New York: Landlord Entry Notice Requirements
The short answer
New York has no statewide statute setting how much notice a landlord must give before entering, or listing the reasons entry is allowed. The rule comes from your lease and the common-law right to 'quiet enjoyment': a landlord may enter at reasonable times, on reasonable advance notice, and — if the lease so provides — to make repairs, inspect, or show the unit. No notice is required in a genuine emergency or if you have abandoned the apartment. New York's Attorney General and State Bar describe reasonable prior notice as the standard, but no state law fixes an exact number of hours. New York City and some other localities add their own, stricter entry rules for covered apartments.
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This is the general rule in New York. Ezel applies current New York law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | No statewide landlord-entry statute. New York's residential-tenancy protections live in the Real Property Law (RPL) and the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL), but none codifies a general landlord-entry or entry-notice rule; the warranty of habitability, RPL § 235-b, is the core statutory tenant protection and contains no entry provision. Entry is governed by the lease and the common-law covenant of quiet enjoyment. Local law — notably New York City's rent-stabilization code and Housing Maintenance Code — adds entry rules for covered units |
|---|---|
| Advance notice required | None fixed by statute. The common-law standard is reasonable advance notice at a reasonable time; New York's Attorney General and the New York State Bar Association describe the practical rule as reasonable prior notice (often framed as roughly 24 hours for an inspection and longer for some repairs), but no statute sets a number. If the lease specifies a notice period, that lease term controls |
| Reasons a landlord may enter | None enumerated by statute. The reasons recognized under the lease and common law are to inspect the premises, make repairs, and supply services, and — 'if the lease so provides' — to show the unit to prospective purchasers, tenants, and others. Because no statute makes any list exclusive, the lease is the controlling document, subject to the covenant of quiet enjoyment (a landlord cannot enter for no reason or to harass) |
| Permitted hours | None set by statute. Entry must be at 'reasonable times' under common law; any specific hour limit comes from the lease |
| When no notice is needed | No statutory list, but the settled common-law rule is that a landlord may enter without the tenant's consent in a genuine emergency (fire, flood, gas leak, a threat to life or property) or where the tenant has abandoned the premises. Any other entry needs the tenant's consent or reasonable advance notice |
| Form and delivery of the notice | None prescribed by statute. Whether an entry notice must be in writing, what it must say, and how it is delivered are governed by the lease; there is no statutory form or delivery rule for entry notices |
| Special rules for showings | None by statute. A landlord may show an occupied unit to prospective buyers or tenants only 'if the lease so provides,' at reasonable times and after any notice the lease requires. There is no separate statutory showing procedure or notice period |
| Tenant's remedies for unlawful entry | No entry statute means no entry-specific statutory penalty. A tenant's recourse for an unlawful or harassing entry is a common-law claim — breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment, trespass, or breach of contract where the landlord ignores the lease's own entry limits — plus injunctive relief and damages, and for severe, repeated intrusion a constructive-eviction claim or a warranty-of-habitability claim under RPL § 235-b. Separately, New York makes an unlawful self-help eviction (changing locks, removing the tenant's property, or using force to push a tenant out) a crime, and tenants in certain multiple dwellings have a statutory right to install their own lock (giving the landlord a duplicate key) |
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How landlord entry works in New York
New York has no statewide statute that sets a notice period for landlord entry
or lists the reasons a landlord may enter an occupied apartment. The state's headline
tenant-protection statute — the warranty of habitability, RPL § 235-b — guarantees a
livable home, but says nothing about entry. So the rule comes from two places: your
lease and the common-law covenant of quiet enjoyment, the tenant's implied
right to live in the home without unreasonable interference from the landlord.
Under that common-law framework, the settled understanding — repeated by New York's
Attorney General and the State Bar Association — is that a landlord may enter at
reasonable times, on reasonable advance notice, to inspect, make repairs, or
supply services, and (if the lease provides for it) to show the unit to prospective
buyers or tenants. Two situations need no consent and no notice: a genuine
emergency, such as a fire or a burst pipe, and a unit the tenant has abandoned.
