Free NYC Rent-Stabilized Rent Increase Notice

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This is the notice for a rent-stabilized apartment, where the increase is not the landlord’s choice. The NYC Rent Guidelines Board sets the renewal increase every year by lease-commencement date. Under the current RGB Order #57, a renewal lease commencing Oct 1, 2025 – Sept 30, 2026 may rise 3% for one year or 4.5% for two years. Offer the renewal on DHCR form RTP-8, 90 to 150 days before the lease expires, and let the tenant pick the term. Confirm the current RGB order, then generate a clean notice below.

RGB rate / RTP-8 (90-150 days) RGB Order #57 / RTP-8 NYC Rent-Stabilized Free PDF

This NYC Rent-Stabilized Rent Increase Notice raises the rent on a rent-stabilized apartment at renewal. For a stabilized unit the increase is set by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), not chosen by the landlord – that is what makes this regime distinct from a NYC market-rate notice (the RPL §226-c graduated 30/60/90-day rule) and from an older rent-controlled unit (the separate Maximum Base Rent regime). Each RGB year the Board sets a one-year and a two-year renewal percentage by lease-commencement date; under the current RGB Order #57, a renewal lease commencing October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026 may increase 3% for a one-year term or 4.5% for a two-year term. You must offer the renewal on DHCR form RTP-8, 90 to 150 days before the lease expires. Our how to raise rent guide covers the timing, and the tenant screening laws by state hub helps you place reliable tenants in the first place.

Complete the fields below to generate a NYC Rent-Stabilized rent increase notice. The new rent and effective date must give the tenant the full statutory notice period. Service should comply with applicable New York law; retain proof of service.

A NYC rent-stabilized rent increase notice is the written renewal a landlord offers to raise the rent on a rent-stabilized apartment. The single most important fact about this regime is that the landlord does not choose the increase. For a stabilized unit, the size of the renewal increase is set every year by the New York City Rent Guidelines Board, an appointed board that meets each spring and votes on the percentages that apply to renewal leases commencing in the year that runs from October 1 to September 30. That makes this notice fundamentally different from a market-rate increase, where the landlord names a number and the law only regulates the notice. Here the number itself comes from the Board, and the landlord’s job is to apply the right percentage to the right base rent and to offer the renewal the right way.

Under the current order, RGB Order #57, a renewal lease commencing on or after October 1, 2025 and on or before September 30, 2026 may increase by 3 percent for a one-year renewal or 4.5 percent for a two-year renewal, and the same percentages apply to lofts covered by Article 7-C of the Multiple Dwelling Law. Those figures are tied to the lease-commencement date, not the calendar year, so a renewal that begins inside that window takes that order’s rate even if the paperwork is prepared earlier. Because the Board issues a new order every year, the percentage is a moving target: a landlord should always confirm the current RGB order for the commencement date of the particular renewal rather than assume last year’s rate still applies. The percentage is also applied to the rent the tenant actually pays. If the tenant has a preferential rent – a rent lower than the legal regulated rent registered with the state – the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act carries that preferential rent forward into renewals, so the RGB increase is taken on the preferential amount, and the higher legal regulated rent generally cannot be restored until the unit becomes vacant.

The mechanics of the offer are just as regulated as the amount. The owner must offer the renewal on the state agency’s Renewal Lease Form, designated RTP-8, issued by New York State Homes and Community Renewal through its Division of Housing and Community Renewal. The offer must go to the tenant by mail or personal delivery not more than 150 days and not less than 90 days before the existing lease expires. The renewal must offer both a one-year and a two-year term, and the choice belongs to the tenant, who has 60 days from the offer to select a term, sign, and return the form; once the signed form comes back, the owner must return a fully executed copy within 30 days. The new rent then takes effect on the renewal-lease commencement date the tenant selected. Serving the right form in the right window matters: an offer made late, early, or on the wrong paperwork can leave the tenant entitled to continue on the old terms.

Two larger changes from the 2019 HSTPA shape how stabilization now works. First, the law ended the practices that used to push units out of stabilization: it eliminated the automatic 20 percent vacancy bonus a landlord could add between tenants, and it repealed high-rent and high-income luxury decontrol, so a stabilized apartment now stays stabilized no matter how high the rent climbs. Second, it tightened individual apartment improvement and major capital improvement increases, making them smaller and temporary rather than permanent additions to the rent. The registered legal rent still governs in the background, and a tenant who believes the rent charged is higher than the law allows can file a rent overcharge complaint with DHCR or bring a claim in court; a willful overcharge can carry treble damages, and the agency can examine the rent history to unwind improper increases. Because the registered rent and the renewal history matter so much, the landlord should keep the executed RTP-8, proof of service, and a clear record of how the increase was calculated. Our how to raise rent guide walks through the timing, and screening applicants with verified reports keeps tenancies stable so the renewals you offer go smoothly.

