Your security deposit can't be more than one month's rent

If you rent in New York, your landlord can’t ask for a security deposit bigger than one month’s rent. A landlord can charge no more than $20 for a background and credit check, and a late fee is capped at $50 or 5% of monthly rent, whichever is less. The 2019 law also required landlords of market-rate rentals to return deposits within 14 days after tenants move out. A later law applied that deadline to rent-stabilized leases entered into or renewed on or after November 15, 2025.

The 2019 law also overhauled rent stabilization. It ended vacancy decontrol, which let landlords remove apartments from regulation, and stopped automatic increases when tenants moved out. It made rent regulation permanent, and improvement rent increases temporary and limited. It also extended the recovery period from four to six years for overcharges after the law took effect; courts kept the old rules for earlier overcharges. Eligible communities statewide could also opt in.

The law came from a package of tenant bills. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins sponsored the final bill; Housing Chair Brian Kavanagh co-sponsored it and led statewide hearings; and Sen. Zellnor Myrie helped the Senate group that drafted it. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie sponsored the Assembly bill, Housing Chair Steven Cymbrowitz led its work, and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal had carried bills to end vacancy decontrol and cap deposits. The Legislature negotiated the deal without Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who signed it June 14, 2019. It passed the Senate 36–26 and Assembly 95–46.