N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-f

One Roommate Allowed: N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-f

N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-f permits one tenant to share an apartment with one additional occupant and requires notice within thirty days.

Official text N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-f — New York

§ 235-f. Unlawful restrictions on occupancy. 1. As used in this section, the terms:

  • (a) "Tenant" means a person occupying or entitled to occupy a residential rental premises who is either a party to the lease or rental agreement for such premises or is a statutory tenant pursuant to the emergency housing rent control law or the city rent and rehabilitation law or article seven-c of the multiple dwelling law.
  • (b) "Occupant" means a person, other than a tenant or a member of a tenant's immediate family, occupying a premises with the consent of the tenant or tenants.
  • 2. It shall be unlawful for a landlord to restrict occupancy of residential premises, by express lease terms or otherwise, to a tenant or tenants or to such tenants and immediate family. Any such restriction in a lease or rental agreement entered into or renewed before or after the effective date of this section shall be unenforceable as against public policy.
  • 3. Any lease or rental agreement for residential premises entered into by one tenant shall be construed to permit occupancy by the tenant, immediate family of the tenant, one additional occupant, and dependent children of the occupant provided that the tenant or the tenant's spouse occupies the premises as his primary residence.
  • 4. Any lease or rental agreement for residential premises entered into by two or more tenants shall be construed to permit occupancy by tenants, immediate family of tenants, occupants and dependent children of occupants; provided that the total number of tenants and occupants, excluding occupants' dependent children, does not exceed the number of tenants specified in the current lease or rental agreement, and that at least one tenant or a tenants' spouse occupies the premises as his primary residence.
  • 5. The tenant shall inform the landlord of the name of any occupant within thirty days following the commencement of occupancy by such person or within thirty days following a request by the landlord.
  • 6. No occupant nor occupant's dependent child shall, without express written permission of the landlord, acquire any right to continued occupancy in the event that the tenant vacates the premises or acquire any other rights of tenancy; provided that nothing in this section shall be construed to reduce or impair any right or remedy otherwise available to any person residing in any housing accommodation on the effective date of this section which accrued prior to such date.
  • 7. Any provision of a lease or rental agreement purporting to waive a provision of this section is null and void.
  • 8. Nothing in this section shall be construed as invalidating or impairing the operation of, or the right of a landlord to restrict occupancy in order to comply with federal, state or local laws, regulations, ordinances or codes.
  • 9. Any person aggrieved by a violation of this section may maintain an action in any court of competent jurisdiction for:
  • (a) an injunction to enjoin and restrain such unlawful practice;
  • (b) actual damages sustained as a result of such unlawful practice; and
  • (c) court costs.

Text as published in the 2026 snapshot of the code.

Source: Vaquill Open US Law, compiled from official state publishers (huggingface.co), reproduced under license CC BY 4.0.

Read this provision at the official source →

What it actually says

This is the section behind the phrase "the roommate law", and its arithmetic is precise. A lease signed by one tenant is construed to permit occupancy by that tenant, the tenant's immediate family, one additional occupant, and that occupant's dependent children - provided the tenant or the tenant's spouse occupies the apartment as a primary residence. A lease signed by two or more tenants permits occupancy by the tenants, their immediate family, occupants and occupants' dependent children, so long as the total number of tenants and occupants (not counting the occupants' dependent children) does not exceed the number of tenants named in the lease, and at least one tenant or a tenant's spouse lives there as a primary residence.

Subdivision 2 makes the point that gives the section its force: it is unlawful for a landlord to restrict occupancy to the tenant or to the tenant and immediate family, whether by express lease terms "or otherwise", and any such restriction is unenforceable as against public policy - in leases signed before the section as well as after. So the clause in the lease saying the apartment is for the named tenant only does not do what it says.

The section also imposes duties on the tenant and preserves limits for the landlord. The tenant must tell the landlord the name of any occupant within thirty days of the occupancy starting, or within thirty days of the landlord asking. Subdivision 6 is the one occupants misread: without the landlord's express written permission, an occupant and the occupant's dependent child acquire no right to continued occupancy if the tenant leaves, and no other rights of tenancy. Subdivision 8 preserves the landlord's right to restrict occupancy to comply with federal, state or local law - the occupancy standards in building and housing codes are untouched. Subdivision 9 gives an aggrieved person an action for an injunction, actual damages and court costs.

