New York, NY Rental Property Rules: Source-of-Income Discrimination (2026)

Under the NYC Human Rights Law, owners, lessors, and managing agents may not refuse to rent, set different terms, or misrepresent availability because of a prospective tenant's lawful source of income, defined to include child support, alimony, Social Security, and any federal, state or local public assistance or housing subsidy such as Section 8 vouchers, whether or not paid directly to the landlord. A narrow owner-occupied exemption applies only to 2-family homes where the owner's family lives in one unit and the unit was not publicly advertised, or to a room rental where the owner lives in the same unit, and even those exemptions do not apply to publicly-assisted housing.