The clock in this rule is not set by your lease end date. It is set by how long the tenant has actually been in the unit, measured against the length of the lease term, and the longer of those two controls how much notice you owe. An owner in the Town of Greece who plans a renewal increase for July 1 has to work backward from July 1, not forward from the day the idea occurred to them.

What does Real Property Law 226-c actually require?

Two things trigger the notice duty for a residential rental in Greece: offering a renewal with a rent increase equal to or greater than 5 percent, or deciding not to renew the tenancy at all. In either case the landlord must give the tenant advance written notice. The 5 percent test and the three notice periods are set out in the text of Real Property Law section 226-c as published by the New York State Senate, in the version amended by the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019.

Work the 5 percent test on the monthly rent. For example, on a $1,400 monthly rent, 5 percent is $70, so any renewal rent of $1,470 or more sits on or above the threshold and pulls in the notice requirement.

The three tiers below come from the same statute text published by the New York State Senate, current law as amended in 2019.

Note what the middle column is measuring. A tenant on a series of one year leases who has been in your Greece duplex since 2021 is a 90 day tenant, even though the current lease is only twelve months long. A brand new tenant who signs a two year lease is also a 90 day tenant from day one, because the lease term itself reaches the top tier. When a tenancy sits right on a boundary, such as almost exactly one year or almost exactly two, the longer period is the cheaper mistake.

How do you count the 30, 60 or 90 days for a Greece rental?

Counting is where most owners get tripped up, because the notice period has to be complete before the new rent or the end of the tenancy takes effect. Do it in order and write the dates down.

1. Fix the effective date, meaning the first day the new rent applies or the first day you want the tenancy to end.
2. Add up the tenant's total time in the unit across every lease and every renewal, not just the current term.
3. Compare that total occupancy to the length of the current lease term and take whichever produces the longer notice period.
4. Count backward from the effective date by 30, 60 or 90 calendar days to find the last acceptable notice date.
5. Serve the written notice well before that date, and keep proof of how and when it was delivered.

Here is a worked example. Suppose a tenant has rented a two family in Greece since March 2022, the current lease runs out on June 30, and you want a 6 percent increase to start July 1. Total occupancy is past two years, so the 90 day period applies. Ninety days before July 1 is April 2, which means the notice has to be in the tenant's hands on or before April 2. Serve it in mid March and you have margin. Serve it on May 1 and the increase cannot begin on July 1, because the 90 days have not run.

A second worked example runs shorter. A tenant signed a one year lease last August and has lived in the unit for about ten months. Occupancy is under a year and the lease term is one year, so the 60 day tier applies rather than the 30 day tier. For an increase effective September 1, the notice date to beat is early July.

What happens if the notice is late or never sent?

Missing the deadline does not void the increase forever, but it does cost you rent. Real Property Law section 226-c, as published by the New York State Senate, provides that where the landlord fails to give timely notice, the tenancy continues under its existing terms from the date the landlord actually gives written notice until the notice period expires, regardless of what the lease says. In plain terms, a late notice pushes the start of the new rent out by the full 30, 60 or 90 days from the day you finally send it.

The same consequence attaches to a late non renewal notice. If you intended the tenancy to end on June 30 and never sent the notice, the tenant is not automatically a holdover on your schedule. That is a very different position from the one most owners assume they are in, and it is why the notice date belongs on your calendar the day a lease is signed, not the month before it expires.

Does the rule cover month to month tenants in Greece?

Month to month arrangements outside New York City are common in Monroe County, and they are not outside this framework. Real Property Law section 232-b, as published by the New York State Senate, provides that a month to month tenancy of land or buildings outside the city of New York may be terminated by the landlord upon notice as provided in section 226-c. So the same 30, 60 and 90 day structure, driven by length of occupancy, governs ending a month to month tenancy.

Practically, that means a handshake month to month tenant of four years in Greece is a 90 day tenant. The absence of a written lease does not shorten the notice you owe.

Does Good Cause Eviction change anything in the Town of Greece?

