Is the Good Cause figure a legal maximum?
No. An increase above the local rent standard is presumptively unreasonable, which a landlord can rebut in court. The advisor caps its suggestion there because that is where disputes start.
From the guide The Legal Rent-Increase Advisor.
Free-market apartments in New York City — Good Cause
New York's Good Cause Eviction Law treats an increase above the local rent standard as presumptively unreasonable — 8.38% in New York City as of May 4, 2026. That is not a hard cap: a landlord may show a court why a larger increase is needed. The advisor caps its suggestion there anyway, because a renewal priced above it is the one most likely to end in a dispute.
The law presumes every New York City apartment is covered. It does not cover an apartment renting above 245% of HUD's fair market rent — $6,196 for a studio, $6,505 for a one-bedroom, $7,130 for a two-bedroom, $8,928 for a three-bedroom and $9,700 for a four-bedroom — and the advisor checks that itself. The other exemptions it cannot see, so you choose one when you mark an apartment exempt:
- Small landlord (owns 10 or fewer units)
- Owner lives in the building and it has 10 or fewer units
- Certificate of occupancy issued after January 1, 2009
- An individually owned condo or co-op unit
- Income-restricted housing
- Housing provided with a job
- The tenant is a subtenant
- Another exemption in the law
Read the whole guide: The Legal Rent-Increase Advisor