of the lease,
the apartment. See DHCR Notice RA-LR3 for more can increase the legal and preferential rents by
details. Often rental assistance may be provided to the lawful guideline adjustments but only collect
owners without an overarching state or municipal a guideline adjustment based on the preferential
regulatory agreement for the development. rent. The higher legal regulated rent and related
In addition, a regulatory agreement may not guideline adjustments can only be collected
specifically authorize these higher rents with when the apartment is vacated and rented to a
respect to all or certain types of rental assistance. subsequent tenant. See Fact Sheet #40 for more
Neither of these circumstances establish that an details.
actual rent higher than the legal stabilized rent
can be charged. Owners should be aware that for Individual Apartment Improvements (IAI)
example, FHEPS or individual section 8 housing
choice vouchers may not always qualify for an When an owner installs a new appliance or makes
actual higher rent. an improvement to an apartment the owner may
be entitled to an IAI rent increase.
Leases
Effective October 17, 2024 there are two tiers of
The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act IAI rent increases. The IAI rent increase is now
(HSTPA) of 2019 eliminated the statutory vacancy permanent and to obtain it, owners must file DHCR
rate and does not permit Rent Guidelines Boards IAI Notification Form RN-19N electronically along
to establish a separate vacancy rate. Changes to with before and after photos. For additional details
the rent regulations effective November 8, 2023 on IAI requirements, please see DHCR Operational
further clarify that the Rent Guidelines Board one Bulletin 2024-2.
or two year lease guidelines adjustments shall be