Small landlord exemptions from just-cause eviction and rent control laws
New York draws one of the sharpest small-landlord lines in the country, and it runs straight through the 2024 Good Cause Eviction Law (RPL §231-b). The law's tenant protections attach to buildings with 4 or more units — but the carve-out that matters most to a mom-and-pop owner is personal, not architectural. If you own 3 or fewer units total statewide and you or a family member lives in one of them, good-cause requirements do not apply to you under RPL §231-b(2)(a)(ii). That is a partial exemption, not a free pass: New York remains a heavily regulated state, and the safe harbor is narrower than most owners assume.
Two details trip people up. First, the 3-unit ceiling counts your entire New York portfolio, not units per building. Second, rent regulation is a separate system entirely — NYC Rent Stabilization exempts buildings with 5 or fewer units, and ETPA municipalities outside the city can adopt stabilization of their own. This page walks through exactly where the exemption ends and where the never-shrinking duties begin.
The term "mom-and-pop landlord" typically refers to an individual or family that owns a small number of residential rental units, often 1 to 4, and frequently lives in or near the property. In states with tenant-protection legislation, the legislature has carved out exemptions recognizing that small landlords operate differently from large institutional property managers.
Because New York has active just-cause or rent-control legislation, small landlords must understand whether they qualify for an exemption, and structure their ownership accordingly to preserve that protection.
The exemption in RPL §231-b(2)(a)(ii) has two prongs, and you need both. First, your total holdings across all of New York — every duplex, every condo, every house — must come to 3 units or fewer. This is a statewide portfolio cap, not a per-building test, which makes it stricter than the exemptions many other states write around a single small building. Second, you or a family member must occupy one of those units. A three-family home where you live on the first floor is the textbook case; the owner-occupied 1-3 family home is New York's primary small-landlord safe harbor. Buy a fourth unit anywhere in the state, or move out and rent your own unit, and the exemption evaporates — good-cause coverage then reaches your tenants even though nothing about their building changed.
Small owners often conflate the 2024 Good Cause Eviction Law with rent regulation. They are separate systems with separate thresholds. Good cause, under RPL §231-b, governs whether and why a tenancy can end and reaches buildings with 4 or more units. Rent stabilization — NYC Rent Stabilization under NYC Admin Code §26-511 in the city, and the ETPA in municipalities that opt in elsewhere — governs the rent itself, and NYC's version exempts buildings with 5 or fewer units. Notice the mismatch: the good-cause exemption tops out at 3 units owner-occupied, while stabilization's building exemption runs to 5. A 4-unit or 5-unit owner can therefore sit outside stabilization but inside good cause. Check each net independently before assuming you are clear of either.
No exemption in New York touches the baseline tenant protections, which apply to a single accessory apartment as fully as to a tower:
Start by counting honestly: list every unit you hold anywhere in New York, because the RPL §231-b(2)(a)(ii) cap is statewide. At 3 or fewer with owner or family occupancy, document that occupancy — it is the fact a court will probe if a tenant challenges a non-renewal. At exactly 4 units, you have crossed into good-cause territory, so treat renewals and terminations accordingly. Next, place the property on the regulation map: inside NYC, confirm whether the building falls under Rent Stabilization or the 5-or-fewer-units exemption; outside the city, check whether your municipality has adopted the ETPA. When you are genuinely exempt and setting rents, remember the statewide average rent is about $1,466 — pricing far above your market invites turnover and scrutiny. Finally, run every eviction through RPAPL § 711 and keep a written trail that no adverse step followed a tenant complaint, which is your RPL § 223-b defense.
This analysis by the Eviction Risk Map research team is grounded in the text of New York's Good Cause Eviction Law (RPL §231-b), the small-portfolio exemption at RPL §231-b(2)(a)(ii), NYC Admin Code §26-511, the general landlord-tenant framework at N.Y. RPL § 226 et seq. and RPAPL § 711, the retaliation statute at RPL § 223-b, and the habitability warranty at RPL § 235-b. Last reviewed July 2026. This page is general information for small property owners, not legal advice; exemption status turns on your exact unit count and occupancy facts, so confirm your situation with a New York landlord-tenant attorney before acting on it.
Possibly, but you must clear two hurdles at once. Under RPL §231-b(2)(a)(ii), the exemption requires that you own no more than 3 units total statewide AND that you or a family member occupies one of them. The unit count is portfolio-wide across all of New York, not per building. Separately, the law itself only reaches buildings with 4 or more units, so a tenant in a smaller building may fall outside it on that ground too. Miss either condition and good-cause requirements apply to your renewals and non-renewals.
It depends on which net you are under. If you qualify for the owner-occupied, 3-or-fewer-units exemption from the Good Cause Eviction Law, its rent-increase framework does not bind you. But rent regulation is a separate system: NYC Rent Stabilization (NYC Admin Code §26-511) covers larger, older buildings — it exempts buildings with 5 or fewer units — and ETPA municipalities outside the city run their own stabilization regimes. A small owner exempt from good-cause can still own a stabilized unit, so check both layers before setting a renewal number. Statewide average rent runs about $1,466 for context.
Every one that protects health, safety, and access to the courts. The RPL § 235-b warranty of habitability attaches to every residential lease. RPL § 223-b bars retaliation against tenants who complain or assert their rights. Any eviction must go through court under RPAPL § 711 — self-help lockouts are off the table for a single-unit owner just as they are for a 500-unit company. Federal and state fair housing law applies to advertising, screening, and tenancy decisions regardless of portfolio size.
In New York, it changes almost everything about good-cause coverage. Owner (or family member) occupancy is one of the two mandatory prongs of the RPL §231-b(2)(a)(ii) exemption — a pure investor with 3 scattered units and no occupancy does not qualify. The owner-occupied 1-3 family home is the state's primary small-landlord safe harbor. What occupancy does not change: habitability under RPL § 235-b, the retaliation bar in RPL § 223-b, the court-eviction requirement, and fair housing obligations all still apply.
Data sourced from RPL §231-b(2)(a)(ii); NYC Admin Code §26-511. Eviction notice data from N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 711. Last updated July 14, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice.
