How Rent Stabilization Works in NYC (2026 Guide)

TL;DR

• Roughly 1 million NYC apartments — about 44% of all rentals — are rent stabilized. You may be covered without knowing it.
• Rent stabilization caps how much your landlord can raise your rent each year. For leases starting October 2025, the cap is 3% for a one-year lease and 4.5% for a two-year lease.
• The 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) eliminated most deregulation pathways. Units that qualify today are likely to stay stabilized.
• You can look up your building’s status for free at the DHCR building search tool — but a “no record” result doesn’t mean you aren’t covered.
• If your landlord is overcharging you, you have legal remedies — including the right to an attorney in Housing Court if you qualify.

What Is Rent Stabilization — and What It Isn’t

Rent stabilization is a set of rules under New York State law that limits how much a landlord can raise your rent from lease to lease, guarantees you the right to renew your lease, and restricts the conditions under which you can be evicted. It is not rent control, and it is not a cap on what your rent can be — it’s a cap on how fast it can increase.

Rent control, which predates rent stabilization, applies to a small number of apartments occupied continuously since before 1974. Those units operate under a separate and stricter set of rules. Almost no new apartments enter rent control. When people talk about “rent regulation” in NYC today, they overwhelmingly mean rent stabilization.

What rent stabilization guarantees you, in plain terms:

• Your landlord cannot raise your rent by more than the percentage set annually by the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB)
• Your landlord must offer you a renewal lease
• Your landlord cannot evict you without legal cause
• You have the right to sublet under certain conditions
• Your immediate family members may be able to succeed to your lease when you leave or die

What it does not guarantee: that your rent will be affordable. A stabilized apartment at $3,200/month is still stabilized. The law governs the rate of increase, not the starting point — which is why some high-rent stabilized units exist alongside genuinely affordable ones.

Which Apartments Are Rent Stabilized in NYC

The general rule: a building with six or more units, built before 1974, in New York City, that receives no J-51 or 421-a tax benefit, is almost certainly rent stabilized. The full legal framework is more complicated, but that heuristic covers the vast majority of cases.

According to NYC Department of Finance records, 966,000+ apartments are registered as rent stabilized. The NYC Division of Housing and Community Renewal (HCR) puts the figure at approximately 1 million. That’s roughly 44% of all rental units in the city.

Specific categories that are rent stabilized:

• Buildings with 6+ units built before January 1, 1974 (unless deregulated or exempt)
• Buildings receiving J-51 tax benefits, for the duration of the benefit period
• Buildings receiving 421-a tax benefits (under certain program versions), for the duration of the benefit period
• Buildings with 6+ units built after 1974 that accepted certain government subsidies

Buildings that are NOT rent stabilized (absent a tax benefit):

• Buildings with five or fewer units (though individual units may be covered if they previously were)
• Buildings constructed after January 1, 1974 that received no qualifying tax benefit
• Owner-occupied buildings of three units or fewer
• Single-room occupancies (SROs) — governed by a different framework
• Condos and co-ops (the units themselves, not the buildings)
• Apartments in hotels (different rules apply)

One thing tenants consistently get wrong: a building being stabilized does not mean every unit in it is stabilized. An individual apartment can be deregulated through a legal vacancy, owner-occupancy, or other process even while the rest of the building remains regulated. The unit-level determination is what matters — not just the building.

What Changed in 2019 (HSTPA) — and Why It Matters

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 was the most significant overhaul of New York’s rent laws in decades. Before HSTPA, landlords had two primary legal tools for removing apartments from stabilization: vacancy decontrol and high-income luxury deregulation. Both are now eliminated.

Before HSTPA: If a stabilized apartment hit a threshold rent ($2,774/month at the time of repeal) when it became vacant, the landlord could deregulate it permanently. This created a strong financial incentive to turn over units, which critics argued encouraged harassment of long-term tenants.

Before HSTPA: If a tenant earned over $200,000 for two consecutive years and paid above a threshold rent, the apartment could be deregulated while the tenant still lived there.

Both mechanisms are gone. An apartment that is stabilized today stays stabilized unless the landlord qualifies for one of the narrow remaining deregulation pathways (covered below).

