SCRIE and DRIE: how NYC’s Rent Freeze Program works

NYC’s Rent Freeze Program stops your rent from going up if you are 62 or older (SCRIE) or 18 or older and receive a qualifying disability benefit (DRIE), your household earns $50,000 a year or less, and you spend more than one-third of your income on rent in a rent-regulated apartment. Once you’re approved, the city gives your landlord a property tax credit for future increases, so you keep paying your frozen rent.

The program is run by the NYC Department of Finance (DOF), except SCRIE for Mitchell-Lama, HDFC and some other city-supervised buildings, which goes through HPD. Below: who qualifies, how your frozen rent is set, how to apply and renew, and the deadlines that most often cost people their benefit.

Want a quick answer first? Try the SCRIE and DRIE eligibility checker, then read on for the details DOF will check.

Who qualifies

Qualifying disability benefits for DRIE

You must currently receive one of these:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
• A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs disability pension or disability compensation
• Certain U.S. Postal Service disability pension or compensation benefits
• Disability-based Medicaid, if you previously received SSI or SSDI

A household can have SCRIE or DRIE, but not both at the same time, so if one member already has a benefit another member can’t apply for the other program.

Apartments that don’t qualify

• Market-rate (unregulated) apartments, and co-ops that are not rent regulated
• One-, two- and three-family homes
• NYCHA public housing and units paid in whole or part by a Section 8 voucher
• Sublets, even in a regulated apartment
• Anything outside New York City

Not sure if your apartment is regulated? Start with Is my apartment rent stabilized? or the rent-stabilized checker.

The one-third rent test, with numbers

DOF divides your total annual household income by 36 to get one-third of your monthly income. Your monthly rent has to be higher than that figure.

How income is counted

• Whose income: you plus everyone who permanently lives in the apartment. Unrelated roomers, boarders and subtenants are not household members, but rent they pay you counts as income.
• Which year: the previous calendar year. If you apply between January 1 and April 15 and last year’s figures aren’t ready, you may use the year before.
• What figure: DOF uses federal adjusted gross income for all household members, and lets you deduct IRA distributions that were included in it. Participants who were receiving the benefit before July 1, 2024, may use the older method, which deducts income taxes and Social Security tax and excludes items such as gifts and SNAP.
• Retired last year? Submit last year’s full income plus proof of your retirement date; DOF projects your retirement income over 12 months.

How your frozen rent is set

Your frozen rent is the greater of the rent on your immediately prior lease or one-third of your monthly household income. That’s why DOF asks for both your current and prior leases. Because it is based on the prior lease, applying as soon as you qualify protects you from more increases.

• Preferential rent: new applicants who pay a preferential rent below the legal regulated rent get a frozen rent based on the preferential rent. Participants first eligible on or before June 1, 2019, keep the frozen rent in effect on July 1, 2019, except as adjusted by law. See preferential rent rules.
• MCI increases: if a major capital improvement order was issued within 90 days of your first application, the program covers it. If it was issued earlier than that, the MCI is added to your frozen rent.
• Later increases: renewal-lease increases after approval are covered by the tax credit your landlord receives, so they don’t raise what you pay.

How to apply

1. 1

   Gather documents (copies only)

   Proof of age (birth certificate, passport, driver’s license or non-driver ID), last year’s income for everyone in the household (tax returns with schedules, SSA-1099, W-2s, 1099-Rs), your current and prior signed leases, and for DRIE your award letter for SSI, SSDI or the other qualifying benefit. Rent-controlled tenants send current and prior Notices of Maximum Collectible Rent (RN-26).
2. 2

   Apply online or on paper

   DOF says the best way is online through the NYC Tenant Access Portal (NYC TAP), where you can also upload documents and check status. Paper applications can be downloaded at nyc.gov/rentfreeze or requested through 311.
3. 3

   Mitchell-Lama or HDFC? SCRIE goes to HPD

   SCRIE applicants in Mitchell-Lama, HDFC, Section 213 and similar buildings apply through HPD (212-863-8494). DRIE applicants in those buildings apply to DOF.
4. 4

   Name a tenant representative

   You can designate a relative, friend or organization to get copies of every notice. They can help but can’t sign for you; only a court-appointed guardian or someone with power of attorney can sign.
5. 5

   Watch for your approval notice

   It shows your frozen rent and benefit period. Your landlord gets a matching tax abatement order. Keep it with your lease.

In-person help is available at the Rent Freeze help center at 66 John Street, 3rd Floor, Manhattan, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; DOF encourages making an appointment.

Renewals, changes and deadlines

Benefits last one or two years depending on your benefit end date, and DOF mails a renewal application about 60 days before it ends. Tenants approved for at least five consecutive years can use a shorter renewal form.

Missed a deadline? DOF can grant more time for a disability or impairment (call 311 and ask for DOF’s disability service facilitator), and for exceptional circumstances such as hospitalization or a fire if your benefit expired less than 12 months ago. Surviving spouses and registered domestic partners who were listed on the last application don’t need a takeover application; they submit proof of the marriage or partnership.

If something goes wrong

• Your application was denied or revoked: contact the SCRIE or DRIE ombudsperson through DOF’s website.
• Dispute about your legal rent or lease: contact NY State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). Request your rent history first; see how to request your rent history.
• Landlord charging more than your frozen rent: show them the approval notice and the tax abatement order, and contact DOF.

If you don’t qualify, other help may: see the NYC renter tax credit checker and HRA One Shot Deal for back rent. This guide is general information; DOF makes the final eligibility decision.