If you live in a rent-stabilized apartment in New York City, you may have recently received — or are about to receive — a lease renewal offer. Under Rent Guidelines Board Order #57, which covers renewals from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, the maximum legal increases are 3% for a one-year renewal and 4.5% for a two-year renewal. That’s it. No more. If your landlord is asking for anything above those figures, they may be violating the law — and you have the right to fight back.

Here’s everything you need to know before you sign anything.

Who Is Covered: About One Million NYC Apartments

Approximately one million apartments in New York City are rent-stabilized, according to the NYC Rent Guidelines Board. These are typically units in buildings with six or more apartments built before 1974, as well as some newer buildings that received certain tax benefits (like 421-a). Rent-stabilized tenants are entitled to a renewal lease at the legal maximum increase — and their landlord cannot refuse to renew without cause recognized under the law.

If you’ve never checked whether your apartment is covered, now is the right time. Even apartments in gentrifying neighborhoods may still carry stabilization status if the building predates 1974.

The Numbers: What RGB Order #57 Actually Allows

Each year, the Rent Guidelines Board sets the maximum allowable increases for rent-stabilized renewals. For leases renewing between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026, the limits under Order #57 are:

• One-year renewal: maximum 3% increase
• Two-year renewal: maximum 4.5% increase

These are maximums, not minimums. Your landlord cannot legally charge more. You can, however, try to negotiate less — particularly if you’re a long-term tenant with a clean payment history. Some landlords will accept a one-year renewal at less than 3% rather than risk vacancy in a transitional market.

Context for why this matters: StreetEasy’s 2026 NYC Housing Market forecast projects that Manhattan median rents are approaching $5,000 per month and Brooklyn median rents may surpass $4,000 per month for the first time. In that environment, a rent-stabilized apartment with a legally capped increase is a genuine financial asset. Protect it.

The HSTPA 2019 Protection You May Not Know You Have

One of the most important changes from the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019 affects tenants paying “preferential rents” — amounts below the official registered legal rent.

Before HSTPA, landlords could offer you a preferential rent to fill a vacancy, then spike it back up to the higher “legal regulated rent” at renewal — sometimes adding hundreds of dollars overnight. The 2019 law ended that practice.

Under current law: if you began paying a preferential rent on or after June 14, 2019, that preferential amount becomes your base rent going forward. The landlord can only increase it by the RGB percentage — not jump it back to the registered legal rent. This protection follows you through renewals as long as you remain in the apartment.

If you moved in after June 2019 and your rent has always been below the “legal regulated rent” shown on your lease, you likely have this protection. Keep all lease documents to prove your rent history.

How the Renewal Process Works — and the Deadlines That Matter

Under DHCR rules, your landlord must send you a written renewal lease offer between 150 and 90 days before your current lease expires. Once you receive it, you have 60 days to respond.

Don’t let that 60-day window pass silently. If you don’t respond, your landlord can treat the non-response as acceptance of their terms. Once you sign and return the lease, your landlord has 30 days to send back a countersigned copy.

If your landlord fails to send a renewal offer in the 150-to-90-day window, that doesn’t mean you lose your right to renew — but it does create a complaint basis with DHCR. Document the timeline carefully.

How to Verify Your Apartment Is Rent-Stabilized

You can confirm rent-stabilized status two ways:

1. DHCR Building Search: Use the Rent Regulated Building Search at hcr.ny.gov/rent-regulated-building-search to look up your building.
2. Request Your Rental History: You can request a full registered rent history for your specific unit directly from DHCR. This shows every registered legal rent going back years — and will reveal if you’ve ever been charged above the legal maximum.

If your building is on the list but your landlord has never mentioned stabilization, that’s worth investigating. Some landlords allow stabilized apartments to slip into “free market” status illegally by charging above the legal rent for long enough that tenants don’t know to object.

If You’ve Been Overcharged: Your Remedies

If you discover your landlord has charged more than the legal maximum, you can file a rent overcharge complaint with DHCR online at hcr.ny.gov. Here’s what happens:

1. DHCR investigates and requests documentation from your landlord
2. If an overcharge is found, you’re entitled to a refund — with interest — going back up to six years
3. If the overcharge is found to be willful, you may be entitled to triple damages

You can also reach DHCR directly at 718-739-6400 with questions before filing.

For free advocacy help, Met Council on Housing offers counseling to rent-stabilized tenants across all five boroughs. Call 212-979-0611 or visit metcouncilonhousing.org.

Action Steps: What to Do Right Now

1. Check your building’s status at hcr.ny.gov/rent-regulated-building-search
2. Request your rental history from DHCR — free, and it shows your full registered rent record
3. Compare your renewal offer to Order #57 — if the increase exceeds 3% (one-year) or 4.5% (two-year), challenge it
4. Respond within 60 days of receiving your renewal notice — don’t let the clock run out
5. Document everything — save your renewal letter, return envelope, and all landlord communications
6. File an overcharge complaint at hcr.ny.gov or call DHCR at 718-739-6400 if you’ve been charged above the legal rent
7. Call Met Council on Housing at 212-979-0611 for free tenant advocacy support

The NYC rental market is as competitive as it has been in decades. A rent-stabilized apartment with a legally protected renewal rate is one of the best housing deals in New York. Know your rights, meet your deadlines, and don’t let a landlord squeeze more out of you than the law allows.

Will

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