Other major 2019 changes:

• Vacancy bonus eliminated. Landlords were previously allowed to raise the rent by 20% when an apartment vacated. That bonus is gone. When a new tenant moves in, the landlord must offer the prior legal regulated rent (with any applicable RGB increases since the last lease).
• Preferential rent locked in for sitting tenants. Many landlords charged less than the legal regulated rent (the “preferential rent”). Before HSTPA, they could snap back to the full legal rent at lease renewal. Now, for sitting tenants, RGB increases apply to the preferential rent — not the higher legal rent. The landlord can only revert to the full legal rent when the apartment vacates.
• MCI increases capped and made temporary. Major Capital Improvement (MCI) rent increases — charged when landlords make building-wide improvements — are now capped and expire after 30 years.
• IAI caps imposed. Individual Apartment Improvement (IAI) increases are now capped. The standard cap (Tier 1) is $30,000, amortized over 15 years. A higher cap of $50,000 (Tier 2) applies to units that were continuously occupied for 25 or more years immediately before the current vacancy, or to units that were registered as vacant with DHCR in each of 2022, 2023, and 2024. Source: HCR IAI guidance (post-HSTPA amendments).

One more 2019-era change worth knowing: deregulations have slowed sharply. In 2010–2019, roughly 10,000 apartments per year were deregulated (mostly via vacancy decontrol). Post-HSTPA, that figure has dropped to approximately 5,000 per year, limited to legitimate legal exits.

In December 2023, Governor Hochul signed S2980-C, which closed the “Frankenstein loophole” — a practice where landlords combined two stabilized units into one and then claimed a new first rent unconstrained by prior legal rents. Under the new law, the combined apartment’s first rent is capped at the sum of the predecessor apartments’ legal regulated rents. The same law imposed a $500/month per-unit penalty for non-registration and enhanced tenant tools for challenging overcharges.

NYC Housing Guide

How to Check If Your Apartment Is Rent Stabilized

The official tool is DHCR’s building search. Here’s how to use it — and what the results actually mean.

Step 1: Check the building-level database. Go to apps.hcr.ny.gov/BuildingSearch/. Enter your building address. The database will tell you whether DHCR has records of the building as rent stabilized.

Step 2: Understand what “no record” actually means. A result showing no stabilized apartments does NOT mean your unit isn’t covered. Landlords are legally required to register their rent-stabilized units with DHCR annually. Failure to register is itself a violation — and it’s not uncommon. If your building otherwise meets the criteria (6+ units, pre-1974, no exemptions), you may be stabilized even if DHCR has no record.

Step 3: Request your unit’s rent history. The building search is a starting point. The authoritative document is your unit’s rent registration history, which shows every registered rent going back to DHCR’s records. Request it through HCR’s Ask HCR portal at hcr.ny.gov/records-access. This is more specific than the building lookup and will show the legal regulated rent history for your particular apartment — not just whether the building is registered.

Step 4: Cross-reference your lease. Rent-stabilized leases are supposed to include a rent stabilization rider, which states the prior tenant’s rent and your rights. If your lease doesn’t include one, that’s a red flag worth investigating — not a guarantee you’re not stabilized.

Step 5: If something doesn’t add up, call. The Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT) operates a tenant helpline: dial 311 and ask for the “Tenant Helpline,” or go directly to nyc.gov/content/tenantprotection/pages/contact-us. Met Council on Housing (metcouncilonhousing.org) provides free tenant counseling. If you believe you’re being illegally overcharged, the Legal Aid Society (legalaidnyc.org) can provide representation.

One critical point: a landlord’s failure to register doesn’t mean you have no recourse. It may actually strengthen an overcharge claim, because it makes it harder for the landlord to demonstrate the legal regulated rent.

How the Rent Guidelines Board Sets Your Rent Increase

The RGB is a nine-member mayoral-appointed board that sets the allowable rent increases for rent-stabilized apartments each year. It votes on orders covering leases that begin in a specific 12-month window. Two orders are currently relevant depending on when your lease started or renews. The board sits inside a broader city-and-state structure — the rent-stabilization framework itself is state law administered by HCR/DHCR, while the appointment power runs through the mayor and the override math runs through the Council. For the structural map, see how NYC city government works.

RGB Order #56 (voted June 17, 2024):

• 1-year lease: 2.75%
• 2-year lease: 5.25%
• Covers leases beginning October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025

RGB Order #57 (voted June 30, 2025, 5-4):

• 1-year lease: 3%
• 2-year lease: 4.5%
• Covers leases beginning October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026

RGB Order #58 — rent freeze, voted June 25, 2026:

• 0% for one-year leases and 0% for two-year leases: a full rent freeze
• Covers leases beginning October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 (roughly 1 million apartments)
• The first RGB rent freeze since the 2015-16 de Blasio-era orders
• This was the first RGB vote under Mayor Mamdani’s appointed majority; Chair Chantella Mitchell was appointed in February 2026
• The freeze fulfills Mamdani’s signature housing pledge. Mamdani called it “a historic victory for New York City tenants.” For the parallel city-side response — the Mamdani administration’s insurance-cost intervention designed to neutralize the landlord-side operating-cost argument — see Mamdani’s NYC insurance plan. For the state-budget context (no state-level rent freeze in any proposal), see the NY State budget 2026 NYC impact tracker.

