Rent-stabilized renewal leases: deadlines and your choices

In New York City, the owner of a rent-stabilized apartment must offer you a renewal lease on the state’s Renewal Lease Form (RTP-8) between 90 and 150 days before your current lease expires, and you then have 60 days to pick a one- or two-year term, sign and return it. The rent increase is capped by the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) order in effect when the new lease starts: for leases starting from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, that is 0% for either term.

The renewal timeline, step by step

These deadlines come from the Rent Stabilization Code (9 NYCRR § 2523.5) as explained in New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) Fact Sheet #4. They count back from the day your current lease ends.

1. 150 to 90 days before your lease ends

   Owner mails or hand-delivers the renewal offer

   It must be on DHCR’s Renewal Lease Form (RTP-8) or an approved copy, with the NYC Lease Rider for Rent Stabilized Tenants attached. The rider explains how the new rent was calculated and your rights.

2. Within 60 days of receiving the offer

   You pick 1 or 2 years, sign and return it

   Keep a copy of what you signed and proof of when and how you returned it (a photo, a mailing receipt, an email from the management office).

3. Within 30 days of getting your signed form

   Owner returns the fully signed, dated copy to you

   If it never comes back, keep paying the new rent and file DHCR form RA-90 (Tenant’s Complaint of Owner’s Failure to Renew Lease and/or Failure to Furnish a Copy of a Signed Lease).

4. The day after your current lease ends

   The renewal lease starts

   A renewal starts on or after the date it is signed and returned, but no earlier than the end of the current lease. In general, a renewal and its rent increase cannot start retroactively.

One year or two years: how to choose

The term is your choice. The rent increase for each term is set by the RGB order that covers the date your new lease starts, not the date you sign it or the date the offer arrives.

Some practical ways to think about the choice:

• Under Order #58 (0% and 0%), both terms keep your rent flat. A two-year lease locks in today’s rent for longer; a one-year lease gets you back to the table sooner, when next year’s guideline will apply, which could be higher or lower.
• Under Order #57 (3% and 4.5%), which covered leases that started by September 30, 2026: if you took a one-year lease in that window, your next renewal starts on or after October 1, 2026, so it falls under Order #58’s 0%. Someone who took a two-year lease instead pays the 4.5% higher rent for both years, with no 0% renewal until that lease ends.
• If you might move, a shorter lease gives you an easier exit. See how to break a lease in New York for what happens if you leave mid-lease.

Landlords have challenged Order #58 in state Supreme Court, New York County (Kenilworth Holdings LLC v. NYC Rent Guidelines Board). In a September 16, 2026 order, the court allowed limited discovery and reserved decision on whether the freeze is valid. Order #58 is the order on the RGB’s website today; check it again before you sign if you are reading this later.

Want to see the dollar amounts? Enter your current rent and lease start date in the calculator below. For more on the vote itself, read NYC 2026 rent freeze: does it apply to your lease?

What the renewal can and can’t change

A renewal lease must keep the same terms and conditions as your expiring lease, unless a change is needed to comply with a specific law or regulation. HCR’s own example: an owner may attach riders required by NYC lead paint and recycling laws, but may not add a new late-fee clause or a no-pets clause that the original lease did not have. You can sign those riders without waiving your rights and file a lease renewal complaint.

If you pay a preferential rent (a rent below the legal regulated rent), HCR Fact Sheet #40 says the guideline increase applies to the preferential amount you actually pay, and the owner can charge the higher legal rent only after you permanently move out.

What if my landlord didn’t send a renewal lease?

A late offer does not end your tenancy, and it can work in your favor. HCR Fact Sheet #4 walks through this case. When the owner makes a late offer, you choose when the new lease starts:

In HCR’s example, a tenant’s lease expired July 31, 2019, and the owner did not offer a renewal until May 15, 2020. The tenant could date the lease from August 1, 2019 or September 1, 2020. Either way, the lower guideline applied, and the higher rent did not start until September 1, 2020. Until a renewal is signed, you keep paying your current rent.

If the owner never offers a renewal, you can file DHCR form RA-90. Rent stabilization gives you the right to renew except on grounds allowed by law, so a missing offer is not a lawful way to end your tenancy.

When an owner can refuse to renew

HCR lists these among the reasons an owner may refuse a renewal lease:

• The owner or an immediate family member needs the apartment as their primary residence. Special rules protect senior and disabled tenants.
• The apartment is not your primary residence.
• The owner wants to take the apartment off the rental market, for example to demolish the building, in ways the law allows.

For any of these, the owner must give you written notice of non-renewal during the same 90-to-150-day window. If the owner misses that window, you are entitled to a renewal lease. A non-renewal notice is not an eviction: only a court can order that. If you get one, contact a lawyer; NYC’s Right to Counsel program provides free lawyers to many tenants.

Adding someone to the lease

Family members who live with you may later claim the right to take over the lease if you move out or die. That is a separate set of rules, covered in succession rights for rent-stabilized apartments.

Checklist when the renewal arrives

1. Check the date it arrived. Was it 90 to 150 days before your lease ends? Write the date down.
2. Check the form. It should be the RTP-8 (or an approved copy) with the NYC Lease Rider attached.
3. Check the math. Find your lease start date in the table above and apply the matching percentage to your current rent.
4. Check for new clauses. A renewal should not add terms your old lease did not have, unless a law requires them.
5. Choose a term, sign, and return it within 60 days. Keep proof of the date you returned it.
6. Expect your fully signed copy within 30 days. If it doesn’t come, file RA-90 with HCR.

Not sure your apartment is stabilized at all? Start with is my apartment rent stabilized? and request your rent history from HCR. If the rent on your renewal looks too high, see how to file a rent overcharge complaint.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. HCR’s Office of Rent Administration answers questions at rent.hcr.ny.gov and through its borough rent offices.