Governor Hochul signs new housing legislation aimed at expanding homeownership and increasing protections for renters across New York

Albany, New York – In a sweeping move that could reshape housing across the state, Kathy Hochul on [signing date] signed a comprehensive legislative package designed to expand homeownership opportunities while tightening protections for renters. The initiative comes as part of her administration’s broader push to tackle housing affordability, discrimination, and stability for both owners and tenants.

“Every New Yorker deserves a safe, stable place to call home,” Governor Hochul said. “With this legislation, we’re opening more doors to homeownership and strengthening protections for renters — because every New Yorker deserves the fair chance to build a better life in a home they can afford. I am committed to delivering fairness and affordability in every corner of our state, so more New Yorkers can put down roots and build a future right here at home.”

Bolstering Homeownership Opportunities

The homeownership portion of the bill package targets multiple dimensions of the housing market — from tax relief to anti-discrimination measures to redeveloping vacant properties.

One of the key pieces — legislation A355 C/S1718 B — creates an affordable homebuyer opt-in property tax incentive. Under this law, homes built or rehabilitated with the assistance of governmental entities, nonprofits, land banks, or community land trusts and then sold to low- and moderate-income homebuyers become eligible for tax breaks. The aim is to reduce cost barriers and expand the supply of affordable homeownership homes.

Reflecting on the measure, Michelle Hinchey (State Senator) said: “We’ve been fighting to make homeownership affordable in rural and upstate communities because it shouldn’t be the case that working families are priced out of the housing market. Our legislation will help change that by allowing local governments to offer property tax breaks on homes sold through nonprofits, land trusts, and land banks. I thank Governor Hochul for signing our bill, which will help more New Yorkers realize the dream of owning a home and achieve the kind of housing stability that carries on across generations.”

In a companion statement, Didi Barrett (Assemblymember) said: “Our communities simply cannot survive without building more affordable housing for people to live and raise their families. Habitat for Humanity and community landbanks have shown the way and this common sense legislation will help ensure these homes remain accessible to hard working New Yorkers. I thank Governor Hochul for signing this important bill into law to continue our battle against the housing affordability crisis.”

Another important law in the package, A6770/S7285, empowers communities to redevelop vacant or abandoned one-to-four family homes. Many municipalities struggle with vacant and dilapidated buildings in neighborhoods lacking economic impetus for redevelopment. By offering an opt-in tax incentive for localities to rehabilitate these homes — for either affordable homeownership or rental use — the law seeks to remove blight, revive neighborhoods, and stretch the affordable housing stock.

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Judy Griffin (Assemblymember) commented: “This legislation will expand the Residential Redevelopment Inhibited Property Exemption (currently only available in small cities) to the rest of the state. Allowing local governing bodies the option to offer this property tax exemption will provide local governments with an additional tool to encourage the rehabilitation of abandoned properties. This legislation supports local control while increasing the housing stock, and will help remove blight from our neighborhoods. I thank the Governor for signing this important bill.”

A third homeownership-focused measure, A6869/S7320, takes aim at home appraisal discrimination, a long-standing barrier to equitable homeownership especially for communities of color. The law amends the State’s Human Rights Law to deem discrimination in real estate appraisals or the availability of appraisal services unlawful. Moreover, the law empowers the Department of State to impose fines on offending appraisers — with half of those fines directed to a fund supporting fair housing enforcement.

Brian Kavanagh (State Senator) explained: “To end the housing crisis, we need to use all the tools we have available to us, not only to increase housing supply, but also to ensure stability, affordability, and fair treatment for homeowners and renters. Each of the bills Governor Hochul is signing today is an important step toward that end. This bill recognizes that discrimination in appraisals undermines one of the key benefits of homeownership and reinforces the effects of our terrible history of bias and segregation in housing. I thank Governor Hochul and Assemblymember George Alvarez, and all of our colleagues who supported this important legislation.”

George Alvarez (Assemblymember) added: “Every New Yorker deserves access to safe, stable, and affordable housing, whether renting or working toward homeownership. I am proud to have sponsored legislation that addresses discriminatory appraisal practices and strengthens protections for renters against unfair fees and rent manipulation. These measures are an important step toward greater equity in our housing system, ensuring our communities remain places where families can build a secure and dignified future.”

Yet another law — A3470/S7413 — mandates that homeowners’ associations (HOAs) or condominium boards give a 90-day notice prior to initiating foreclosure proceedings for unpaid common charges, assessments, fines, or fees. This addresses a vulnerability many owners face when their HOA or condo board moves to foreclose without proper warning.