These percentages are the maximums. A landlord can offer a lower increase (or no increase) but cannot legally exceed the applicable RGB order.

If your lease renewal date falls between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026, Order #57 governs. If it falls between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025, Order #56 applies. For leases starting October 1, 2026 or later, Order #58 governs: a 0% freeze on both one- and two-year renewals. For the full four-regime breakdown — stabilized, Good Cause, rent-controlled, and HCV — with board roster, worked examples, and what the freeze means for your 2026-27 lease, see NYC Rent Increase Limits 2025-26.

A few things the RGB increase does NOT cover:

• MCI increases: Separate from the RGB order; charged on top of the stabilized rent after a qualifying building-wide improvement
• IAI increases: Also separate; reflect individual apartment improvements under the capped amounts noted above
• Preferential rent restoration upon vacancy: When a unit with a preferential rent vacates, the incoming tenant may be charged the full legal regulated rent (not the prior preferential rent), plus any accumulated RGB increases that applied at the legal regulated rent level

The RGB also considers landlord cost data — including the annual Price Index of Operating Costs (PIOC), which tracks insurance, utilities, labor, and maintenance expenses — before setting each year’s orders. Chantella Mitchell was appointed as RGB Chair by Mayor Mamdani in February 2026.

Your Rights as a Rent Stabilized Tenant

Rent stabilization gives you a set of legally enforceable rights. Knowing them is the difference between keeping an apartment and losing it.

Right to a renewal lease. Your landlord must offer you a renewal lease 90 to 150 days before your current lease expires. If they don’t, you can still remain in the apartment. Failure to offer a renewal is not grounds for eviction.

Right to the legal regulated rent. You cannot be charged more than the legal regulated rent. If your landlord has charged more than the legal regulated rent at any point, you may have an overcharge claim.

Right to a lease rider. Every rent-stabilized lease must include the NYC Rent Stabilization Lease Rider, which informs you of your rights and the prior tenant’s rent.

Right to sublet. Under RSL Section 226-b, you can sublet your apartment for up to two years in any four-year period, subject to landlord approval. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold approval.

Succession rights. If the primary tenant leaves or dies, a family member who has lived in the apartment as their primary residence for at least two years immediately before the departure (or one year if 62 or older, or disabled) may succeed to the lease. The following are recognized as family members:

• Spouse, children, stepchildren, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws
• Non-traditional family members — including long-term partners and chosen family — evaluated on factors like emotional and financial interdependence

Source: HCR Fact Sheet #30 (November 2023).

Right to repairs. Your landlord must maintain the apartment and building in habitable condition. Rent stabilization doesn’t change this; Housing Maintenance Code violations are a separate enforcement mechanism. But a landlord’s failure to make repairs can be documented and used in overcharge proceedings.

Protection against harassment. Harassing a stabilized tenant to force them out is illegal. Documented patterns of harassment can result in civil penalties.

What Landlords Can and Cannot Do Under Rent Stabilization

Landlords CAN:

• Charge up to the legal regulated rent (or preferential rent if lower)
• Raise the rent annually by the applicable RGB percentage
• Petition DHCR for a hardship increase if operating costs justify it
• Add MCI increases for qualifying building-wide improvements (capped; now expire after 30 years)
• Add IAI increases for qualifying individual apartment improvements (capped at $30,000 Tier 1, amortized over 15 years)
• Seek to recover the apartment for personal or immediate family occupancy (subject to strict procedural requirements and tenant protections — contesting this requires legal counsel)
• Refuse to renew a lease under limited legal circumstances (nonpayment, nuisance, unauthorized subletting, non-primary residence)

Landlords CANNOT:

• Charge above the legal regulated rent
• Apply the 20% vacancy bonus (eliminated by HSTPA)
• Deregulate based on rent level alone (vacancy decontrol eliminated)
• Deregulate based on tenant income (luxury decontrol eliminated)
• Revert to the full legal rent for a sitting tenant who was paying a preferential rent
• Harass a tenant to induce them to leave
• Refuse to offer a renewal lease without legal cause
• Combine apartments to create a new unregulated unit and claim a new first rent above the sum of the predecessor legal rents (Frankenstein loophole closed December 2023)

What deregulation pathways remain:

• Demolition (DHCR approval required)
• Substantial rehabilitation (75% or more of building systems must be replaced; DHCR must approve)
• Conversion to non-residential use
• Condo or co-op conversion (complex; tenant protections apply during conversion)
• Owner or immediate family occupancy (strict procedural requirements)
• Narrow 421-a(16) market-rate threshold exceptions

These pathways exist but are closely scrutinized. Deregulation via demolition or substantial rehab has been contested heavily in Housing Court.