Everything else turns on notice and the lease. What counts as "reasonable" notice is
not fixed by any statute — guidance commonly describes something like 24 hours for a
routine inspection and more lead time for bigger repairs — so the lease, and what a
court would consider reasonable, control.
Because there is no statutory floor, the lease is usually where an enforceable notice
right actually comes from. If your lease requires advance notice before entry, the
landlord has to honor it; if the lease is silent, the quiet-enjoyment principle still
bars a landlord from entering repeatedly, at odd hours, or without a legitimate
reason. A lease clause claiming an unlimited right to enter anytime for any reason
cuts against quiet enjoyment and a landlord who relies on it does so at their peril.
Two backstops are worth knowing. First, if a landlord's intrusions become severe and
repeated, the tenant can treat them as a breach of quiet enjoyment — and, where they
make the home effectively unlivable, as a constructive eviction or a warranty-of-
habitability problem under § 235-b. Second, New York draws a hard line at self-
help: a landlord may not change the locks, remove your belongings, or use force to
push you out, and doing so is a crime, not just a civil wrong — the landlord must go
to court. Tenants in certain larger multiple dwellings also have a statutory right to
install their own lock, so long as they give the landlord a duplicate key.
Local law matters more here than in most states. New York City in particular
layers its own rules on top — the rent-stabilization code and the Housing Maintenance
Code set entry and access requirements for covered apartments — and other localities
may too. This page states the state-law floor; check your city's rules, because they
often add specific notice requirements the state statute does not.
What trips people up
"No statute" is not "enter anytime." The lack of a New York entry statute is
often misread as giving landlords a free hand. It does the opposite in practice — it
routes the question to the lease and to quiet-enjoyment law, both of which restrain a
landlord who enters unreasonably.
"Reasonable notice" has no fixed number in state law. You'll see "24 hours"
quoted a lot, and that is a sensible benchmark for a routine inspection, but no New
York statute sets it. The enforceable number is whatever your lease says or what a
court finds reasonable on the facts.
Your city may have stricter rules than the state. Especially in New York City,
local codes and rent-stabilization rules can impose entry and notice requirements
that go beyond the common-law baseline. Don't assume the state-law floor is the whole
story where you live.
Common questions
Does my New York landlord have to give 24 hours' notice before entering? Not by
statute — no state law fixes a number. Reasonable advance notice is the common-law
standard, often treated as around 24 hours for a routine inspection, and if your
lease sets a notice period, that controls. Your city's rules may require more.
Can my landlord enter without permission? Generally only in a genuine emergency
or if you've abandoned the apartment. For anything else, the landlord needs your
consent or reasonable notice and a legitimate reason recognized by the lease or
common law; letting themselves in repeatedly can breach your right to quiet
enjoyment.
My landlord wants to show my apartment to prospective renters. Can they? Only if
your lease provides for showings, and then at reasonable times and with any notice
the lease requires. There's no separate state statute forcing you to allow showings
if your lease doesn't address them.
My landlord changed the locks to force me out. Is that legal? No. New York
prohibits self-help eviction — changing locks, removing your property, or using force
— and treats it as a crime. A landlord who wants you out has to bring a court
proceeding; they cannot lock you out on their own.
Statutes and sources
- N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 235-b(1) — the warranty of habitability, New York's core residential tenant-protection statute: "In every written or oral lease or rental agreement for residential premises the landlord or lessor shall be deemed to covenant and warrant that the premises so leased or rented ... are fit for human habitation ... and that the occupants of such premises shall not be subjected to any conditions which would be dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to their life, health or safety." (The statute contains no landlord-entry or notice provision; New York's entry rule is common-law.)
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/RPP/235-B (accessed 2026-07-11)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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