NYC Roommate Law: One Tenant, One Roommate, and Notice Rules

TL;DR: New York Real Property Law § 235-f generally prevents a residential landlord from enforcing a lease clause that limits occupancy to the named tenant alone. If the current lease names one tenant, that tenant may generally live with immediate family, one additional occupant, and that occupant’s dependent children—provided the tenant or the tenant’s spouse maintains the apartment as a primary residence. Give the landlord the occupant’s name within the law’s 30-day periods. The roommate does not automatically become a tenant, and other occupancy and housing-program rules still apply.

If one person is the tenant under a New York residential lease, one unrelated roommate is generally allowed even when the lease says “no roommates.” The legal question is not simply how many adults are inside. You must count the tenants named in the current agreement, classify the other residents, confirm the primary-residence condition, give the required name notice, and check any separate occupancy or housing-program limits.

General information, not legal advice. Roommate, primary-residence, eviction, succession, occupancy-code, and subsidized-housing questions can depend on facts and laws beyond § 235-f. Sources were reviewed August 19, 2026; recheck current agency instructions before acting.

The answer changes with the number of tenants on the lease

New York’s “Roommate Law” uses two different formulas.

The statute defines an occupant as someone other than a tenant or a member of a tenant’s immediate family who lives there with the tenant’s consent. In everyday language, that person is often called a roommate. The legal classification matters because an immediate-family member is not counted as an “occupant” under this section.

If one tenant is named

A residential agreement entered into by one tenant is construed to permit:

1. the tenant;
2. the tenant’s immediate family;
3. one additional occupant; and
4. that occupant’s dependent children.

The tenant or the tenant’s spouse must maintain the apartment as a primary residence. The statute does not say the tenant must be physically present every day, but the additional occupant cannot satisfy the primary-residence condition alone.

Example: Jordan is the only tenant on the current lease and uses the apartment as a primary residence. Jordan may generally live with one unrelated occupant and that occupant’s dependent children, subject to other lawful occupancy restrictions.

If two or more tenants are named

The statute uses this count:

named tenants + statutory occupants ≤ number of tenants specified in the current agreement

Dependent children of occupants are excluded from that count. Immediate family members are not “occupants” under the statute’s definition.

Example: A current lease specifies two tenants, and both still live in the apartment. Section 235-f does not ordinarily create a third non-family occupant slot. If one named tenant moves out while the agreement still specifies two tenants, the remaining tenant may generally use the open tenant-or-occupant position for one additional occupant. Adding that person as an occupant is not the same as requiring the landlord to make the person a co-tenant on the lease.

If the lease is amended to remove a named tenant, recalculate using the current agreement. Do not keep using an old tenant count.

Use this roommate-law workflow

1. Read the current agreement

Count the tenants specified in the operative lease or rental agreement. Do not count only the people who happen to be home today.

2. Classify every resident

For this statute, separate:

• tenants named in the current agreement;
• the tenants’ immediate family;
• additional occupants; and
• the occupants’ dependent children.

Do not assume that every person casually called a “roommate” is an occupant under § 235-f. A co-tenant, family member, subtenant, licensee, or resident in a regulated housing program may raise different questions.

3. Confirm primary residence

For a one-tenant agreement, the tenant or that tenant’s spouse must maintain the apartment as a primary residence. For a multiple-tenant agreement, at least one tenant or a tenant’s spouse must do so.

A trip, temporary absence, or time spent elsewhere does not automatically decide primary residence. If the named tenant is actually giving up possession, get advice about subletting or assignment instead of relying on the roommate rule. See the NYC legal sublet guide for that separate process.

4. Check separate occupancy and program rules

Section 235-f does not invalidate federal, state, or local laws, regulations, ordinances, or codes. Building and safety limits may still restrict the number or arrangement of residents.

Public housing, vouchers, supportive housing, and other subsidized or government-financed programs may also require household-composition, authorization, or income reporting. Do not add a household member based on this general guide alone; check the housing authority or program administrator’s current rules.

5. Give the landlord the occupant’s name on time

Section 235-f requires the tenant to inform the landlord of an occupant’s name:

• within 30 days after that person begins occupancy; or
• within 30 days after the landlord requests the information.

The safest practical workflow is to send the name promptly after occupancy begins and to answer any later landlord request within 30 days as well. The statute expressly requires the name. It does not prescribe a special form, advance permission request, credit report, income package, Social Security number, or background check.

Use a delivery method you can document, and check whether the lease has a notice clause. Certified mail or a traceable electronic method can create a record, but neither is identified in § 235-f as the only valid delivery method.

Copyable roommate notice

Subject: Notice of additional occupant under RPL § 235-f

Dear [Landlord or Managing Agent],

I am providing notice that [occupant’s full name] began occupying Apartment [number] on [date]. This notice provides the occupant’s name under New York Real Property Law § 235-f.

Please direct any response to [contact information].

Sincerely, [Named tenant]

The move-in date can help document timing, but § 235-f(5) expressly identifies the occupant’s name as the required information. Keep a copy of the notice and proof of delivery.

Permission to occupy is not the same as tenancy

For occupancy protected by § 235-f, the statute does not require the landlord to approve the additional occupant in advance. It also makes lease language purporting to waive the section null and void.

But lawful occupancy under this section does not automatically:

• add the roommate to the lease;
• create other rights of tenancy; or
• give the roommate a right to remain after the named tenant vacates.

