Usually, 12 Months (One Year) is the Minimum Length of a Lease
Generally speaking, the minimum length of a lease in NYC is 12 months. This means the renter usually has a minimum lease term of one year. Often when people are just starting out on their NYC apartment search, they assume that they can sign a lease for whatever lease term they desire.
Unfortunately it doesn’t work this way.
NOTE: To search for NYC apartments, go to frele.com (free service). Or, click for more rental tips.
While you may be able to find an apartment for the exact number of months you want, you will quickly learn that most leases (around 90-95%) require minimum lease terms of 12 months. If the landlord and tenant wish, the lease can usually be extended for another 12 month term. The 12 month lease is the standard minimum length of a lease for apartments in New York City.
Searching for Apartments With Minimum 12 Month Terms Will Greatly Expand The Options
As it is you are likely to be making many tradeoffs during the NYC renting process. For this reason you should keep in mind how difficult it is to find a NYC rental for less than 12 months. While our free website frēlē happens to have more “shorter term” inventory than any NYC rental website, you will have much more optionality if you can sign a minimum lease term of at least 12 months.
Therefore, if you think there is high likelihood that you will be here 12 months anyway, I would strongly suggest you also look at rentals that have 12 month minimum lease terms. You will be maximizing your choices, especially in the NYC real estate market where the number of vacancies always seems to be constrained.
If you are looking for a longer lease (i.e. length of a lease equals 12 months or more) it will also be quite difficult to find an apartment. Some NYC renters think that a landlord would be willing to sign a longer term lease, like for two or three years. I have had some renters who assumed they could sign a 3-5 year lease, but this is not correct. While some landlords do allow two year terms, or at least an “option” for a second year, many landlords do not allow anything more than a 12 month term. And few – if any – landlords allow lease terms of three or more years.
For more NYC rental tips, please go to frele.com/learn.
This article was written by:
Phil Horigan, NYC Real Estate Veteran
Founder, Frēlē, the free and honest NYC rental marketplace
Producer, Phil’s NYC Rental Tips [YouTube Channel]
Blogger: flowfreely.com
Instagram: @philiphorigan
Phil has been a licensed NYC real estate agent since 2004 working for some of the top real estate brokerage firms in the industry. He founded Leasebreak.com in 2013, and Frēlē in 2017. Frēlē and Leasebreak are free and transparent rental marketplaces to search for or post apartments for rent in NYC
Go to frele.com to search for NYC apartments (free service).