Rochester, NY Rental Property Rules: Just Cause Eviction (2026)

City Code § 10-13, adopted December 17, 2024 by Local Law No. 4-2025, incorporates the State Law's Article 6-A of the Real Property Law (§§ 211-218), the amendment to Real Property Law § 226-c, new Real Property Law § 231-c, and amendments to Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law §§ 711 and 741 into the City Code. Those RPAPL amendments are what a landlord and tenant litigate in Rochester City Court: a nonpayment or holdover proceeding against a covered unit is barred unless the landlord pleads and proves a statutory good-cause ground.

Rochester used the local-option provisions built into the State Law rather than adopting it unmodified. Under § 10-13(B), the City set the local fair-market-rent exemption threshold at 245%: a unit renting above 245% of area fair market rent falls outside the good-cause restrictions entirely. The City also set the small-landlord exemption at its statutory floor of one unit, meaning an owner of no more than one other housing accommodation statewide is not bound by the restrictions. Section 10-13(C) defines "nuisance" for local purposes to include both public and private nuisance, and Subsection D clarifies that a temporary withdrawal from the rental market for documented repairs, backed by an attestation that no rent will be collected during the work, does not trigger the law's market-withdrawal ground for eviction. Subsection E sunsets the entire local law on June 15, 2034, after which it is automatically repealed unless the City Council re-enacts it.