Guides

NYC rental law, in plain English.

The rules that govern a New York City lease are scattered across HSTPA, the Rent Guidelines Board, DHCR fact sheets, and a stack of local laws. These guides pull the essentials into one place — written for the brokers who negotiate the deal and the landlords who own the building. Each one pairs with a calculator so you can run the numbers, not just read about them.

General information, not legal advice. Verify any figure with NYS HCR, the NYC Rent Guidelines Board, and NYC DCWP before relying on it.

NYC rent stabilization, explainedWhat makes an apartment rent-stabilized, how the legal regulated rent works, and how the annual RGB renewal caps apply.
Good Cause Eviction in NYCWhich market-rate units are covered, what counts as "good cause," and the reasonable-rent-increase standard — an advisory, not a hard cap.
The FARE Act: who pays the broker feeNYC's Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act and the landlord-paid presumption for broker fees — what brokers and landlords each need to know.
RGB rent increases by yearThe Rent Guidelines Board, the one- and two-year renewal percentages it sets each October, and the orders from 2020 through 2026.
MCI and IAI rent increasesMajor Capital Improvements and Individual Apartment Improvements: how each can raise a regulated rent, and the HSTPA caps that limit them.