When New York passed the Good Cause Eviction law in April 2024, the goal was straightforward: most renters in covered buildings could stay in their homes as long as they paid rent and followed the lease. Landlords could no longer simply refuse to renew at the end of a term to get a higher-paying tenant in. Two years in, some landlords are testing the edges of the law — and one of the most aggressive workarounds is the demolition claim. They tell the tenant they cannot renew the lease because they intend to demolish the apartment. If you get a notice like this, you have rights, and the legal standard your landlord has to meet is much higher than most tenants realize.
What Good Cause Eviction Actually Promises
According to the New York State Attorney General’s plain-language guide to the law, the Good Cause Eviction Law (Real Property Law Article 6A) covers most market-rate rentals in New York City, Albany, Ithaca, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Beacon, Newburgh, Nyack, Hudson, New Paltz, Fishkill, Catskill, Croton-on-Hudson, and Binghamton. If you are covered, your landlord can only evict you or refuse to renew your lease for one of a defined list of “good cause” reasons. Those reasons include unpaid rent, lease violations, nuisance behavior, illegal use of the apartment — and, narrowly, the landlord’s own personal use or a genuine plan to demolish the building.
The law does not cover every apartment. Owner-occupied buildings with 10 or fewer units, units with rent above the state’s high-rent threshold, rent-regulated apartments (which have their own stronger protections), income-restricted housing, condos, co-ops, and buildings issued a certificate of occupancy on or after January 1, 2009 are all excluded. Subletters are also excluded. Your landlord is required, as of August 18, 2024, to tell you in writing whether your apartment is covered — and if it is not, to explain why.
The Demolition Standard Is High — Higher Than Most Landlords Pretend
This is where the loophole attempt runs into the law. The Attorney General’s guidance is explicit: a landlord who wants to evict a covered tenant based on demolition must prove a good-faith plan to demolish the apartment. The law itself does not spell out exactly what “good faith” means in this context, but courts have long applied a similar standard from the Rent Stabilization Code, which requires the landlord to:
- Show an honest intention to demolish the apartment
- Prove their financial ability to complete the demolition
- Show that the demolition plans have been approved by the appropriate city agency
In other words, vague language about “renovation” or “a future project” does not meet the standard. A landlord cannot scrape off a kitchen, swap a bathroom vanity, or refinish floors and call it demolition. The plans typically need to be filed with the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB), and the landlord needs documented financing in place. If they cannot show these things in court, the demolition claim fails and the tenant has a defense to the non-renewal.
What to Do If You Receive a Demolition Non-Renewal
If a landlord serves you with a notice that says they will not renew your lease because of a planned demolition, the worst thing you can do is move out quietly. The law gives you several tools — but they only work if you stay and assert them.
1. Confirm whether your apartment is covered. Check your lease or last legal notice for the required Good Cause Eviction language. If it is missing, your landlord may already be out of compliance. Use New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s Good Cause Eviction page to confirm the high-rent threshold for the current year. If your rent is below that threshold and none of the other exclusions apply, you are likely covered.
2. Demand documentation in writing. Ask your landlord in writing for the specific plans they intend to submit to DOB, a timeline, and proof of financing. They are not required to hand it over on demand, but the request creates a paper trail that helps you in court.
3. Do not move out under pressure. If you move because the landlord said they would demolish, and then they do not actually demolish, the AG’s guidance is clear: “you can sue them for money damages and other relief. You can also get attorney’s fees for bringing your lawsuit if you win or settle.” But the strongest position is the one where you are still in the apartment when the landlord goes to court.
4. Use discovery if a case is filed. Once a landlord brings a holdover case in housing court based on demolition, you can formally request discovery — documents that show whether the demolition plan is real. The Attorney General’s guide spells this out directly: “you may have to request documents known as discovery from a court to learn whether the landlord’s intent is honest. The judge will have to decide, based on all available evidence, whether your landlord has a good-faith intent.”
5. Get a lawyer before your court date. Housing court is technical, and tenants with attorneys win at dramatically higher rates than tenants who go alone. You may qualify for free legal representation under NYC’s Right to Counsel program.
Special Protections for Older and Disabled Tenants
The Good Cause Eviction Law contains an important carve-out that comes up less often than it should. According to the Attorney General’s guidance, if your landlord wants the apartment for their own personal use or a close family member’s personal use, and you are 65 or older or disabled, your landlord cannot evict you on that ground. This protection does not extend to a true demolition claim — but landlords sometimes try to mix the two, claiming both personal use and demolition. If you are an older or disabled tenant and the landlord is shifting between justifications, document every version of the story.
Action Steps This Week
- Read the full Good Cause Eviction guide from the NY Attorney General. It is in plain English.
- Find your lease and check it for the Good Cause Eviction notice language that has been required since August 18, 2024. If it is missing, save a copy of the page.
- If you have already received a demolition-based non-renewal, write down the date you received it, save every text and email, and call a free tenant lawyer through Lawhelp.org or Legal Services NYC.
- Look up your landlord on JustFix to see how many other units they own. The Good Cause law uses a 10-unit threshold across all entities to determine whether a landlord is exempt as a “small landlord,” and many landlords spread ownership across LLCs to obscure this. If any individual person behind the LLC owns more than 10 units anywhere in New York, the building is covered.
- Call the NY State Attorney General’s Tenant Helpline at 1-800-771-7755 if you suspect the demolition claim is a pretext.
Good Cause Eviction is still a young law, and judges across the state are working through what “good faith” demolition really means in practice. The protections only work if tenants assert them. If a landlord is telling you to pack up because they are demolishing the building, treat that statement as the beginning of a legal fight, not the end of your tenancy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my landlord refuse to renew my lease just because the lease is expiring?
If you live in a covered apartment under Good Cause Eviction, no. Under the law, most landlords cannot evict tenants or refuse to renew leases just because the lease has expired. They must show one of the defined good cause reasons.
What counts as a “good faith” demolition under the law?
The Good Cause Eviction Law itself does not define the term, but courts generally apply the Rent Stabilization Code’s three-part standard: an honest intention to demolish, financial ability to complete the demolition, and demolition plans approved by the appropriate city agency. Cosmetic renovations and undocumented “future plans” do not meet this bar.
What if my landlord says they want to do gut renovations?
Gut renovation is not the same as demolition under the law. A landlord who plans to renovate and re-rent the apartment is generally not exercising a valid good cause reason for non-renewal. Get legal advice immediately if you receive a non-renewal based on renovation alone.
What can I sue for if I move out and the demolition never happens?
According to the New York State Attorney General, you can sue for money damages and other relief, and you can recover attorney’s fees if you win or settle. Keep every document, notice, and communication.
How do I know if I am protected as a tenant 65 or older?
The age-65 and disability protections apply specifically when the landlord claims they want the apartment for their own or a family member’s personal use. They do not apply automatically to demolition claims, but they can come into play if the landlord shifts justifications. Document everything.
