The 2026 Rent Freeze: What Landlords Can Charge

For a rent-stabilized renewal or vacancy lease that starts on or after October 1, 2026 and on or before September 30, 2027, you can charge no guideline increase: the Rent Guidelines Board set 0% for a one-year lease and 0% for a two-year lease in Order #58. The freeze does not touch market-rate apartments, leases that started before October 1, 2026, or separate increases the Rent Stabilization Code allows, such as approved MCIs.

What decides the rate is the start date of the new lease. Not the date you mailed the offer, not the date the tenant signed, and not the June 25, 2026 vote date. That one rule resolves most questions owners are asking this fall.

Recent RGB orders by lease start date

Find the row that contains the new lease’s start date. That order sets the maximum guideline increase for the whole term.

Order #58 is the first order in the Board’s chart of Orders #1 through #58 to set 0% for both one- and two-year leases for the full term. Order #52 froze one-year leases but allowed 1% in the second year of a two-year lease. The full history is in RGB increases by year.

Offers you sent before the vote

Renewal offers go out 90 to 150 days before a lease expires, so many owners offered leases starting in October, November and December 2026 before the Board voted. The RTP-8 handles this: if the guideline is unknown when you make the offer, you check the box in Column C and enter the current guideline, which is subject to adjustment when rates are ordered.

1. 1

   Pull every renewal starting Oct 1, 2026 or later

   Include leases already signed. The start date controls, so a lease signed in July for a November 1 start falls under Order #58.
2. 2

   Recompute the new rent at 0%

   If the offer used Order #57’s 3% or 4.5% as a placeholder, the guideline portion drops to zero. Keep any separately approved increases (for example an MCI) shown in Column E.
3. 3

   Send a corrected lease or written adjustment

   Give the tenant the corrected rent in writing and keep a copy with the lease file.
4. 4

   Credit any excess already collected

   Order #58 says rent charged and paid above the order’s levels must be fully credited against the next month’s rent.

Late offers can move a lease into the freeze

If you served a renewal offer late (less than 90 days before expiration), the tenant may choose to start the new lease either on the original date or on the first rent payment date at least 90 days after your offer. HCR Fact Sheet #4 says the tenant then pays the lower of the two possible guideline rates, and the increase cannot begin before that 90-day date.

This is an illustration of the published rule, not a ruling on your file. If you have a late offer straddling two orders, check with HCR or counsel before you bill.

What the freeze does not change

Market-rate units

RGB orders cover only rent-stabilized apartments and lofts. For unregulated units, the guideline does not apply, but the Good Cause Eviction law may. In covered NYC units an increase above the local rent standard is presumed unreasonable. DHCR’s 2026 notice lists 3.38% as the 2024-to-2025 CPI change for the New York metro area, which makes the standard 8.38% (CPI plus 5%, capped at 10%). See Good Cause Eviction for owners.

MCIs, IAIs and other lawful increases

The guideline is one piece of the RTP-8. Column E covers lawful increases effective after September 30, such as an approved Major Capital Improvement. A 0% guideline does not cancel those. Model them with the MCI calculator and IAI calculator.

Preferential rents

The RGB says renewal increases on a preferential rent are calculated by applying the guideline to the preferential rent, and the preferential rent must continue to be offered at renewal. At 0%, a preferential rent renews at the same amount.

Vacancy leases

There is no separate vacancy increase since the 2019 rent law. The RGB chart notes, following HCR guidance, that the one- and two-year renewal guidelines also apply to vacant apartments re-rented during the order’s term, and no more than one guideline adjustment may be added in a guideline year. For a new tenant whose lease starts in the Order #58 period, that means 0%.

Leases already running

A two-year lease that started under Order #57 keeps its Order #57 rent until it ends. The freeze applies at that tenant’s next renewal, and only if that renewal starts by September 30, 2027.

Other provisions in Order #58

• 421-a and Section 423 units: the same 0% applies to stabilized units in buildings receiving the 421-a partial tax exemption and in Section 423 redevelopment projects.
• Odd lease lengths: a lease up to one year is a one-year lease; over one year up to two years is a two-year lease.
• Escalator clauses: validly renewable escalator increases offset the authorized increase unless the owner deletes the clause in writing effective no later than October 1, 2026.
• Units leaving rent control: for apartments decontrolled after September 30, 2026, the special guideline is 49% above the maximum base rent.

Want to double-check a specific renewal? Enter the current rent and start date in the rent-stabilized renewal calculator. Tenants with questions can use the tenant-side rent freeze checker.