- Glossary
- /Rent Guidelines Board (RGB)
NYC rental glossary
Rent Guidelines Board (RGB)
The nine-member NYC board that sets, once a year, the maximum percentage a rent-stabilized rent may be raised on a one- or two-year lease.
The Rent Guidelines Board is a nine-member body appointed by the Mayor that votes each year on the maximum increases landlords of rent-stabilized apartments may charge on lease renewals. It issues a numbered order — one set of percentages for a one-year renewal and another for a two-year renewal — that applies to leases beginning during a defined window (typically October 1 through the following September 30).
Because the RGB re-votes every year, the actual percentages are deliberately not quoted in this glossary — they would be stale within months. What is durable is the rule: a stabilized renewal cannot exceed the applicable RGB order for the lease’s start date, and a two-year renewal carries its own (usually higher) percentage than a one-year.
For a brokerage, the RGB order is the first ceiling any stabilized renewal lease has to clear. Software that prices renewals has to look up the order in force for the lease’s start date, not the order that happens to be current today.
See it in the product
The three-layer rent gateRelated terms
- Rent StabilizationA NYC regulatory system that caps annual rent increases and grants tenants a near-automatic right to renew their lease.
- Renewal LeaseA lease offered to a sitting tenant to extend the tenancy — near-automatic and rent-capped for stabilized units.
- Legal Regulated RentThe maximum lawful rent for a rent-regulated unit, registered with the state and built up from a base plus permitted increases.
- Preferential RentA rent a landlord charges below a stabilized unit’s legal regulated rent — which, post-HSTPA, generally becomes the base for renewals.
This definition is general information about a New York City rental or rent-regulation concept, not legal advice. The rules change and often turn on facts specific to a building, unit, and tenancy — confirm the current rule and consult a qualified attorney before acting on any individual matter.