New York (NY) · Open house rules

Open house rules for New York agents

What New York asks of an agent working the door: when the state disclosure form and a signed acknowledgment are due, the hours you may call a visitor afterwards, what your firm's operating procedures have to answer, and how visitor data has to be held.

Last reviewed August 29, 2026Every claim links to a primary source

This is not legal advice

We are software people, not lawyers. This page is a plain reading of public New York sources, gathered so you can go read them yourself. Rules change, and how any rule applies to your situation is a question for your broker, your association, or an attorney licensed in New York.

When do you hand a visitor the agency disclosure form?

If you are the seller's agent working the door, the New York State Disclosure Form for Buyer and Seller goes to a visitor at your first substantive contact with them, and you are required to obtain their signed acknowledgment. Keep printed copies on the sign-in table, because the trigger is the conversation, not the contract. The same sentence carves out an exception in paragraph e, which is where a refusal to sign is handled.

A seller's agent or landlord's agent shall provide the disclosure form set forth in subdivision four of this section to a buyer, buyer's agent, tenant or tenant's agent at the time of the first substantive contact with the buyer or tenant and shall obtain a signed acknowledgement from the buyer or tenant, except as provided in paragraph e of this subdivision.
New York Real Property Law 443 (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on August 29, 2026

Can you call a visitor after the open house?

New York's telemarketing law sets a calling window, and it runs on the customer's local time, not yours. Sales calling to people who signed in has to fall between 8:00 A.M. and 9:00 P.M. where that person is, unless they told you a different time was fine. The late Sunday night call after an open house is the one that gets you in trouble.

No telemarketer or seller shall engage in telemarketing at any time other than between 8:00 A.M. and 9:00 P.M. at the location of the customer unless the customer has given their express consent to the call at a different time.
New York General Business Law 399-z (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on August 29, 2026

Does a visitor have to sign anything before you work with them?

New York requires the rules governing brokerage standardized operating procedures to address, at a minimum, whether an exclusive broker agreement is required. That means your firm has a written position on whether a visitor must sign something before you work with them. Read it before you host, instead of improvising an answer at the door.

that regulations be created addressing, at minimum: (i) whether prospective clients shall show identification; (ii) whether an exclusive broker agreement is required
New York Department of State, Standardized Operating Procedures (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on August 29, 2026

What do you owe a visitor whose details you collect?

New York's data security law reaches any business holding computerized private information about a New York resident, and it requires you to develop, implement and maintain reasonable safeguards for it. Disposing of that data is named as part of the duty, so deleting what you no longer need is the rule and not just housekeeping. Check the statute's definition of private information before you assume the details you take at the door fall outside it.

Any person or business that owns or licenses computerized data which includes private information of a resident of New York shall develop, implement and maintain reasonable safeguards to protect the security, confidentiality and integrity of the private information including, but not limited to, disposal of data.
New York General Business Law 899-bb (SHIELD Act) (opens the source in a new tab)

Checked at the source on August 29, 2026

How this page is put together

  • Every claim above carries a link to a primary source, plus the exact words from that source that support it. If a claim cannot be quoted, it is not on this page.
  • Each claim shows the date a human last opened that link and confirmed the quote still says what it says.
  • We only cover what we could source. A topic you were hoping to find may be one we have not confirmed yet, so treat this as a starting point rather than a complete list of everything New York expects of you.

Found something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we will fix it or take it down. support@openhouseconsole.com

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