When New York’s Good Cause Eviction Law took effect in April 2024, it gave most market-rate tenants in New York City something they’d never had: the right to a lease renewal and protection from arbitrary eviction. But the law carved out an exemption for “small landlords” — and that single phrase has become one of the most contested loopholes in the law. Some property owners are claiming small-landlord status to escape the rules entirely. Here’s how the exemption actually works, why an LLC on your lease doesn’t automatically make your landlord exempt, and the specific legal tool you can use to prove it.

What Good Cause protects — and the exemption that undercuts it

Under the Good Cause Eviction Law (Real Property Law Article 6-A), if your apartment is covered, your landlord generally must renew your lease and can only evict you for specific legal reasons — nonpayment of rent, a lease violation you were given a chance to fix, nuisance behavior, and a handful of others. The law also makes rent increases above a local standard “presumptively unreasonable.” Per the New York State Attorney General’s official explainer, that standard is generally 5% plus the annual change in the Consumer Price Index, capped at 10% of your prior rent.

But several categories of housing are exempt — including units in buildings with a certificate of occupancy issued on or after January 1, 2009, rent-regulated and subsidized units, co-ops and condos, and — critically — units owned by a “small landlord.” For tenants of older, unregulated buildings, the small-landlord exemption is often the only thing standing between them and full Good Cause protection. (If you’ve already been served papers, read our companion guide on how to answer an eviction notice in NYC Housing Court.)

What “small landlord” actually means in New York City

This is where most tenants — and some landlords — get it wrong. In New York City, a small landlord is defined as someone who owns a total of ten or fewer housing units in the entire state of New York, according to the Attorney General. It is not about how many units are in your building. A landlord who owns one five-unit brownstone but also holds units in three other buildings across the city can easily blow past the ten-unit threshold.

The most important detail: your landlord cannot hide behind an LLC. The Attorney General is explicit that if any natural person with a direct or indirect ownership interest in your landlord’s LLC owns more than ten units statewide, the LLC is not a small landlord — and you are protected by the law. Investors, silent partners, managers, and members all count.

The AG’s own example makes it concrete. Suppose “Acme LLC” owns your five-unit building and nothing else. Acme has two owners: John Doe, whose only real-estate interest is those five units, and Jane Doe, who also holds interests in eighteen other LLCs owning two hundred more apartments statewide. Because Jane crosses the ten-unit line, Acme LLC is not a small landlord — and every tenant in that five-unit building is covered by Good Cause, even though the building itself is tiny.

The disclosure rule that works in your favor

Here’s the part landlords would rather you didn’t know. Any landlord claiming to be a small landlord must provide the names of all natural persons with a direct or indirect ownership interest in the LLC. If your landlord cannot or will not produce those names, then under the Attorney General’s guidance the landlord is not a small landlord — and you keep your protections. The burden is on the owner to prove the exemption, not on you to disprove it.

Discovery: the tool that pierces the shell

If a landlord sues you in housing court while claiming small-landlord status, and you suspect they’re concealing other holdings, you can ask the court for discovery. Discovery is a legal process that forces the other side to hand over documents — here, the corporate records showing who really owns the building and what else they own.

According to the Attorney General, the court should order the landlord to produce all corporate documents tracing ownership back to a natural person, and should order each of those people to disclose their other real-estate corporations as well. Owners frequently spread buildings across multiple LLCs with different names precisely to look small; discovery is how that structure gets unwound in front of a judge.

You don’t have to wait for a court date to start digging, either. The nonprofit tool JustFix lets you research the people and LLCs behind a corporate landlord for free, which can help you and your attorney build the case before you ever file for discovery.

If you moved out because your landlord lied

The protections don’t disappear the moment you leave. If you vacated because your landlord claimed they’d occupy the unit, demolish it, or pull it off the rental market — and you later learn they didn’t actually do any of that — the Attorney General says you can sue them for money damages and other relief, and you may recover attorney’s fees if you win or settle. That’s a powerful deterrent against bad-faith eviction claims, and a reason to keep every notice and letter your landlord sends.

Action Steps

1. Confirm whether your unit is even exempt. Check your building’s certificate-of-occupancy date and whether it’s rent-regulated. If it’s a pre-2009, unregulated building, the small-landlord question is what matters.
2. Don’t take “I’m a small landlord” at face value. Remember the threshold is ten or fewer units statewide, counting every person with an ownership interest in the LLC — not just units in your building.
3. Research the ownership using JustFix to map the LLCs and people behind your landlord.
4. If you’re sued, ask the court for discovery to force disclosure of the landlord’s full ownership. Bring whatever you found through JustFix.
5. Demand the names. A landlord claiming the exemption must name every natural person with an ownership interest; if they can’t, they aren’t a small landlord.
6. Get free legal help. Many New Yorkers qualify for free tenant attorneys. Find a provider at lawhelp.org, or call the NYS Attorney General’s tenant hotline at 1-800-771-7755.

The small-landlord exemption is real, but it’s narrower than many owners pretend. If your landlord operates through an LLC and owns property beyond your building, the math may already be on your side — you just have to make the court see it.

This article is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, consult a tenant attorney. Sources: New York State Attorney General, “New York State Good Cause Eviction Law” — ag.ny.gov; NYS Homes and Community Renewal, “Good Cause Eviction” — hcr.ny.gov (verified June 2026).