When it applies

  • A lease signed by one tenant says no one else may live there and the tenant wants a partner to move in.
  • A landlord threatens proceedings after learning a roommate has moved into a one-tenant apartment.
  • Two tenants on a lease want to replace a departing roommate with someone new.
  • A landlord demands that an occupant be added to the lease and pay a fee.
  • A tenant moves out and the roommate who stayed behind is told to leave.

What this section does not say

  • It does not make a roommate a tenant. Subdivision 6 says an occupant acquires no right to continued occupancy if the tenant vacates, and no other tenancy rights, without express written permission.
  • It does not override occupancy limits in the housing codes. Subdivision 8 preserves the landlord's right to restrict occupancy to comply with law.
  • It does not double the household. The section fixes the count by reference to the number of tenants named in the lease.
  • It does not apply if nobody on the lease lives there. Primary residence by the tenant or the tenant's spouse is a condition in both subdivisions 3 and 4.
  • It is not a subletting right. Handing the apartment to someone else is § 226-b, and the two sections do different things.

Worked examples

Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.

Illustrative example

A tenant's partner moves in. The landlord points to a lease clause limiting occupancy to the named tenant and threatens to bring proceedings.

How the wording applies

A lease signed by one tenant is construed to permit occupancy by that tenant, the tenant's immediate family, one additional occupant and that occupant's dependent children, provided the tenant or the tenant's spouse occupies the apartment as a primary residence. Subdivision 2 makes a restriction to the tenant and immediate family unlawful and unenforceable as against public policy, by express lease terms or otherwise. What completes it is the tenant's own duty: the landlord must be told the occupant's name within thirty days of the occupancy beginning or of being asked.

How the parties settled it

The tenant sends the occupant's name in writing, the landlord confirms no extra charge is being made, and both note that the clause is not applied to anyone else in the building either.

Illustrative example

The named tenant moves out of a shared apartment and the roommate who has lived there for years is told to leave. The roommate is sure the roommate law protects her.

How the wording applies

Subdivision 6 is the part occupants misread: without the landlord's express written permission, an occupant and the occupant's dependent child acquire no right to continued occupancy if the tenant vacates, and no other rights of tenancy. So it turns on whether express written permission was ever given, not on how long the occupant has been there.

How the parties settled it

The landlord offers the occupant a lease of her own at the rent the unit would be advertised at, and gives her sixty days to decide before it goes on the market.

Illustrative example

Two tenants named on a lease want to bring in a third person after a friend moves out. The landlord says the building's occupancy limit forbids it.

How the wording applies

A lease signed by two or more tenants permits occupancy by the tenants, their immediate family, occupants and occupants' dependent children, so long as the total of tenants and occupants - not counting dependent children - does not exceed the number of tenants named in the lease. Subdivision 8 preserves the landlord's right to restrict occupancy to comply with federal, state or local law. So it turns on the count under the lease and on whether a code limit genuinely applies.

How the parties settled it

They confirm the replacement is within the count, the landlord puts the code limit he relies on in writing, and the tenants notify the new occupant's name within the thirty days the section allows.

How courts have read it

Decisions construing this provision. The question and the summary are ours; the quoted sentence is the court's own words, taken from the published opinion. These are the decisions in our corpus, not every decision there is, and nothing here predicts any other case. Reported 2003 to 2017.

1890 Adam Clayton Powell LLC v. Penant, 52 Misc. 3d 76 (2016)

trial courts

What the court had to decide

Whether the landlord failed to establish that the apartment's occupants were not permitted residents under Real Property Law § 235-f.

What it held

The court held that three unrelated roommates living with the tenant exceeded the occupancy permitted under Real Property Law § 235-f, and that the landlord did not waive the lease violation.

In the court's words
In sustaining the possessory judgment awarded to landlord on the holdover petition, we reject tenant’s specific argument that landlord failed to establish that the apartment’s occupants were not permitted residents pursuant to Real Property Law § 235-f.

Source: Caselaw Access Project, CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain dedication).

Related sections

N.Y. Real Property Law § 226-b Thirty-Day Sublet Rule: N.Y. Real Property Law § 226-b N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-c Refuse unfair lease clause: N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-c N.Y. Real Property Law § 216 Good cause eviction grounds: N.Y. Real Property Law § 216 N.Y. Real Property Law § 218 RPL § 218: a tenant cannot sign away good cause eviction protection

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We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.

This page reproduces the text of N.Y. Real Property Law § 235-f in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in New York.

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