What Good Cause Eviction Means for Rent Stabilized Tenants (2024 Update)

Governor Hochul signed the Good Cause Eviction law on April 20, 2024. If you’re in a rent-stabilized apartment, this law does not apply to you — and that’s actually fine, because you already have stronger protections.

Good Cause Eviction was designed to extend some baseline tenant protections to the millions of New Yorkers in unregulated apartments — a category that previously had almost no eviction protection outside of lease terms. The law covers apartments in buildings built before 2009 that rent below 245% of the Fair Market Rent (approximately $6,004/month for a one-bedroom at the time of implementation). Small landlords — owners of 10 or fewer units statewide — are exempt.

For stabilized tenants, the relevant takeaway is comparative: you cannot be evicted without cause, and the definition of “cause” under rent stabilization is well-established in law and has decades of court precedent behind it. The Good Cause law is a new and weaker floor; rent stabilization is a higher ceiling.

One nuance: some apartments may be covered by both Good Cause and rent stabilization if there’s a dispute about their status. If you’re uncertain whether your apartment is stabilized and you receive an eviction notice, consult a tenant attorney before responding. For the operating mechanics from the unregulated side (coverage tests, cap math, and the Housing Court use case), see Good Cause Eviction in NYC, Explained.

Common Myths About Rent Stabilization

Myth 1: If your rent is above $2,774/month, you can’t be stabilized.

False. The $2,774 threshold was the deregulation trigger under the old vacancy decontrol rules, which were eliminated by HSTPA in 2019. There is now no rent level at which a stabilized apartment automatically deregulates. High-rent apartments are commonly stabilized, and many tenants in $3,000+ units have full stabilization protections.

Myth 2: If DHCR has no record of your building, you’re not stabilized.

False. Landlords are required to register their rent-stabilized units annually. Failure to register is a landlord violation — it doesn’t strip you of protection. If your building otherwise qualifies (6+ units, built before 1974, no exemptions), non-registration may strengthen rather than weaken your claim.

Myth 3: Your landlord can raise your rent by any amount between tenancies.

False since 2019. The vacancy bonus — which allowed a 20% increase when an apartment turned over — was eliminated by HSTPA. New tenants must be offered the prior legal regulated rent plus any applicable RGB increases. The era of “turn the apartment, raise the rent dramatically” is over under current law.

Myth 4: Rent stabilization only applies to older apartments in poorer neighborhoods.

False. Stabilized apartments are distributed across all five boroughs, including Midtown Manhattan, the Upper West Side, Park Slope, and Astoria. The age-of-building rule (pre-1974) creates a geographic spread, but many high-value apartments in high-cost neighborhoods are stabilized. The question is always whether the specific building and unit qualify — geography alone doesn’t determine it.

Myth 5: If you earn a high income, you lose stabilization protections.

False since 2019. High-income luxury decontrol — which previously allowed deregulation if a tenant earned over $200,000 for two consecutive years — was eliminated by HSTPA. Your income has no bearing on whether your apartment is stabilized.

Myth 6: You can challenge overcharges going back to whenever the violation started.

Partly false, and legally complex. For overcharges that occurred after June 2019, the HSTPA rules apply and allow broader examination of rent history. For overcharges that occurred before June 2019, the Court of Appeals’ 2020 ruling in Regina Metropolitan Co. v. DHCR held that the four-year lookback limit still applies under the prior rules. Pre-2019 overcharge claims are legally complicated and require a tenant attorney — do not attempt to resolve them without representation.

What to Do If You Think Your Rights Are Being Violated

Step 1: Document everything. Before you call anyone, document what’s happening. If you’re being overcharged, gather your lease, any renewal leases, and every rent payment record you have. If you’re being harassed, keep a written log — dates, times, what happened, any witnesses.

Step 2: Request your rent history. Go to hcr.ny.gov/records-access and request your unit’s rent registration history through the Ask HCR portal. This is the official record of what the legal regulated rent has been for your apartment. If your landlord has been charging above that amount, it’s documented here.

Step 3: File a complaint with DHCR. If you have an overcharge, maintenance, or harassment complaint, you can file directly with DHCR. Overcharge complaints go to DHCR and can result in penalties including triple damages for willful overcharges.

Step 4: Call the tenant helpline. Dial 311 and ask for the “Tenant Helpline.” The Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT) can help you understand your options and connect you with resources. You can also go directly to nyc.gov/content/tenantprotection/pages/contact-us.

