If you have a lease, you cannot be evicted on the basis of your immigration status. Tenants with leases are protected from eviction during the lease period as long as they do not violate any substantial provision of their lease or any local housing law or code.
If you do not have a lease and are paying rent on a month-to-month basis, you also have rights against unlawful evictions that apply to all tenants — including non-citizen tenants. Tenants without leases who have lived in their homes for 30 days or more must be given formal notice from the landlord and the chance to go to court before they can be evicted. See New York State Real Property Law (NYS RPL) section 232-a-b.
Rent-regulated tenants, regardless of immigration status, have especially strong protections. Tenants living in rent-stabilized apartments, with few exceptions, have the right to a renewal lease with a limited increase in rent. This means that, if you live in a rent-stabilized apartment, your landlord is not allowed to deny you a new lease when your current lease expires. Your landlord can also only raise the rent by a limited amount determined by the Rent Guidelines Board, which regulates rent-stabilized apartment leases. Tenants in other rent-regulated housing, such as rent-controlled apartments and rent-stabilized hotel rooms, also have the right to remain in their homes unless a court finds there is a legal basis for termination of their tenancies.
In addition, the rent-regulation laws prohibit landlords from harassing their tenants in order to force them to leave their apartments or give up their rights, and landlords who harass rent-regulated tenants may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.
Landlords of rent-regulated buildings must also register their buildings and apartments, including the rent they are charging you, with HCR. You have the right to view the records submitted about your apartment to make sure that your landlord is not lying about how much they are charging you or whether your apartment is rent regulated.
Tenants, regardless of their immigration status, can file complaints with HCR if they believe they are being harassed or overcharged; denied or experiencing reductions in services, like heat, water, or building access; or if their landlord requires them to provide immigration status information as a condition to renew their lease. To protect tenants from discrimination, HCR has created the Fair and Equitable Housing Office (FEHO).
All tenants have the right to live in their homes free from harassment and threats from landlords.
New York state laws make it illegal for landlords to engage in any action that is intended to force immigrant tenants out of their homes or to force immigrant tenants to give up their rights under law. This means that your landlord or anyone acting on your landlord’s behalf is legally prohibited from interfering with your privacy, comfort, and quiet enjoyment of your home. For example, landlords cannot threaten physical violence, engage in verbal abuse aimed at you or your family, deny you essential services like heat or hot water, or repeatedly take you to court based on frivolous claims.
