Mandatory Landlord Disclosures in New York City

When a potential tenant applies to rent a new apartment, landlords are required to give them certain information about the unit (also known as “mandatory disclosures”). New York landlords should understand which disclosures are required on a national and state level.

But there’s one more mandatory disclosure for landlords in New York City: tenants must be given a one-year history of any bedbug infestations in the building before signing a lease.¹ The form should look something like this. If a tenant doesn’t receive the bedbug history prior to signing the lease, they can file a complaint with the New York City Department of Health, which will order the landlord to provide it.²

Landlords must also provide an updated one-year bedbug history to tenants who are renewing their lease—although they can satisfy this requirement by prominently posting the form in a public area of the building, too.

Finally, landlords must provide both new and renewing tenants with general information about bedbug prevention and detection. (See NYC Department of Health’s “Preventing and Getting Rid of Bed Bugs Safely,” which has also been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and more.) Landlords can include this packet with each new lease, or it can be posted publicly in the building.

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[1] NYC Housing Maintenance Code §27-2018

[2] NYC Department of Health