When Your Landlord Raises the Rent, How Much Is Too Much?

Q: I live in a rent-stabilized building in Manhattan and was the first tenant to occupy my apartment. For the first two years — during which I had separate one-year leases — I was charged the same amount of rent. The New York City Rent Guidelines Board had authorized an increase during the second year, but it was not passed on to us. In the third year, when I had a one-year renewal, the rent increased by 12 percent — more than the amount allowed by the Rent Guidelines Board, even when the increase that the board allowed the year before was added. Is this legal?

A: Landlords of rent-stabilized units are generally not able to increase the rent by more than what is allowed by the Rent Guidelines Board. You can search the board’s past allowable increases, which are typically between 0 percent and 4 percent each year.

But first, keep in mind that rent stabilization technically applies only to individual apartments, not whole buildings. Tenants should know that determining whether a unit is rent stabilized can be a complicated process. Assuming that your apartment is in fact stabilized, your landlord probably cannot increase the rent by more than what is allowed by the Rent Guidelines Board, said Michael Goldberg, a lawyer with Goldberg, Lustig & Steckler, PLLC, in Brooklyn.

“Unless there’s more here than meets the eye, a 12 percent increase would not be a proper increase,” he said.

But there are some exceptions. Landlords can charge more if they complete major capital improvements and then receive approval for a rate increase from the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal (D.H.C.R.). And there are other situations involving rent credits or rent concessions, where landlords charge a lower amount and then revert to the full rent later. The legality of subsequent increases relies on the facts of each case.

In any case, rent-stabilized tenants are entitled to receive a renewal lease that must be sent by the landlord between 90 and 150 days before the expiration of the current lease, said Joshua C. Price, managing partner of the Price Law Firm. Tenants can choose a one-year or two-year term. If you are being charged too much, you might be owed the overcharged amount, plus penalties. Start by filing a complaint with D.H.C.R. Alternatively, you could pursue a lawsuit to recover the overcharged amount.

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