The Good Cause Eviction Law Notice Requirements

September 10, 2025

On January 9, 2025, Michelle Itkowitz taught a continuing legal education class for Lawline entitled “The New Good Cause Eviction Law in New York”. On September 1, 2025, Michelle updated the materials for that class. Below is an excerpt from the materials.

Which Legal Documents Are Required to Include a Good Cause Eviction Law Notice

The Good Cause Eviction Law also establishes a new system of notice requirements. RPL § 226-c is amended and now reads as follows:

Whenever a landlord intends to offer to renew the tenancy of an occupant in a residential dwelling unit with a rent increase equal to or greater than five percent above the current rent, or the landlord does not intend to renew the tenancy, the landlord shall provide written notice as required in subdivision two of this section. The notice shall append or contain the notice required pursuant to section two hundred thirty-one-c of this article, which shall state the following: (i) if the unit is or is not subject to article six-A of this chapter, the “good cause eviction law”, and if the unit is exempt, such notice shall state why the unit is exempt from such law; (ii) if the landlord is not renewing the lease for a unit subject to article six-A of this chapter, the lawful basis for such nonrenewal; and (iii) if the landlord is increasing the rent upon an existing lease of a unit subject to article six-A of this chapter above the applicable local rent standard, as defined in subdivision eight of section two hundred eleven of this chapter, the justification for such increase. If the landlord fails to provide timely notice, the occupant’s lawful tenancy shall continue under the existing terms of the tenancy from the date on which the landlord gave actual written notice until the notice period has expired, notwithstanding any provision of a lease or other tenancy agreement to the contrary.”

[The material in bold is what was added by the good cause eviction law.]

The Good Cause Eviction Law also amended the Real Property Law by adding a new section, RPL § 231-c, which states:

(1) A landlord as defined in [RPL 211(2)] shall append to or incorporate into any initial lease, renewal lease, notice required pursuant to [RPL 226-c(a)], notice required pursuant to [RPAPL 711(2)], or petition pursuant to [RPAPL § 741] the following notice:…”

RPAPL § 711(2) and RPAPL § 741 are similarly amended to reflect the requirements imposed by RPL § 231-c.

Therefore, the Good Cause Eviction Law notice is not merely appended to documents regarding apartments that a landlord believes are subject to the Good Cause Eviction, but the notice is appended to documents regarding apartments that a landlord believes are outside of the Good Cause Eviction Law.

In a summary proceeding for the recovery of real property pursuant to Article 7 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (“RPAPL”), the Good Cause Eviction Law status (either stating the subject premises is covered or, if it is not covered, precisely why it is not covered) must be pled in the petition. 1303 Needham Realty LLC v. Brown, 86 Misc.3d 865 [New York City Civil Court, Bronx County 2025] (“Petitioner’s opposition is predicated on the claim that the Petition did not need to plead whether the GCEL applied to the subject premises, because the Petition was filed before August 18, 2024. However, what Petitioner fails to realize is that, whether or not RPAPL § 741 required petitioner-landlords to plead the applicability of, and any exemptions to, the GCEL before August 18, 2024, subdivisions 5-a and 5-b of RPAPL § 741 are now in effect and Petitioner — despite being represented by counsel — has neither moved nor cross moved to amend the Petition to comply with that statutory mandate. In light of Petitioner’s failure to seek leave to amend the Petition to conform with the pleading requirements of subdivisions 5-a and 5-b of RPAPL § 741, despite having had months of advance notice that these subdivisions would be taking effect on August 18, 2024, Respondent’s Motion is hereby granted, and this matter is dismissed.”)

However, amendment of the pleadings to add an averment regarding the tenant’s Good Cause Eviction Law coverage status may be allowed if such amendment is sought. Emerald Green Phase II L.P. v. Rivera, 86 Misc.3d 1211(A) [Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County 2025] (“The Court permits petitioner to amend the holdover petition to comply with Good Cause Eviction Law (GCEL) requiring petition to state whether premises were subject to GCEL and, if exempt, basis for exemption. Petitioner promptly cross moved to amend the petition after service of respondent’s motion and respondent failed to show prejudice would be incurred by way of amendment. [Citations omitted.] As such petitioner’s cross motion to amend the petition to add that the premises is exempt form GCEL is granted. The amended petition is deemed amended and served.”)

A Good Cause Eviction Law Notice must be attached to an ejectment action in Supreme Court. 509 Throop Partners, LLC v. Vages, 2025 WL 1168171 [Supreme Court, Kings County 2025] (“Article 6 of the Good Cause Eviction Law applies to this action commenced after 4/20/2024. Otherwise, landlords would be free to improperly convert leases to month-to-month tenancies and then commence an ejectment proceeding instead of a holdover proceeding when a tenant does not timely vacate the premises to avoid a landlord-tenant proceeding and compliance with Article 6A of the Real Property Law. The Good Cause Eviction Law on its face applies to ejectment actions to remedy this very situation, i.e., where a landlord seeks to evict or remove from a premises any person “entitled to the lawful possession, use or occupancy of any housing accommodation” (RPL § 211 [4]).”)

The Notice is a Checklist

RPL § 231-c provides the actual text of the required notice. This is important, because it is less about the landlord drafting the Good Cause Eviction Law notice and more about the landlord filling in a form that is the Good Cause Eviction Law notice. You literally cut and paste from the statute to create the notice. Or use the suggestions below for sample forms. So, another seven pages are added to all these standard documents – leases, lease renewals, rent demands, statutory notices, petitions, ejectment actions in Supreme Court.

The form is basically the four questions and then checklists under all but the first question:

The first question is about whether the apartment is subject to the Good Cause Eviction Law. Yes or No.

Then the next question is, if the apartment is not subject to the Good Cause Eviction Law, why not? And the drafter does not choose one item and include it. Rather, all items are included, and the relevant items are checked off.

The third question is, if the law applies, whether the rent is being raised beyond the threshold, and if so why? That leaves room for a narrative section to be included.