Yates County, New York Eviction Risk: High

Yates County sits at the southern end of Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region, and its eviction-risk profile reflects the realities of a small, rural economy built around agriculture, vineyards, and seasonal tourism. The county averages 7.5/10 (High) on the Eviction Risk Map composite index, placing it 59th of 60 New York eviction laws counties - meaning 1 counties across the state carry a lower eviction risk for landlords. That position near the lower end of the statewide ranking is worth unpacking: New York eviction laws's comprehensive tenant-protection framework applies uniformly across all 60 counties, so even in a lightly-regulated rural county like Yates, landlords face just-cause eviction requirements, source-of-income protections under the NY State Division of Human Rights, and mandatory notice periods that exceed what most other states require. The score reflects those state-level obligations, not unusual local restrictions.

Within Yates County itself, scores span 7.1 to 7.9 across the county's six tracked communities. The county seat of Penn Yan, with 4,714 residents and the largest rental market in the county, comes in at 7.5/10. Dundee (population 2,001) and Keuka Park (population 1,121) both score 7.6/10 and 7.6/10 respectively, reflecting similar housing-market conditions as small lakeside villages. At the higher end, Rushville scores 7.9/10, the county's top figure, driven by a combination of rent-burden pressure and limited rental housing supply in a community of just 603 residents where any vacancy dispute tends to move faster toward formal proceedings. At the lower end, Gorham scores 7.1/10 and Dresden 7.2/10, both smaller hamlets where the thin rental market and lower poverty rates (relative to the county's 14.9% overall figure) soften composite risk. Renter households make up about 34.1% of occupied units countywide, and average gross rent runs $689 per month - one of the lower rent levels in the state, though the 26.2% average rent burden still indicates meaningful affordability pressure on a per-household basis when local wages are factored in.

For landlords operating in Yates County, the controlling statutes are N.Y. RPL § 226 et seq. and RPAPL § 711. Nonpayment cases require a 14-day notice under RPAPL § 711(2) before a petition can be filed; holdover cases require 30 days for tenancies under one year, 60 days for tenancies of one to two years, and 90 days for tenancies over two years under RPL § 226-c. Material lease violations trigger a 10-day notice under RPAPL § 711(1). Court filing fees in New York eviction laws range from $45 to $210 depending on the court and claim type; sheriff or marshal lockout fees add another $50 to $200. An uncontested proceeding typically resolves in 30 to 90 days; a contested matter can run 90 to 210 days, and retaining legal counsel adds $1,000 to $4,000 in typical attorney costs. New York eviction laws also prohibits retaliation under RPL § 223-b and mandates habitable conditions under RPL § 235-b, both of which can surface as tenant defenses in contested cases. Compared with the New York eviction laws statewide average of 9.1/10, Yates County's score reflects the state's statutory baseline playing out in a rural market with relatively limited rental inventory and a modest but real affordability gap for lower-income renters.

Yates County's High eviction risk score of 7.5/10 places it among the small group of New York eviction laws counties with the lightest landlord exposure - 59th of 60 - while still sitting inside a state framework that carries some of the most protective tenant statutes in the country. The county's combination of low average rents ($689/month), moderate rent burden (26.2%), and a relatively small renter population (34.1% of households) means the volume of formal eviction proceedings stays low, but the procedural requirements when a case does arise are substantial.