatic-renewal clauses that bind them unless they give advance notice to quit, not to defeat a renewal clause that runs the tenant's way. Petition dismissed, final judgment for the tenant.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
New York Law on Lease Renewal Clause
- Notice is 30 days under one year, 60 days from one to two years, and 90 days at two years or more.
- The same tiered notice applies to any renewal offer raising rent by five percent or more.
- If the landlord misses the deadline, the tenancy continues on existing terms until the full notice period runs.
- General Obligations Law 5-905 makes an automatic-renewal clause inoperative unless the landlord reminds the tenant 15 to 30 days before the tenant's own deadline.
N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 226-c - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
The tiers are what trip people up. Under one year in the unit gets you 30 days, one to two years gets 60, and at two years or more it's 90 - measured from when the notice reaches you, not from the day you signed.
New York also folds rent hikes into the same rule, which most states don't: an offer raising your rent 5% or more needs the identical tiered notice. Texas requires no notice at all when a fixed term expires, and Georgia's 60-day rule only reaches tenancies at will, so a New York renter starts with far more runway than most.
New York Tenant Protections
Real Property Law 226-c entitles you to 30, 60, or 90 days' written notice before a landlord may decline to renew, scaled to how long you have lived in the unit. That same tiered notice covers any renewal offer raising your rent by five percent or more, so a steep increase cannot land at the last minute.
If the notice is late, your tenancy continues on the existing terms until the full period runs, and General Obligations Law 5-905 makes an automatic-renewal clause inoperative unless the landlord reminded you 15 to 30 days before your own deadline.
What's Specific to New York City
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
New York City stacks two more layers on top. Rent-stabilized owners must offer a renewal lease 90 to 150 days before the term expires, and the 2024 Good Cause Eviction law applies citywide by default, so refusing renewal generally takes an actual reason. That law has carve-outs, so confirm your building is covered.
The stakes here are mostly financial. Between a broker fee, first month, and deposit, a surprise non-renewal in Manhattan or Brooklyn can cost five figures to absorb - which is exactly why the 90-day tier for long-term tenants is the most useful number on this page.
It should, in plain terms. That date is the anchor for the 30-, 60-, or 90-day notice you're owed.
A fair New York lease puts it in writing. Rent-stabilized units must get an offer 90 to 150 days before the term expires.
Red flag. RPL 226-c sets 30, 60, and 90 days by tenure, and a waiver quietly trades those away.
Push back. General Obligations Law 5-905 makes automatic renewal inoperative unless the landlord reminds you 15 to 30 days before your deadline.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 226-c on nysenate.gov, New York's own publication of its statutes.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Renewal treated as landlord's option
Wording that makes renewal purely discretionary. If your unit is rent-stabilized, the owner must offer a renewal lease 90 to 150 days before your term expires.
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Waiver of 226-c notice rights
Language signing away statutory notice. RPL 226-c guarantees 30, 60, or 90 days by tenure - get any waiver explained in writing first.
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Silent auto-renewal rollover
The lease renews itself with no reminder promised. General Obligations Law 5-905 makes that clause inoperative unless the landlord reminds you 15 to 30 days ahead.
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Lopsided tenant notice deadline
The clause demands your written notice months out while the landlord's own duty sits at the statutory minimum. Nothing forces you to accept an unequal clock.
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Late rent hike over 5%
A renewal raising rent 5% or more needs the same tiered notice. Sent late, your existing terms continue until the full period has run.
Your Rights as a New York City Tenant
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Thirty to ninety days' notice
RPL 226-c requires 30, 60, or 90 days' written notice before non-renewal, keyed to under a year, one to two years, or two years plus.
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Same notice for 5% hikes
A renewal offer raising your rent 5% or more triggers the identical tiered notice, so a large increase can't appear weeks before your end date.
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Existing terms until notice runs
If the landlord blows the deadline, your tenancy continues on current terms until the full 30, 60, or 90 days have actually passed.
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A renewal offer if stabilized
Rent-stabilized NYC tenants must be offered a renewal lease 90 to 150 days before the term expires. That offer isn't the owner's choice to skip.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find your lease end date
Open the lease and note the last day of the term. Every deadline on this page counts back from there.
Count your months in the unit
Under one year is the 30-day tier, one to two years is 60, and two years or more is 90.
Check if you're rent-stabilized
Order your rent history from NY Homes and Community Renewal. Stabilized units get a renewal offer 90 to 150 days before the term ends.
Ask in writing for renewal
Email, don't call. A dated written request builds the record you'll want if the notice never shows up.
Date-stamp every notice you receive
Save the envelope and the email header. Notice shorter than your tier doesn't shorten your tenancy - existing terms run until the full 30, 60, or 90 days pass.
Get help before you move
Don't pack on a defective notice. Call 311 for the city's tenant helpline, or contact NY Homes and Community Renewal to confirm what you're owed.