Good Cause Eviction is a separate 2024 law with its own rules about rent increases and lease renewals, and it does not apply statewide by default. New York State Homes and Community Renewal explains on its Good Cause Eviction page that the law applies in New York City and that other municipalities may opt in by local law. Before you assume your Greece property is or is not covered, check the local laws and resolutions adopted by the Town Board on the Town of Greece website or with the Town Clerk.

Where Good Cause has not been adopted and the unit is not otherwise rent regulated, section 226-c governs the timing of an increase but does not cap the amount. The statute is a notice law, not a rent control law. That distinction matters when you are pricing a renewal against what comparable units in northwest Monroe County are actually renting for.

A notice routine that holds up

• Record the tenant's original move in date in the lease file and carry it forward through every renewal, because that date, not the current lease start, usually sets the tier.
• Put the notice deadline on a calendar the day the lease is signed, counting backward from the renewal date by whichever notice period applies to that tenancy, and confirm the applicable period in the statute text published by the New York State Senate before you lock the date in.
• State the new rent, the effective date and the tenant's name and address in the written notice, and keep an unsigned copy in the file.
• Use a delivery method you can prove later, and file the receipt with the copy.
• Repeat the same process for a non renewal, since the trigger and the periods are identical.
• Review the statute text yourself before each cycle rather than relying on last year's template, because tenancy laws in New York have changed more than once since 2019.

None of this is legal advice, and a disputed tenancy belongs in front of a New York real estate attorney. What it is, is a schedule you can run without one.

Weighing a renewal against a sale

Sometimes the honest answer to a stalled rent is not a 6 percent increase and a 90 day letter. Owners of small multifamily property in Greece, Rochester and the southeast Monroe County towns often reach a point where the numbers on a sale, with or without a tenant in place, beat another lease cycle of deferred maintenance. That is a math question, and it starts with a real valuation rather than a guess.

If you want to see what your rental would bring on today's market, and what it would take to get it there, schedule a time with Khem Kadariya and we will walk the property and the options together.

Frequently asked questions

How many days of notice must a Greece NY landlord give before raising rent 5 percent or more?

A Greece NY landlord must give 30, 60 or 90 days written notice before a renewal rent increase of 5 percent or more. Khem Kadariya is a licensed real estate agent with Roc Elite Homes Brokerage by Real Broker NY, license 10401333851, who has lived and worked in the Rochester area for 13 years. The period is 30 days under one year of occupancy, 60 days up to two years, and 90 days after that.

Does a rent increase under 5 percent need written notice?

Real Property Law 226-c ties the written notice requirement to a renewal increase of 5 percent or more, or to a decision not to renew the tenancy, as published by the New York State Senate. A smaller increase at renewal does not trigger that particular statutory notice period. Your lease may still set its own renewal or notice terms, so read the document you actually signed before you skip a notice.

How should the notice be delivered to the tenant?

Real Property Law 226-c calls for written notice, and the safest practice is a delivery method you can prove months later if the tenancy is disputed. Many owners send the notice by certified mail with return receipt and by regular first class mail on the same day, keeping copies of both. If you hand deliver, ask the tenant to sign and date a duplicate copy for your file.

Do the same notice periods apply in Rochester, Henrietta and Pittsford?

Real Property Law 226-c is a state statute, so the 30, 60 and 90 day structure applies to residential tenancies across New York, not just in the Town of Greece. What can differ from one municipality to the next is whether the local governing body has opted into Good Cause Eviction protections, which add separate requirements. Check the adopted local laws of the specific city, town or village where the property sits.

What if the tenant stays past the lease end date and no notice was sent?

Real Property Law 226-c provides that when the landlord fails to give timely notice, the existing tenancy continues on its existing terms until written notice is given and the notice period runs out. That means the old rent, not the new rent, is what the tenant owes in the meantime. If the tenant remains and you want possession or a higher rent, start the notice clock immediately and speak with a New York real estate attorney about your options.