New York Security Deposit Rules 2025: Protections Now Extend to Rent-Stabilized Units

Once a condition is noted in that move-in documentation, the landlord can't later charge the tenant for it at move-out; the written record from day one functions as a baseline that limits what can be deducted later.

5. What the move-out inspection window requires

Before the tenancy ends, the landlord has to notify the tenant of their right to a final inspection, which has to take place 2 to 7 days before the tenant actually moves out.

[Cite: General Obligations Law 7-108, as extended to stabilized units by Chapter 436 of the Laws of 2025]

That inspection gives the tenant an itemized list of proposed deductions and a chance to address them, such as by making repairs, before the final move-out rather than finding out about disputed charges only after the deposit has already been withheld.

6. Why landlords with mixed portfolios need one updated process

A property manager overseeing both stabilized and non-stabilized buildings previously could run 2 separate deposit procedures; now that Section 7-107 incorporates Section 7-108's requirements, a single, unified deposit-handling process works across both.

[Cite: General Obligations Law 7-107, as amended by Chapter 436 of the Laws of 2025]

That consolidation cuts administrative complexity, but only for a landlord who actually updates their stabilized-unit procedures to match; continuing to run the old, lighter-touch process for stabilized units is now a compliance gap.

7. Why the effective date matters for leases signed before November 15, 2025

The amendment took effect 30 days after the October 16, 2025 signing, landing on November 15, 2025.

[Cite: Chapter 436 of the Laws of 2025]

A landlord with a stabilized tenancy that both started and ended before that date isn't subject to these specific requirements for that tenancy, but any deposit handled on or after November 15, 2025 falls under the new framework regardless of when the original lease was signed.

8. Why documentation habits matter more now than before

Since the written move-in condition record now directly limits what can be deducted at move-out, a landlord's documentation practices carry more legal weight for stabilized units than they did before this amendment.

[Cite: General Obligations Law 7-108, as extended to stabilized units by Chapter 436 of the Laws of 2025]

A landlord who skipped move-in documentation for stabilized tenancies under the old rules needs to build that step into the leasing process going forward, since it's now a required part of protecting the ability to make legitimate deductions later.

9. Why this doesn't change the underlying rent-stabilization rules themselves

This amendment affects deposit-handling procedure; it doesn't alter rent-stabilization's own rent-setting rules, renewal rights, or eviction protections, which remain governed by separate statutes.

[Cite: General Obligations Law 7-107, as amended by Chapter 436 of the Laws of 2025]

A landlord shouldn't read this change as affecting anything beyond deposits specifically; the core stabilization framework for that unit continues to operate exactly as it did before.

10. Why a prior FY2026 budget proposal isn't the source of this change

An earlier description of a similar deposit-rule extension appeared in discussion around the state's FY2026 budget process in spring 2025, but the actual legal change took effect through this separate bill, Chapter 436, signed in October 2025.

[Cite: Chapter 436 of the Laws of 2025]

A landlord who saw budget-season coverage of this idea months before the bill was signed should rely on the enacted Chapter 436 and its November 15, 2025 effective date, not on the earlier budget discussion, for the actual compliance timeline.

11. What property managers should do now

The practical starting point is auditing every rent-stabilized unit's deposit-handling procedure against the 14-day itemized-return requirement and the move-in and move-out inspection steps, since these weren't previously mandatory for stabilized tenancies.

For any stabilized lease that started before November 15, 2025 but is still active, applying the new inspection and documentation requirements going forward, even though the original move-in inspection may not have happened under the old rules, keeps the eventual deposit return compliant.