Brian Kavanagh remarked on this piece: “Disputes with homeowners’ associations or condominium boards over unpaid common charges or other financial obligations can pose a serious threat to homeowners’ ability to keep their homes, yet foreclosure actions may come without proper notice. I want to thank Governor Kathy Hochul, Assemblyman Chuck Lavine, and our colleagues for taking action to close this significant gap in the law and protect homeowners throughout the state.”

Charles D. Lavine (Assemblymember) said: “This legislation will make it easier for hard working Long Islanders to achieve the dream of owning their own home. I thank Governor Hochul for continuing to make living in New York more affordable for all hard-working residents of the state.”

Strengthening Protections for Renters

On the renters’ side, the legislative package includes several landmark laws designed to give tenants stronger rights and protections amid a tight housing market and growing concerns about fairness.

One of the most eye-catching measures is S7882/A1417 B, which bans algorithm-enabled rent price-fixing. Recent national data show that such collusion via rent-pricing algorithms cost tenants an estimated $3.8 billion in inflated rents last year alone. The law targets software companies whose products are designed to help property owners raise rents and outperform the market, often at the expense of tenants and housing supply.

Brad Hoylman Sigal (State Senator) explained: “By signing our bill to prohibit landlords from using algorithms to artificially inflate rents and reduce housing supply, Governor Hochul is ensuring fairness and transparency in New York’s rental housing market. The use of rent-fixing software like RealPage leads to collusion, plain and simple, and artificially increases the cost of housing when hard-working New Yorkers face a severe housing crisis. This legislation will update our antitrust laws to make clear that rent price-fixing via artificial intelligence is against the law and ensure there are boundaries against behaviors that the federal government has found lead to anticompetitive practices and price fixing. It’s already too hard to be a renter in New York, and we cannot allow exploitative technology make it any harder. Thank you to Governor Hochul, to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cou¬sins for making this bill a priority, and to Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal for her partnership.”

Linda B. Rosenthal (Assemblymember) added: “During an affordable housing crisis, real estate tycoons have turned to sophisticated computer algorithms to help them raise rents and turn a larger profit. In New York, that scheme ends today. With the signing of my legislation to ban the use of algorithmic pricing by landlords, we are leveling the playing field for tenants, giving New Yorkers greater access to affordable apartments and declaring this unfair, anti-competitive practice as unlawful collusion, once and for all. I thank Governor Hochul for signing this legislation into law, along with a package of other bills to protect renters and support homeownership.”

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Another key protection for renters is legislation S952 B/A6423 A, which extends security deposit protections to rent-regulated tenants. Until now, market-rate tenants had to follow rules requiring landlords to return remaining deposits within 14 days of move-out and allowed inspection requests, but rent-regulated tenants did not receive the same protections. This law fixes that gap, covering roughly one million additional tenant households.

Brian Kavanagh again weighed in: “Improper handling of security deposits or failure to return them promptly when they’re due can cause needless hardship and frustration for tenants. This bill builds on the essential protections regarding security deposits that we enacted in the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act and extends them to about a million additional tenant households. I thank Governor Kathy Hochul, Assemblymember Micah Lasher, and all our colleagues who supported the bill, as well as former Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell, with whom I previously worked on this.”

Micah Lasher (Assemblymember) noted: “I am so pleased that Governor Hochul is signing into law new, critical protections for rent-stabilized tenants. This legislation, on which I was proud to partner with Senate Housing Chair Brian Kavanagh, will ensure that New York’s one million rent-stabilized tenants don’t get ripped off on their security deposits, and get back all the money they are owed. It’s common sense and long overdue.”

The package also includes A56 B/S3845 B, limiting the fees a landlord may charge due to a bounced check to the greater of $20 or the actual cost the landlord incurred. This safeguards tenants—whether rent-regulated or not—from unnecessarily high punitive fees.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal said: “Tenants should not be subject to exploitative fees because a rent check bounces, often through no fault of their own. Our legislation creates a statutory protection for tenants – rent stabilized or not – by capping the amount a landlord can charge a tenant for a bounced check at $20 or the actual charge incurred by the landlord as a result of a tenant’s check bouncing, whichever is greater. I am thankful to Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cou¬sins, and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein for standing up for tenants and delivering this common-sense bill into law.”

Harvey Epstein (Assemblymember) added: “Needlessly punitive fees only serve to exacerbate economic hardship. Now, no one in the state of New York can be charged more than $20 or the costs the landlord incurred. Thank you to Governor Hochul and Senator Hoylman-Sigal for your collaboration in achieving this win for New York tenants.”

And finally, legislation S8311 A/A8412 D ensures that family members and individuals with established emotional and financial ties to tenants of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) are granted succession rights. In practice, this means when a tenant vacates or passes away, qualified individuals who were living with or supporting the tenant may retain the lease, helping prevent displacement and promoting housing stability in public housing.

