Rent-stabilized vs. market-rate: what you're actually renting
Two Brooklyn apartments at the same price can come with completely different legal futures. The difference is usually one word: stabilization.
Rent-stabilized basics
- Roughly a million NYC apartments are rent-stabilized, mostly in buildings of 6+ units built before 1974.
- You're entitled to a renewal lease, and increases are set each year by the Rent Guidelines Board - typically low single digits, not market swings.
- Eviction requires a legal reason. The apartment is effectively yours as long as you pay rent and follow the lease.
How to check an apartment
Request the apartment's rent history from the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) - free, by email or mail, and it shows every registered rent going back years. A "market-rate" apartment with a stabilized history is a five-alarm find: you may have strong rights the listing didn't mention. Some brokers advertise stabilized units accurately and they're often the best value in the city - ask directly.
Market-rate tenants have new protections too
Since 2024, New York's Good Cause Eviction law covers many market-rate NYC apartments: your landlord generally must offer renewals, eviction requires good cause, and increases above a threshold (the lower of 10% or 5% plus inflation) are presumed unreasonable in court. Exemptions exist - small landlords, high-rent units above a set threshold, newer construction - so check whether your building is covered. Either way, the 30/60/90-day written notice rules for big increases and non-renewals apply to almost everyone.
Preferential rent trap
If a stabilized lease says the "legal rent" is $3,200 but you pay a "preferential" $2,600, the lower rent is now your base for increases for as long as you stay - a 2019 change that protects you. Get the preferential amount written into the lease.