Renting & housing · Question
Rent-stabilized lease renewal in NYC: your right to renew, timelines and allowed increases
Updated By The editorial teamNot reviewed by an attorney — based on the official sources below
In short
If your New York City apartment is rent-stabilized, you generally have the right to renew your lease for one or two years, your choice, on the same terms as your current lease. The owner must send the renewal offer on DHCR's form by mail or hand delivery between 150 and 90 days before your lease expires. You then have 60 days to choose a term, sign and return it, and the owner must give you a fully signed copy within 30 days. The rent increase is set each year by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board. For leases starting October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, DHCR lists a 0% guideline for both terms.
Read on for the details, the exceptions and the sources.
In plain words
- Rent stabilization
- A system that limits rent increases and gives tenants the right to renew. DHCR can tell you whether your apartment is covered.
- Rent Guidelines Board (RGB)
- The board that sets the yearly percentage stabilized rents can rise on renewal.
- DHCR
- The NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal, the agency that administers rent stabilization.
- Preferential rent
- A rent the owner agrees to charge below the legal maximum.
The full answer
Rent-stabilized tenants generally must be offered renewal leases. In New York City, the owner must give written notice of renewal, by mail or personal delivery, on DHCR's Renewal Lease Form (RTP-8), not more than 150 and not less than 90 days before the existing lease expires. You choose a one- or two-year term. The renewal must keep the same terms and conditions as the expiring lease, unless a change is required by a specific law or regulation, and the DHCR lease rider must be attached.
After you receive the offer, you have 60 days to choose the term, sign and return it. If you don't accept within 60 days, the owner may refuse to renew and may go to court after your current lease ends. Once you return the signed form, the owner must give you a fully signed and dated copy within 30 days. The new lease starts no earlier than the day your current lease expires.
The increase is the Rent Guidelines Board rate for your chosen term, plus any lawful increases for individual apartment improvements or major capital improvements. According to DHCR Fact Sheet #26, the NYC guideline for leases starting October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 is 0% for one-year and 0% for two-year leases (it was 3% and 4.5% for leases starting October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026). If you pay a preferential rent that was in effect on or after June 14, 2019, you keep it for the rest of your tenancy, and guideline increases apply to the preferential rent.
Exceptions and special cases
- The owner can refuse to renew only for limited reasons, such as needing the apartment as their own or an immediate family member's primary residence (with special rules for seniors and people with disabilities), your not using it as your primary residence, or taking it off the market, for example for demolition. The owner must give written notice of non-renewal within the same 150-to-90-day window; if they don't, you're entitled to a renewal.
- Late offers: DHCR's example explains that when an offer comes late, you can choose whether the lease starts on the date it would have started or on the first rent payment date at least 90 days after the offer, and the lower applicable guideline rate applies.
- Adding your spouse: you can ask the owner to add your spouse, who lives there as a primary residence, to the renewal lease, with no extra increase beyond the guideline.
- Electronic leases: an owner may offer a lease electronically only if you voluntarily consent on DHCR form EL-TVC.
- Outside NYC (where the Emergency Tenant Protection Act applies), the owner must sign the renewal notice and send it by certified mail 120 to 90 days before the lease expires, and you return it by certified mail.
- Rent-controlled tenants don't sign renewal leases; their tenancies continue by law.
What to do now
Confirm your apartment is stabilized
Request your apartment's rent registration history from DHCR (rent.hcr.ny.gov), which also helps you check that your rent is lawful.
Mark your calendar
Count 150 and 90 days back from your lease's end date. The offer should arrive in that window.
When the offer comes, check it
Compare the new rent with the guideline rate for your start date and term, and make sure no new terms were added without a legal requirement.
Sign and return within 60 days
Choose one or two years, sign and return it, and keep a copy and proof of the date you returned it.
If something goes wrong, file with DHCR
If you don't get an offer, or the owner doesn't return a signed copy within 30 days, first contact the owner, then file form RA-90 with DHCR's Office of Rent Administration. Keep paying the new rent in the meantime.
Figures that change
- NYC rent-stabilized guideline, leases starting 10/1/2026–9/30/2027: 0% (1-year), 0% (2-year) (as of 2026-10-30; Fact Sheet #26: Guide to Rent Increases for Rent Stabilized Apartments)
- NYC rent-stabilized guideline, leases starting 10/1/2025–9/30/2026: 3% (1-year), 4.5% (2-year) (as of 2026-10-30; Fact Sheet #26: Guide to Rent Increases for Rent Stabilized Apartments)
Frequently asked questions
I didn't get my renewal offer. Is my lease over?
No. Contact the owner first. If they still don't offer a renewal, file DHCR form RA-90. A non-renewal notice also has to come within the 150-to-90-day window, or you're entitled to a renewal.
Can the owner add a pet ban or a late fee at renewal?
Not if they weren't in your original lease and no law requires them. DHCR's Fact Sheet #4 gives that example: such riders are material changes that can't be added, and you can sign without waiving rights and file a complaint.
Does the Good Cause Eviction Law apply to my stabilized apartment?
No. Units already regulated by rent stabilization are exempt from Good Cause (Real Property Law § 214(5)); rent stabilization gives you its own protections.
Is the 0% guideline final?
It's the rate DHCR lists for NYC leases starting October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. Check the Rent Guidelines Board's order and DHCR's Fact Sheet #26 for your exact start date.
Want your own situation checked?
This page is general. Describe what happened, attach the letter or document you received, and get a free first answer — then, if you want, a full check against New York and federal law and a letter ready to send.
Check my situation — freeOfficial sources
This page was written from the sources below. “Checked” is the date the source was last opened and read.
- Fact Sheet #4: Lease Renewal in Rent Stabilized Apartments (opens in a new tab)New York State Homes and Community Renewal (Division of Housing and Community Renewal) · Checked: October 30, 2026NYC renewal window (150–90 days), 60 days to accept, signed copy within 30 days, same terms, late offers, non-renewal grounds, RA-90 (Rent Stabilization Code § 2523.5)
- Leases (Security Deposits, Roommates, Sublets, and More) (opens in a new tab)New York State Homes and Community Renewal (Division of Housing and Community Renewal) · Checked: October 30, 2026Right to a one- or two-year renewal, preferential rent kept, adding a spouse, electronic lease consent, outside-NYC timeline
- Fact Sheet #26: Guide to Rent Increases for Rent Stabilized Apartments (opens in a new tab)New York State Homes and Community Renewal (Division of Housing and Community Renewal) · Checked: October 30, 2026NYC Rent Guidelines Board rates by lease start date; IAI and MCI increases
- Residential Tenants' Rights Guide (opens in a new tab)Office of the New York State Attorney General · Checked: October 30, 2026Renewal rights and timeline for NYC rent-stabilized tenants
- N.Y. Real Property Law (opens in a new tab)New York State Senate — Open Legislation (official text of the Consolidated Laws) · § 214(5) · Checked: October 30, 2026Rent-regulated units are exempt from the Good Cause Eviction Law
- NYC Rent Guidelines Board (opens in a new tab)New York City Rent Guidelines Board · Checked: October 30, 2026The yearly NYC rent guidelines orders
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This page is general information based on the official sources listed, current as of the update date. It is not legal advice and does not replace a review of your own situation; if a case is already in court, a deadline is close, the amount is large, or there are criminal, immigration or family-law consequences, talk to a lawyer or legal aid.