Brian Kavanagh said: “It’s important for public housing residents to have clarity on what their rights are regarding succession when the tenant whose name is on the lease leaves or passes away. I thank Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn for her leadership on this issue, the New York City Housing Authority for working with us, and Governor Kathy Hochul for signing this bill into law.”

Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn (Assemblymember) noted: “By ensuring that family members with strong financial and emotional ties to NYCHA residents can remain in their homes, this legislation helps families stay rooted in their communities and maintain housing security. I’m proud to have sponsored this bill and thank Governor Hochul for her partnership and commitment to protecting renters and strengthening housing stability for New Yorkers.”

Governor Hochul’s Housing Agenda

Governor Hochul has long described housing affordability and access as a central pillar of her administration. Under her leadership, the state rolled out a five-year affordable housing plan, aiming to create or preserve 100,000 homes statewide — the largest such effort in state history. According to officials, the plan is ahead of schedule, with approximately 65,000 homes already created or preserved.

Additional actions include incentives and zoning changes to promote housing development in urban areas, including New York City. The administration removed an arbitrary cap on residential development that had long constrained new housing construction on the same lot. It commits an extra $1 billion toward the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” program, described as the most impactful pro-housing rezoning effort in New York City’s history and expected to yield more than 80,000 new homes.

The state also launched the Pro-Housing Communities Program, which offers up to $750 million in grants to localities that adopt pro-housing strategies; as of signing, over 360 communities across the state have been certified. On the renter front, the administration secured historic protections against price-gouging and eviction and took steps to curb private-equity investment in mass home-purchases, leveling the playing field for everyday homebuyers.

An additional recent action: Earlier this week, the Governor signed legislation enabling tax relief for residents of the Penn South cooperative, allowing New York City to pass local tax relief for that development. This builds on the state’s FY 26 budget, which cut taxes by half for Mitchell-Lama households in New York City and authorized similar tax relief in other parts of the state — a move estimated to save Mitchell-Lama residents up to $50 million annually.

Why This Matters

Housing remains one of the most pressing issues for New Yorkers. Rising rents, stagnant wages, and limited affordable options have repeatedly drawn the attention of lawmakers, advocacy groups, and everyday citizens. By combining efforts to expand homeownership and protect renters, the state is attempting a dual-track strategy: increase supply and accessibility for buyers, and safeguard tenants from unfair practices.

For homeowners, the newly enacted measures open doors that had previously been narrower. Tax-incentive programs and tools to rehabilitate blighted properties may help communities that have long struggled with abandoned housing. At the same time, rooting out appraisal discrimination is a significant step toward closing the racial wealth and home-ownership gap.

For renters, protections against algorithm-based price-gouging, enhanced rights regarding deposits, limits on punitive fees, and clearer succession rights in public housing strengthen tenant power in a market where power has often tilted toward landlords or institutional investors.

Looking Ahead

While the legislation has been signed into law, the real work begins with implementation. Local governments, housing agencies, nonprofits, and developers will need to activate the new incentives and tools. Land banks, community land trusts, and local governing bodies must decide whether to opt in for the tax incentives under the new laws. Appraisal practices and enforcement mechanisms must be monitored and upheld to ensure the anti-discrimination provisions have real effect.

Tenant advocacy groups will likely monitor how landlords and property managers adapt to the new rules — especially around conceptions like algorithmic rent-setting. How quickly the state acts to regulate or monitor algorithm-based pricing will also be key. The dynamic between enforcement and lived experience will determine how meaningful these reforms become.

Governor Hochul’s broader housing agenda suggests that more reforms may be in the pipeline, particularly as the state pushes to meet its 100,000-home goal and address affordability in both urban and rural regions. Communities across upstate New York, downstate, and in suburban settings will be watching to see whether the promises of expanded homeownership and stronger renter protections translate into actual homes, stable tenancies, and revitalized neighborhoods.

Conclusion

The legislative package signed today marks one of the most significant housing moves in New York state in years. With policies aimed at expanding homeownership, combating discrimination, and safeguarding renters, the state leadership is signaling that housing is not just a private market commodity but a public good in need of policy intervention.

If successful, the changes could empower thousands of New Yorkers to realize the dream of owning a home and bolster the rights of renters often left vulnerable in the housing marketplace. Implementation and follow-through will determine the extent of impact, but for now, the stage is set for a new chapter in New York’s housing story.

As Governor Hochul said: “With this legislation, we’re opening more doors to homeownership and strengthening protections for renters — because every New Yorker deserves the fair chance to build a better life in a home they can afford.”