Fulton County, New York Eviction Risk: High

Fulton County, New York eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 7.8/10 (High) across its 5 scored cities, placing it among the higher-risk third of all 60 counties in the state. Nineteen New York eviction laws counties score worse, but 40 are more landlord-friendly, so operators here face conditions that are meaningfully more challenging than most of the state. With an average renter share of 41.4% and an average poverty rate of 16.1%, the tenant base is large relative to county size, and economic stress is a persistent driver of collection and eviction risk.

The county's total population of 26,439 is concentrated in a small number of dense municipalities, and average rent sits at just $919 per month, a figure that limits rent-roll upside while doing little to reduce the structural pressures that produce late payments and evictions. Rent burden averages 25.2% of renter household income, meaning the margin between tenants meeting rent and falling behind is thin across much of the county.

The cities inside Fulton County

Risk is genuinely hyper-local here, with individual city scores spanning a full 1.4 points. Gloversville, the county's largest city at 14,962 residents, tops the risk table at 8/10, the highest score in the county. Landlords in Gloversville face the county's most difficult operating environment, combining a large renter population with elevated economic stress. Johnstown, the second-largest city at 8,111 residents, scores 7.9/10, only fractionally below Gloversville, and similarly warrants careful screening and cash-flow underwriting before acquisition.

Caroga Lake scores 7.4/10, occupying the county's middle tier. At the lower end of the range, Mayfield scores 6.7/10 and Broadalbin comes in at 6.6/10, the most landlord-friendly reading in the county. Even at 6.6, Broadalbin still sits in elevated territory by national standards, so investors should not treat the lower scores as low-risk designations in any absolute sense.

State-level laws that apply here

All landlords in Fulton County operate under New York state law, primarily N.Y. RPL § 226 et seq. and RPAPL § 711. Notice requirements vary by reason and tenancy length: nonpayment cases require a 14-day notice under RPAPL § 711(2), material lease violations require just 10 days under RPAPL § 711(1), and holdover notices scale from 30 days for tenancies under one year to 60 days for one-to-two-year tenancies and 90 days for tenancies of two or more years, all under RPL § 226-c. Just cause is required statewide to terminate a tenancy, and rent caps vary by locality rather than following a single statewide formula. Understanding the full New York eviction process is essential before serving any notice, because procedural errors restart the clock entirely.

Filing fees in New York eviction risk courts range from $45 to $210, and sheriff lockout fees add another $50 to $200. Attorney fees for a contested case typically run $1,000 to $4,000, and timeline estimates range from 30 to 90 days for uncontested matters and 90 to 210 days for contested ones. A full picture of New York eviction costs and New York security deposit limits belongs in every Fulton County investor's due-diligence checklist before closing on any rental asset here.

With a county-wide poverty rate of 16.1% and a renter share of 41.4%, Fulton County's risk profile is driven by structural economic conditions that show up differently city by city; the grid above breaks down scores for all 5 cities so you can pinpoint exactly where risk is concentrated before committing capital.