Frequently Asked Questions

We anticipate multiple changes in 2025 under the new administration. Here are just a couple: (check our news page  or subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of the national, state, and local 2025 changes. 

NYS Assembly Bill 2025-A56: Currently there is a bill in the NYS Legislature that "prohibits residential landlords from charging tenants a fee for a dishonored rent check in excess of the actual costs or fees incurred by such landlord as a result thereof, provided such dishonored check fee was included in the initial lease." Find detailed info here or read the bill in our blog above: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A56#:~:text=2025%2DA56%20(ACTIVE)%20%2D%20Summary,included%20in%20the%20initial%20lease.

1. Talk with your landlord. See if reasonable payment arrangements can be made. 
2. Reach out to the CRDC Mediation Group. They assist in resolving conflicts and its free: https://cdrc.org/
3. Check the county website for resources and potential funding assistance: https://www.chemungcountyny.gov/1275/Homeless-Housing-Prevention
4. Contact LawNY for free legal advice from Attorneys: https://www.lawny.org/node/46/elmira-location

"The following lease provisions are not allowed:

• Exempting landlords from liability for injuries to persons or property caused by the landlord’s negligence, or that of the landlord’s employees or agents (General Obligations Law § 5-321);
• Waiving the tenant’s right to a jury trial in any lawsuit brought by either of the parties against the other for personal injury or property damage (Real Property Law§ 259-c);
• Requiring tenants to pledge their household furniture as security for rent (Real Property Law § 231);
• Exempting landlords from mitigating the damages of a tenant vacating the premises before the lease expires (Real Property Law § 227-e); 
• Waiving the Warranty of Habitability (Real Property Law § 235-b); and 
• Restricting a tenant from living with their immediate family members and/or one additional occupant and the occupant’s dependent children (Real Property Law § 235-f).

If a lease states that the landlord may recover attorney’s fees and costs incurred, a tenant automatically has a reciprocal right to recover those fees as well (Real Property Law § 234). If the court finds a lease or any lease clause to have been unconscionable at the time it was made, the court may refuse to enforce the lease or the clause in question (Real Property Law § 235-c)."

~New York Attorney General 

 NO.

 A lease is a contract between a landlord and a tenant that contains the terms and conditions of the rental. 

  It cannot be changed while it is in effect unless BOTH parties agree. 

Leases for apartments that are not rent stabilized may be oral or written. To avoid disputes, the parties may wish to enter into a written agreement. Check out more here: https://ag.ny.gov/publications/residential-tenants-rights-guide#lease

NYS Attorney General publishes a NYS Tenants Rights Guide:  https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/tenants_rights.pdf

or: https://ag.ny.gov/publications/residential-tenants-rights-guide#lease

Your State Senator: (R) Thomas F. O'Mara: 

 https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/thomas-f-omara/about#:~:text=About%20Thomas%20F.,O'Mara%20%7C%20NYSenate.gov

Your State Assemblyman: (D) Chris Friend:

 https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Christopher-S-Friend

Both county and city/town elected officials can be found here: 

https://www.chemungcountyny.gov/453/Elected-Officials