DHCR Annual Rent Registration for Stabilized Units

Every owner of rent-stabilized apartments in New York must file an annual registration with the state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) for each stabilized unit, reporting its status as of April 1 and filing online between April 1 and July 31 of the same year. You must also give each tenant a copy of their unit's registration, and late filings carry a fine of $500 per unregistered unit for every month they are late.

The 2026 filing window closed on July 31, 2026. If you missed it, file now: the rent bar and fines described below keep running until you do.

The yearly cycle

1. April 1

   Snapshot date and window opens

   Register the rent and status in effect on April 1. ARRO starts accepting submissions.

2. April – July

   Enter and review

   Update building and apartment details, preview the forms, then submit and certify.

3. After submitting

   Serve tenants

   Give each tenant in occupancy the part of the registration that covers their apartment.

4. July 31

   Deadline

   Registrations submitted after this date are delinquent.

5. Up to 2 weeks later

   Records update

   New registrations can take up to two weeks to appear on ARRO rent rolls and apartment histories.

Initial vs annual registration

A building that has never been registered, usually a new building that became stabilized through a 421-a tax benefit or a regulatory agreement, files an initial registration on paper within 90 days of becoming subject to rent stabilization. That package has three forms: RR-1(i) for each apartment, RR-2(i) for the building summary, and RR-3(i) for building services. Mail or deliver it to DHCR, Office of Rent Administration, Rent Registration Unit, 92-31 Union Hall Street, 6th Floor, Jamaica, NY 11433. Buildings with 421-a(16), 485-x or 467-m benefits attach the HPD-approved workbook. You can't file annual registrations in ARRO until the initial registration is on file.

After that, annual registrations are filed online every year. More on 421-a buildings is in 421-a apartments and rent stabilization.

How to file in ARRO

1. 1

   Get access

   Email [email protected] from the address you’ll use, with your name, organization, physical mailing address (no P.O. box) and phone number. DHCR emails a user ID and password.
2. 2

   Find your Building Registration Number

   Use DHCR’s Rent Regulated Building Search. It also shows the most recent year registered.
3. 3

   Add the building for the year

   In ORRA, open Annual Rent Registration, pick the registration year, enter the building number and click ADD.
4. 4

   Complete building and apartment tabs

   Fill in each tab and click UPDATE to save. Add each stabilized apartment from the Apartment List.
5. 5

   Preview, then submit and certify

   Saving is not filing. Go back to the Building List, VIEW the data, then SUBMIT and certify. The status changes from “In Progress” to “Submitted.”
6. 6

   Print tenant copies

   Use FORMS & REPORTS to generate the apartment registration forms and serve each tenant.

Large portfolios can upload a data file instead of keying each unit (.txt or .sdf, up to 10 MB) following DHCR's Data Upload Instructions. Questions go to the Rent Registration Unit at [email protected] or the RentInfo line, (833) 499-0343.

What you report

Under the Rent Stabilization Code, the registration must show the current rent for each stabilized apartment plus a certification that required services are being maintained. In practice, the ARRO apartment screens cover:

Timing matters. DHCR's example: under RGB Order #53, the one-year guideline couldn't be added until the seventh month of the lease, so an increase that takes effect after April 1 is registered the following year, not this one. For the current guideline year, see the 2026 rent freeze for landlords and the rent-stabilized renewal calculator.

What happens if you don't register

• Fines. Since Chapter 760 of the Laws of 2023, the Rent Stabilization Law sets a fine of $500 per unregistered unit for each month a registration is delinquent. DHCR serves a notice of delinquency and can impose the fine by Commissioner's Order, which can't be challenged by a Petition for Administrative Review. Unpaid fines are docketed and enforced like a State Supreme Court judgment once the time for an Article 78 appeal runs out.
• A rent bar. Until the registration is filed, you can't apply for or collect rent above the base date rent plus lawful adjustments allowed before the failure to register. Filing late lifts the bar going forward only.
• Overcharge exposure. DHCR says an apartment's registration history can be used to check whether the rent being charged is lawful, and overcharge complaints generally look back six years. Tenants can request an apartment's registration history; see requesting rent history.

Fixing mistakes: add-ons and amendments

• Forgot a unit? Add it in ARRO, print the apartment form and the certified building summary, write “ADD-ON” at the top, mail to the Rent Registration Unit, and give the tenant a copy. Add it again in next year's filing.
• Wrong information this year? Print the form, write “AMENDMENT” at the top, mark corrections in pen and highlighter, mail it with the building summary, and serve the tenant.
• Wrong information in a prior year? You need a DHCR order first (an application for an administrative determination), unless DHCR or another supervising agency already directed the change. Attach that directive.

Related filings people confuse with this one

• HPD property registration is a separate, yearly city filing for buildings with 3+ units. Without it you can't certify HPD violations or bring a nonpayment case. See HPD property registration.
• The rent stabilization fee is billed by the NYC Department of Finance on your property tax bill. Don't send it to DHCR.

How registrations show up on Roofy

When a building appears in rent-stabilization records, its page on Roofy's building lookup says so and notes that some apartments may be stabilized. Renters use that signal to decide whether to request a rent history from DHCR, which shows what you registered for their unit. Our rent-stabilized checker walks tenants through the same signals.

This is general information, not legal advice. DHCR's Rent Registration page and ARRO instructions are the authority on current procedures.