Step 5: Get legal help.

• Right to Counsel: If you’re facing eviction proceedings in NYC Housing Court, you may be entitled to a free attorney. Eligibility: income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level ($51,640/year for a family of three in 2024), OR age 60 or older. Available in all five boroughs regardless of immigration status. As of 2025, only about 30% of tenants facing eviction received full representation due to funding gaps — apply as early as possible. Tenants who received full representation stayed housed 89% of the time. Apply at nyc.gov/site/mayorspeu/resources/right-to-counsel.page.
• Legal Aid Society: legalaidnyc.org — income-qualified tenants
• Met Council on Housing: metcouncilonhousing.org — counseling and referrals

Step 6: Know the timelines. Overcharge complaints can be filed at any time, but the lookback period matters (see Myth 6 above). Don’t wait. If you suspect an overcharge, the sooner you file, the stronger your position.

Related NYC Housing Topics

NYC Housing Guide — The full hub for NYC housing coverage: rent regulation, eviction, the housing lottery, city housing policy, and borough-level housing market analysis.

NYC Rent Increase Limits 2025-26 — The full RGB tracker: all four regimes (stabilized, Good Cause, rent-controlled, HCV), the nine-member board roster with Mamdani’s six February 2026 appointees named, and the worked-example math for the 2026-27 lease window.

Good Cause Eviction in NYC, Explained — The unregulated-tenant counterpart to this guide: who’s covered (the three-test check), the CPI+5% cap (8.79% for 2026), what the law does in Housing Court, and the June 15, 2034 sunset.

The Leftover: What Every NYC Salary Actually Keeps — What the rent floor does to a real paycheck across the salary ladder: from about $2,220 a month left at $90,000 to $8,444 at $250,000, after taxes, a one-bedroom, and the subway. The take-home companion to the regulated-rent picture.

Sources

• NYC Division of Housing and Community Renewal (HCR) — Rent stabilization coverage figures (~1M units), DHCR building search tool, unit rent history records, IAI/MCI regulations, HCR Fact Sheet #30 (Succession Rights, November 2023). hcr.ny.gov
• NYC Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) — Order #56 (June 17, 2024): 2.75%/5.25% increases for leases effective Oct 2024–Sept 2025. Order #57 (June 30, 2025, 5-4 vote): 3%/4.5% increases for leases effective Oct 2025–Sept 2026. Order #58 (voted June 25, 2026): 0%/0% rent freeze for leases effective Oct 2026–Sept 2027, the first RGB freeze since the 2015-16 orders. RGB Chair Chantella Mitchell (appointed February 2026). housingnyc.com
• NYC Department of Finance — 966,000+ rent-stabilized apartment registrations. finance.nyc.gov
• Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA) — Elimination of vacancy decontrol ($2,774 threshold), high-income luxury decontrol ($200k/2-year threshold), 20% vacancy bonus; preferential rent rules; MCI cap and 30-year expiration; IAI caps. New York State Legislature. nysenate.gov
• S2980-C (December 22, 2023) — Frankenstein loophole closure; $500/month/unit non-registration penalty; enhanced overcharge tools. New York State Legislature. nysenate.gov
• Good Cause Eviction Law (signed April 20, 2024) — Coverage criteria (pre-2009 buildings, below 245% of FMR ~$6,004/mo for 1BR), small landlord exemption (10 units or fewer statewide), inapplicability to rent-stabilized units. New York State Legislature. nysenate.gov
• Regina Metropolitan Co. v. DHCR, Court of Appeals of New York (April 2, 2020) — Four-year lookback limit applies to pre-June 2019 overcharges; HSTPA rules apply to post-June 2019 overcharges. nycourts.gov
• NYC Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT) — Tenant helpline (311 / “Tenant Helpline”), director Cea Weaver (appointed January 2026). nyc.gov/content/tenantprotection
• NYC Right to Counsel Program — Income eligibility (200% FPL = $51,640/year for family of three in 2024; OR age 60+), all five boroughs, immigration status irrelevance; 30% coverage rate as of 2025; 89% stable housing outcome for fully represented tenants. nyc.gov/site/mayorspeu/resources/right-to-counsel.page
• Met Council on Housing — Tenant counseling and referrals. metcouncilonhousing.org
• Legal Aid Society — Income-qualified tenant legal representation. legalaidnyc.org

Last updated: July 3, 2026. RGB data, official figures, and named officials should be re-verified when new RGB orders are issued. For the operating constitution behind every claim on this page, see About NYC Daily TL;DR; for the editorial methodology that produces the daily briefing, see How we curate.