Without the landlord’s express written permission, § 235-f says an occupant does not acquire continued-occupancy rights when the tenant leaves or other tenancy rights. Other laws may still govern notice, Housing Court process, succession, discrimination, unlawful eviction, or an agreement between the residents. Do not change locks, remove belongings, or attempt a self-help eviction without getting fact-specific legal advice.

How much can a rent-stabilized tenant charge a roommate?

For a rent-stabilized apartment, 9 NYCRR § 2525.7 says the amount charged to an occupant may not exceed the occupant’s proportionate share of the legal regulated rent charged to and paid by the tenant.

The regulation calculates that share by dividing the legal regulated rent by:

tenants named on the lease + occupants living in the apartment

For this denominator, a tenant’s spouse is not counted as a named tenant, and a tenant’s family member or an occupant’s dependent child is not counted as an occupant.

That is why “always split it 50/50” and “divide by every person in the apartment” are both unreliable shortcuts. In the ordinary one-named-tenant plus one unrelated-occupant example, the occupant’s maximum share is one-half of the legal regulated rent. Different household classifications can change the denominator.

The named tenant remains responsible to the owner for the entire legal regulated rent. If you are unsure whether the unit is stabilized, use the apartment-level rent-stabilization verification guide before relying on this rule.

Roommate, co-tenant, and subtenant are different roles

• Occupant or roommate: lives with the tenant’s consent; § 235-f may protect the occupancy without adding the person to the lease.
• Co-tenant: is a tenant under the lease or applicable tenancy law and may share the tenant’s obligations to the landlord.
• Subtenant: receives possession from a tenant under a sublet arrangement; New York’s sublet process is governed separately, including by RPL § 226-b where applicable.

Shared occupancy and retained primary residence usually point toward the roommate analysis. Transferring possession while the tenant lives elsewhere points toward a sublet analysis. Real arrangements can be more complicated than that shorthand, so do not use physical presence alone as a legal test.

A written roommate agreement can still be useful. Cover payment, utilities, deposits between roommates, shared spaces, guests, duration, and move-out expectations. That agreement is practical planning between residents; it does not replace the lease or create landlord consent.

If the landlord objects

1. Ask for the objection and the specific lease provision, law, code, or program rule in writing.
2. Confirm that your tenant count, resident classifications, and primary-residence facts are accurate.
3. Save the lease, occupant-name notice, delivery proof, payment records, and all responses.
4. Do not ignore a predicate notice, petition, or other Housing Court paper.
5. Contact a qualified New York tenant attorney or legal-services provider before withholding rent, changing locks, removing a roommate, or signing a surrender.

Section 235-f allows an aggrieved person to seek an injunction, actual damages, and court costs. Those remedies are not automatic; what is available depends on the facts and legal process.

Frequently asked questions

Does my lease need to say roommates are allowed?

No. A lease restriction is unenforceable to the extent it conflicts with § 235-f, and a lease provision that purports to waive the section is null and void. Other lawful occupancy restrictions still apply.

Do I need my landlord’s permission for one roommate?

If the arrangement fits § 235-f, the statute does not make occupancy contingent on advance landlord approval. You must give the landlord the occupant’s name within the applicable 30-day periods.

What if two tenants are on the lease?

Use the multiple-tenant rule. Named tenants plus statutory occupants cannot exceed the number of tenants specified in the current agreement, excluding occupants’ dependent children from that count. Immediate family members are not statutory occupants.

Does my roommate become a tenant after 30 days?

Not under § 235-f. The 30-day rule concerns notice of the occupant’s name. The section expressly says protected occupancy does not itself create tenancy or continued occupancy after the tenant vacates without express written landlord permission. Other procedural protections may still apply.

Can my landlord require a credit check for the roommate?

Section 235-f requires disclosure of the occupant’s name and does not make the protected occupancy contingent on landlord approval or prescribe credit, income, or background screening. A request to add the person as a co-tenant, or rules for a particular housing program, is a different matter.

What if the landlord says the apartment would be overcrowded?

Ask the landlord to identify the specific law, regulation, ordinance, code, or program rule. Section 235-f preserves lawful occupancy restrictions; it is not an unconditional right to exceed them. Do not rely on a single square-foot shortcut without checking the complete rule for the apartment and household.

Can I remove a roommate by changing the locks?

Do not use self-help. Housing Court procedure, notice requirements, and the parties’ agreements can matter even though § 235-f does not itself grant tenancy. Get legal advice before changing locks or removing belongings.

Bottom line

One lease name does not automatically mean only one adult may live in the apartment. For a one-tenant New York residential agreement, § 235-f generally allows immediate family plus one additional occupant and that occupant’s dependent children when the primary-residence condition is met. Count correctly, check separate rules, give the occupant’s name on time, and remember that permission to occupy is not the same as becoming a tenant.

If you are still deciding who to live with, use the NYC roommate search and interview guide. If a different apartment would better fit the household, set up RentReboot alerts and verify the lease terms before committing.

Primary sources

Reviewed August 19, 2026.

• New York State Senate — Real Property Law § 235-f — definitions, one- and multiple-tenant occupancy rules, primary-residence condition, 30-day name notice, tenancy boundary, waiver rule, code exception, and remedies.
• New York State Office of the Attorney General — Residential Tenants’ Rights Guide — official tenant guidance cross-checking roommate occupancy and notice duties.
• New York State Homes and Community Renewal — Leases and Rent Increases — roommate, lease-addition, regulated-rent, and housing-program context.
• 9 NYCRR § 2525.7 — rent-stabilized occupant proportionate-share rule.
• NYC Rent Guidelines Board — Roommates — NYC-focused roommate, sublet, rent-share, and Housing Court context.