Yates County, New York Eviction Risk: Elevated

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 6/10 (Elevated) on the Eviction Risk Map composite index, placing it 52nd of 60 New York eviction laws counties - meaning 8 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 4 to 6.3 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 6/10. Dundee (population 2,001) and Keuka Park (population 1,121) both score 6.3/10 and 6/10 respectively, reflecting similar housing-market conditions as small lakeside villages. At the higher end, Rushville scores 5.9/10, 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 4/10 and Dresden 5.1/10, 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 8.3/10, 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 Elevated eviction risk score of 6/10 places it among the small group of New York eviction laws counties with the lightest landlord exposure - 52nd 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.