NYC Rent Stabilization
If You're Paying
If You're Paying
Too Much, We Get It Back.
Rent-stabilized apartments in NYC have a legally registered rent — and a landlord who charges more is committing rent overcharge. We review your rent history, prove the overcharge, and recover what you've overpaid — with treble damages where the overcharge was willful. Going back six years.
Signs Your Apartment Might Be Stabilized.
Approximately one million NYC apartments are rent-stabilized — many tenants don't know they're in one. These are the most common signals.
- Your Building Has 6+ Apartments and Was Built Before 1974 These are the most common qualifiers. Pre-1974 buildings with six or more units are almost always rent-stabilized unless they've been formally deregulated. →
- You Live in a Tax-Benefited Building Buildings receiving 421-a, J-51, or other tax abatements are usually rent-stabilized for as long as the benefit lasts — and sometimes permanently. Many tenants don't know their building has these benefits. →
- You Pay Less Than $2,600/Month for Your Apartment While rent levels alone don't determine status, lower rents in NYC are often a sign of stabilization. The legally registered rent can be far less than what new tenants pay on the market. →
- Your Landlord Refuses to Show You the Registration History Rent-stabilized units have publicly available registration histories at HCR.ny.gov. If your landlord avoids the question, deflects, or refuses to provide documentation, that's a strong signal something is off. →
- Multiple Small Buildings Owned by the Same Landlord Two or three small buildings sharing common ownership, management, and services can legally be treated as a single 'horizontal multiple dwelling' — and qualify as rent-stabilized even if individually each has fewer than 6 units. →
- Your Lease Renews Automatically with Capped Increases Rent-stabilized leases have specific renewal rules with state-set maximum increases. If your renewals follow this pattern, you're almost certainly stabilized. →
- Your Neighbors Pay Dramatically Different Rents Wide rent variations across similar units in the same building often signal stabilization — long-term stabilized tenants paying legally registered rents while newer tenants pay market rents the landlord may not be entitled to charge. →
- You Inherited the Apartment From a Family Member Succession rights in rent-stabilized apartments allow family members to take over the lease in certain circumstances. If you took over from a parent, spouse, or other family member who lived there for years, you may be a stabilized successor tenant. →
Free rent-history review.
We pull your unit's registration history and tell you straight: are you overpaying?
What We Do for Stabilized Tenants.
Once we confirm your stabilization status, we pursue every applicable remedy.
- Pull Your Rent History We obtain your unit's full DHCR registration history — going back decades when necessary — to establish the legally registered rent at every point in time. This is the foundation of every overcharge case. →
- Calculate Your Overcharge We compare what you paid against the legally registered rent for every month — calculating the precise overcharge dollar-by-dollar over the limitations period. →
- Treble Damages Where Willful If the overcharge was willful — knowingly charging above the legal rent — NY law authorizes treble damages: three times the overcharge, going back six years. We pursue this aggressively where the facts support it. →
- Renewal Rights Enforcement Landlords must renew rent-stabilized leases at the end of every term — with very narrow exceptions. We force renewal at the legal rate when landlords try to avoid it. →
- Improperly Deregulated Apartments Many landlords incorrectly claimed deregulation under prior law. The 2019 tenant-protection law substantially limited those claims — many apartments thought to be deregulated are actually still stabilized. →
- Horizontal Multiple Dwelling Findings Where a landlord owns multiple small buildings with shared services, we pursue DHCR findings establishing the buildings as a single 'horizontal multiple dwelling' — bringing stabilization to units the landlord didn't think were covered. →
- Succession Rights Family members who lived with a stabilized tenant for the required period before they died, moved out, or transferred the lease have legal rights to succeed to the tenancy. We litigate these claims when landlords refuse to recognize them. →
- Coordinated Building-Wide Action When a landlord overcharged one unit, they typically overcharged many. We can pursue coordinated action across an entire building when the pattern is established. →
Want to know what your unit's legal rent is?
We can tell you in one phone call. Free consultation.
What Recovery Looks Like.
