New York Real Estate is extremely complicated and expensive. However, there are laws to protect tenants’ rights and according to a survey, there are almost one million apartments in New York that are subject to these protection laws. Rent Controlled and Rent Stabilized are the two most commonly applied regulations. So before you narrow down your rental search, let’s discuss NY’s two currents forms of rent regulation.

Rent Controlled Apartments

Rent controlled are those apartments in which tenant rent freezes and the landlord can’t increase the rent at the end of the agreement. These apartments are like a golden ticket of the NYC real estate market. Unfortunately, rent-controlled apartments are few and far between. There were two million such apartments in 1950 but these numbers reduce to 22,000 in 2017.

To qualify for a rent-controlled apartment, you must meet the following criteria:

• The apartment was built before 1947
• The same family has been living in the apartment building since 1971
• Such apartments can only be passed down to family members
• The successor of a rent-controlled apartment must be living in the building for two consecutive years

Rent Stabilized Apartments

Those apartments with six or more units and built before 1974 fall in the bracket of rent stabilization. Rent Stabilization means rent can only increase a little each year. In New York, almost 50% of the apartments are rent-stabilized.

To qualify for a rent-stabilized apartment, you must meet the following criteria:

• The apartment was built before 1974
• The building has six or more floors
• Monthly rent of the apartment is less than $2,700
• The annual income of the tenant is less than $200,00 a year