Rent Increases and Rent Overcharge (2024)

1) What are the legally permissible methods for increasing the rent of a rent regulated apartment?

There are several ways to increase the rent for apartments under both Rent Control and Rent Stabilization. For specific information, see Fact Sheets:

#5 - Vacancy Leases in Rent Stabilized Apartments
#22 - Maximum Base Rent Program (MBR) Questions and Answers for Owners
#24 -Major Capital Improvements (MCI)
#26 - Guide to Rent Increases for Rent Stabilized Apartments
#40 -Preferential Rents
Operational Bulletin 2016-1 -Individual Apartment Improvements

2) Is a building owner required to provide a tenant with an itemized bill? NEW! (11/23)

Owners are required to provide an itemized bill or rent receipt at the time of each rental payment to rent controlled tenants. Under new regulations effective November 8, 2023, owners are required to provide rent stabilized tenants with rent receipts when they pay by cash, and to provide receipts upon request if the rent stabilized tenant pays with a check.

3) Can owners require their tenants to pay their rent with a debit or credit card through an electronic payment system?

No. Owners cannot require tenants to pay their rent with a debit or credit card through an electronic payment system. Owners may offer the service on a voluntary basis as an accommodation to the tenants. Tenants are allowed to discontinue their participation in the payment system at any time.

4) Can an owner require rent to be paid in advance?

No. An owner may not demand rent to be paid in advance from the tenant. However, an owner can accept rent paid in advance if voluntarily offered by the tenant.

5) May an owner collect a lease or maximum collectible rent increase from a tenant when a DHCR rent reduction order for decrease in services is still in effect?

If the rent reduction order was issued to arent stabilizedtenant, the owner cannotcollecta guideline rent increase upon renewal or vacancy but can calculate the increase in the new lease. The rentthat is collected will remain frozen until DHCR issues a rent restoration order.

If the rent reduction order was issued to a

6) What are my rights concerning garage/parkingspaces?

Garage/parking spaces are considered an ancillary service which are provided by owners to tenants as a service sometimes included in the apartment rent, with no separate lease or charge. If the owner requires the tenant to continue to use the service, the owner cannot unreasonably refuse to allow the tenant to sublet it for the term of each lease renewal.

The garage/parking space can also be offered under a lease that is separate and apart from the apartment.If it is offered by the owner and if there is or was a history of common ownership, directly or indirectly between the building owner and the contractor, or if the service is exclusively for the tenants, then it is subject to rent stabilization. In this situation, an initial free market rent can be set for a tenant signing their first separate lease for the service. However, renewal leases for the garage/parking space are subject to guideline rate limitations and the tenant is not required to renew the lease. If it is offered by a contractorand there was never common ownership between the contractor and the building owner, then the service is not subject to rent stabilization.

In all rent stabilized situations, the tenants keeping the space unoccupied indefinitely is not grounds for the discontinuance of the service.

7) Are tenants required to pay NYC Sales Tax to the owner on a garage/parking space that is subject to Rent Stabilization?

The NYC Sales Tax can be collected if the tax was imposed on the owner for the garage/parking space, and the garage/parking space was provided to the tenant in a charge separate from the apartment rent. It can never be calculated in the apartment rent.

8) Can a tenant in a rent regulated apartment take in a roommate and is there a limit on the rent that the roommate can be charged?

When only one tenant is named on a lease, the tenant has the right to take in a roommate and the roommate's dependent children. When two or more tenants are named on the lease, the number of tenants and roommates cannot exceed the number of tenants named in the lease. In all situations, occupancy may be restricted in order to comply with municipal regulations concerning overcrowding.

In a rent stabilized apartment, the rent collected from the roommate cannot exceed their proportionate share of the apartment. For example, one tenant named on a lease can take in one roommate and the roommate can be charged no more than half of the rent charged to the prime tenant. The roommate can be advised to file a complaint of rent overcharge with DHCR if they were charged in excess of that proportionate share.

In a rent controlled apartment, a roommate may not be charged an amount of rent that is in excess of the legal rent for the apartment. Any determination of a rent overcharge is under the jurisdiction of the civil court.

9) What are the limitations on the rent amount a rent stabilized tenant can charge their roommate(s)? What if the rent stabilized tenant is a SCRIE recipient?

In a rent stabilized apartment, the rent collected from a roommate cannot exceed their proportionate share of the apartment. For example, if the rent stabilized tenant has one roommate, that roommate can’t be charged more than half of the total rent that is charged to the rent stabilized tenant. Therefore, when the rent stabilized tenant receives a SCRIE subsidy, the roommates share should be computed from the amount that is paid by the tenant.

10) Can owners who receive ERAP assistance for a rent stabilized apartment increase the rent?

For rent stabilized units receiving ERAP,lawful rent increases are allowed to be preserved in the lease, but landlords must follow ERAP guidelines and agree to not increase the monthly rental amount above the monthly amount due at the time of application for ERAP assistance for months for which the rental assistance is received and for one year from receipt of the ERAP payment. Owners are advised by DHCR tosend a letter to the tenant at the time ERAP payments begin and attach an explanatory rider at the time of the lease renewal. The rider should clarify that a lower rent is being charged pursuant to an ERAP directive and that the higher legal rent cannot be collected during the period of the ERAP rent freeze. The higher legal rent that was in the lease can be collected only when the ERAP rent freeze expires. It is unlawful for an owner to demand arrears from the tenant, in a lump sum or in any other manner, for the difference between the higher legal rent and the lower rent for the period that the ERAP rent freeze was in effect.