Rent overcharge cases can produce substantial recovery — especially where the overcharge has gone on for years.
- Refund of Overpaid Rent The full difference between what you paid and the legal rent, going back up to six years.
- Treble Damages Three times the overcharge — applies when the overcharge was willful. Many cases qualify.
- Interest on Overpayments Statutory interest on the overpaid amounts, calculated from when each overpayment was made.
- Going-Forward Rent Reduction Court orders your rent reduced to the legal stabilized rate for as long as you remain in the unit.
- Attorney's Fees Where the rent overcharge was willful, courts typically shift legal fees to the landlord.
- Building-Wide Pattern If the same landlord overcharged multiple tenants, we coordinate claims across all affected units — dramatically increasing settlement pressure.
Tell Us About Your Apartment.
Provide your address and rent — we'll pull your DHCR registration history and tell you whether you're being overcharged. The review is free.
Rent Stabilization Questions Answered.
How do I check if my apartment is rent-stabilized right now?
Go to HCR.ny.gov, click 'Rent Regulated Building Search' or 'Apartment Lookup,' and enter your address. You'll see whether your building is registered as rent-stabilized and the legally registered rent for your unit. Compare that number to what you're paying. If you're paying significantly more, contact us — you may have an overcharge case.
How far back can I claim overcharge damages?
Six years. The 2019 tenant-protection law expanded this lookback substantially. Before 2019, the lookback was much shorter — but now we can examine your full rent history over the six years preceding the filing of the claim, regardless of how long the overcharge has been occurring.
What does "treble damages" actually mean for my case?
If your overcharge was willful — meaning the landlord knew or should have known they were charging above the legal rent — you're entitled to three times the overcharge as damages. Example: $800/month overcharge × 48 months = $38,400 base overcharge × 3 = $115,200 treble damages, plus interest. Many cases qualify for treble damages.
My landlord says my apartment was "deregulated." Is that true?
Maybe — but verify it. Apartments could be deregulated under prior law if rent or tenant income exceeded specific thresholds, but the 2019 tenant-protection law eliminated most deregulation mechanisms going forward. Many landlords claimed deregulation that was never actually valid, or that the 2019 law rescinded. We can review your unit's full history to determine whether the deregulation was legitimate.
What's a 'horizontal multiple dwelling' and how does it affect me?
If your landlord owns multiple adjacent or nearby small buildings that share services — common ownership, shared management, shared utilities, common entryways — those buildings can legally be treated as a single building for stabilization purposes. This means buildings that individually have fewer than 6 units can collectively trigger rent stabilization. Many landlords avoid stabilization by formally separating buildings that operate as one — and HMD findings can bring stabilization to units the landlord didn't think were covered.
I inherited my apartment from a family member. Am I a stabilized tenant?
Probably, if the family member was stabilized and you meet succession requirements. Succession rights in rent-stabilized apartments require that you lived with the prior tenant for a specified period (typically two years; one year for seniors or disabled persons) before they vacated. Family relationships covered include spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, and in some cases, non-traditional family members. We can review your circumstances and file succession claims when applicable.
Can my landlord raise my rent above the stabilized rate?
Only by specific amounts set annually by the Rent Guidelines Board, and only at lease renewal. Your landlord cannot raise the rent mid-lease, cannot charge above the legally registered rate plus the maximum increase, and cannot impose 'fees' or 'charges' that effectively raise the rent. If your rent has gone up by more than the allowed percentage, you have an overcharge claim.
How much does this cost me?
Nothing unless we recover money for you. We represent rent-stabilization clients on contingency — our fee is a percentage of the overcharge refund and treble damages, plus court-ordered attorney's fee shifts. You pay no out-of-pocket costs. The initial rent-history review and overcharge calculation is free.
Want to learn more?
Detailed walkthrough of NYC rent stabilization — registration history, horizontal multiple dwellings, overcharge calculations, and succession rights.
Read the full guide →If You're Paying Too Much, We Get It Back.
Free rent-history review. Treble damages on willful overcharges, going back six years. No fee unless we win.