The figure the renewal increase is built on is the apartment’s maximum legal rent. Under Rent Stabilization Code Section 2522.5 the maximum legal regulated rent is the original base rent plus every RGB-permitted increase taken since, and Section 2523.5 is the renewal-offer rule that sets the 90-to-150-day window and the two-term (one-year and two-year) offer the owner must make. Those two sections are why a stabilized increase is a paperwork exercise against a registered number rather than a negotiation: the registered legal rent is on file with DHCR, the tenant can request the apartment’s rent history to check it, and an increase that runs past the RGB percentage on that base is an overcharge. If a stabilized tenant refuses to pay a properly calculated, properly offered new rent, the owner’s remedy is a rent demand and a nonpayment proceeding under RPAPL Section 711 in New York City Housing Court – but that court enforces the Rent Stabilization Code strictly, so a renewal offered late, offered without both terms, or set above the RGB rate hands the tenant a defense and can leave the overcharge exposed to treble damages and attorney’s fees. Getting the base, the percentage, and the window right is what makes the notice hold up.

It is worth drawing the boundary lines clearly, because conflating the regimes is the most common error. This page is for rent-stabilized apartments only. A market-rate apartment in New York City is governed instead by Real Property Law Section 226-c, the graduated-notice rule that requires 30, 60, or 90 days’ written notice for an increase of five percent or more or a non-renewal – a different notice entirely, covered on our NYC market-rate rent increase notice page. An older rent-controlled apartment, a shrinking category occupied by long-tenured tenants, follows yet another regime built on a Maximum Base Rent and Maximum Collectible Rent rather than the RGB renewal percentages. So a clean rent-stabilized increase comes down to a short, exact sequence: confirm the unit is stabilized, look up the current RGB order for the renewal-commencement date, apply the one- or two-year percentage to the rent the tenant actually pays, offer the renewal on the RTP-8 within the 90-to-150-day window, let the tenant choose the term, and keep the proof. None of this replaces the screening you do at move-in – a tenant chosen for steady income and a clean payment history is the one most likely to renew smoothly at the Board’s rate.

• RGB sets the increase — on a rent-stabilized unit the renewal increase is fixed annually by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board by the lease-commencement date; it is not the landlord’s choice.
• Current RGB Order #57 — a renewal lease commencing October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026 may rise 3% for a one-year term or 4.5% for a two-year term (Article 7-C lofts at the same rate). Confirm the current order, since the rate changes each RGB year.
• RTP-8 renewal offer (RSC §2523.5) — the owner must offer the renewal on DHCR form RTP-8, by mail or personal delivery, not more than 150 and not less than 90 days before the existing lease expires, offering both a one- and a two-year term.
• Maximum legal rent (RSC §2522.5) — the RGB percentage is taken on the registered maximum legal rent (original base rent plus prior RGB-permitted increases); request the apartment’s DHCR rent history if you are unsure of the legal base.
• Tenant chooses the term — the tenant may take a one- or two-year renewal and has 60 days to sign and return; the owner returns a fully executed copy within 30 days.
• Increase on the actual base rent — apply the RGB percentage to the rent the tenant pays; HSTPA 2019 carries a preferential rent into renewals, so a higher legal regulated rent is not restored until vacancy.
• Stabilization is durable — HSTPA 2019 ended the 20% vacancy bonus and luxury (high-rent/high-income) decontrol, so a stabilized unit stays stabilized however high the rent goes.
• No retaliatory or discriminatory action — the renewal must be offered, and an overcharge or improper denial can be challenged at DHCR (a willful overcharge can carry treble damages).

• The renewal must be offered on DHCR form RTP-8 — a verbal or non-form renewal does not satisfy the rent-stabilization rules.
• Serve the RTP-8 by mail or personal delivery, not more than 150 and not less than 90 days before the lease expires; certified mail with a return receipt gives the cleanest proof.
• Offer both a one- and a two-year term so the tenant can choose; the tenant has 60 days to sign and return the form.
• Keep proof of service and a copy of the fully executed renewal, which the owner must return within 30 days of receiving the signed form.

• Picking your own increase instead of the RGB rate — on a stabilized unit the Rent Guidelines Board sets it, and the current RGB Order #57 is 3% (one-year) or 4.5% (two-year).
• Using an old RGB order — the rate changes each RGB year by lease-commencement date, so confirm the current order before setting the amount.
• Offering the renewal outside the 90-to-150-day window, or not on the DHCR RTP-8 form.
• Taking the increase on a higher legal regulated rent when the tenant pays a preferential rent — HSTPA 2019 carries the preferential rent into the renewal.
• Treating the unit as deregulated — HSTPA 2019 ended luxury decontrol, so a stabilized unit stays stabilized regardless of the rent level.
• Confusing this with the NYC market-rate RPL 226-c notice or the separate rent-controlled regime.
• Skipping the paper trail before a nonpayment proceeding — if the tenant refuses to pay, the remedy is a rent demand and an RPAPL 711 nonpayment case in NYC Housing Court, which enforces the Rent Stabilization Code strictly, so a late, single-term, or above-RGB offer becomes the tenant’s defense.

• Confirm the apartment is rent-stabilized (check the DHCR registration) before using this notice.
• Look up the current RGB order for the renewal-commencement date and apply the one- or two-year percentage the tenant’s term calls for.
• Offer the renewal on the DHCR RTP-8 within the 90-to-150-day window, by a method you can prove.
• Apply the increase to the rent the tenant actually pays, keep the registered legal rent accurate, and retain proof of service and the executed renewal.

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