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Protections for Preferential Rents
• If you are paying a preferential rent, your landlord
is no longer allowed to revoke it and raise your rent
to the higher legal regulated rent.
• If you have a preferential rent, it will say so on
your lease or on a lease rider. The lease will show
your legal rent, and if you have a preferential
rent, it will be shown in the section of the lease
that says: “Lower rent to be charged, if any.”
• This means that your landlord cannot raise your
preferential rent more than the percentage set by
the Rent Guidelines Board, plus any charges for
MCI or IAI, if they apply.
No More Vacancy Increases
• Vacancy bonuses and longevity bonuses are now prohibited.
› The vacancy bonus allowed landlords to increase the rent
of an apartment up to 20% once it became vacant.
› The longevity bonus allowed landlords to increase the rent if the
previous tenant had been living in the apartment for eight years or more.
Curbing the Deregulation of Apartments
• In most cases, landlords are no longer allowed to take an apartment out
of rent regulation when the rent is more than the “high-rent threshold” and
the apartment becomes vacant.*
• In most cases, landlords may no longer take an apartment out of rent
regulation if the tenant is considered “high-income.”*
• Apartments that were deregulated before June 15, 2019 will continue to be so.
However, you should check your rent history, as the law now allows you to look
back at your apartment’s rent history to challenge both the deregulation of
your apartment and the rent you are being charged.
* “High rent” and “high income” deregulation may still apply to rent stabilized units
in certain new buildings that receive tax abatements.
PREFERENTIAL
RENT is when
your landlord
offers you a rent
regulated lease
in which your
rent payment is
less than what
that landlord
can legally
charge under
rent regulation.
To check your rent history, call the Office of Rent Administration at
(718) 739-6400, or visit portal.hcr.ny.gov/app/ask.