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Renting / Rent Freeze

Could the NYC Rent Freeze Program cover you?

New York City's Rent Freeze Program stops future rent increases for older tenants (SCRIE) and tenants with a disability (DRIE) on a low income in rent-regulated homes. The city credits the landlord's property tax for the difference. Answer a few questions to see whether you may qualify, and what to send.

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Has the person applying been awarded one of these disability benefits?SSI; SSDI; a US Department of Veterans Affairs disability pension or compensation; certain US Postal Service disability pension or compensation; or disability-related Medicaid if you've had SSI or SSDI before. Only matters if under 62.
What kind of apartment is it?
Is the person applying named on the lease?
Is any of the rent paid by a Section 8 voucher?

Nothing you enter is saved. Your answers stay in this page's web address. The city also has its own eligibility tool.

How the Rent Freeze Program works

What it does. Once you're approved, your rent is frozen: you pay the frozen amount shown on your approval notice, and a property tax credit to your landlord covers the difference between the legal rent and what you pay NYC Department of Finance: Rent Freeze FAQ (rev. 4 Sep 2024) · checked 22 Oct 2026 NYC Rent Freeze Program · checked 22 Oct 2026.

The frozen amount. It's generally the rent in your immediately prior lease or one-third of your monthly income, whichever is greater. If you pay a preferential rent below the legal rent, a new applicant's frozen rent is based on the preferential rent NYC Department of Finance: Rent Freeze FAQ (rev. 4 Sep 2024) · checked 22 Oct 2026.

Who can apply. SCRIE: 62 or older. DRIE: 18 or older and awarded SSI, SSDI, a VA disability pension or compensation, or disability-related Medicaid after receiving SSI or SSDI NYC Rent Freeze: Am I eligible? · checked 22 Oct 2026; the FAQ adds certain US Postal Service disability benefits NYC Department of Finance: Rent Freeze FAQ (rev. 4 Sep 2024) · checked 22 Oct 2026. For both, the household's combined income must be $50,000 or less, you must spend more than one-third of monthly household income on rent, and you must live in the apartment and be named on the lease NYC Rent Freeze: Am I eligible? · checked 22 Oct 2026, or have succession rights to it NYC Department of Finance: Rent Freeze FAQ (rev. 4 Sep 2024) · checked 22 Oct 2026.

Income. It's the previous calendar year's income of everyone in the household, which can be based on federal adjusted gross income. IRA distributions included in that figure can be taken off. Roomers and boarders aren't household members, but the rent they pay you counts. One-third of monthly income is the annual income divided by 36: on $36,000 a year, that's $1,000 NYC Department of Finance: Rent Freeze FAQ (rev. 4 Sep 2024) · checked 22 Oct 2026. The city's income worksheet takes you through it.

Homes that qualify. Rent-stabilised, rent-controlled and rent-regulated hotel apartments for both programmes. Mitchell-Lama, HDFC and Section 213 co-op buildings too, but for SCRIE you apply to HPD rather than the Department of Finance. Certain Battery Park City and former Mitchell-Lama homes may be eligible NYC Rent Freeze: Am I eligible? · checked 22 Oct 2026 NYC Department of Finance: Rent Freeze FAQ (rev. 4 Sep 2024) · checked 22 Oct 2026. Not eligible: NYCHA public housing, apartments paid for in part or full by a Section 8 voucher, apartments that aren't rent-regulated (including private co-ops and one- to three-family houses), sublets, and homes outside New York City NYC Rent Freeze: Am I eligible? · checked 22 Oct 2026 NYC Department of Finance: Rent Freeze FAQ (rev. 4 Sep 2024) · checked 22 Oct 2026.

What to send

Copies, never originals NYC Rent Freeze: How to apply · checked 22 Oct 2026:

  • Proof of age: one of a birth or baptismal certificate, passport, driver's licence, non-driver ID, or another government document with your date of birth.
  • Proof of income for everyone in the household: tax returns, SSA-1099 or Social Security benefit statement, 1099-R, W-2s, pension statements, bank year-end statements, and letters for any boarder's rent or family help.
  • Your rent: for a stabilised apartment, your current and prior leases signed by you and the landlord, plus any preferential rent rider; for rent control, the Notices of Maximum Collectible Rent (RN-26) for the prior and current year; for Mitchell-Lama, HDFC and similar buildings, a rent history or management letter showing your last increase.
  • For DRIE: the award letter for your disability benefit.

The full lists, by apartment type, are on the city's first-time applicants page NYC Rent Freeze: First-time applicants · checked 22 Oct 2026.

How to apply

Apply to the Department of Finance online, which the city says is the best way, or with the SCRIE or DRIE paper application NYC Rent Freeze: How to apply · checked 22 Oct 2026. For SCRIE in a Mitchell-Lama, HDFC or Section 213 building, apply to HPD: 212-863-8494 or nyc.gov/hpd NYC Rent Freeze: First-time applicants · checked 22 Oct 2026. For help, call 311. The benefit lasts for a set period, and you renew when the city tells you it's ending (how to renew) NYC Rent Freeze Program · checked 22 Oct 2026.

Not sure your apartment is stabilised? See rent-stabilised apartments. Taking over a relative's lease? Succession rights.