NYC Affordability

What the Rent Freeze Program is

The NYC Rent Freeze Program is the umbrella name for two city benefits run by the Department of Finance (DOF): the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE). Once you’re approved, your rent is frozen at a set amount and future increases stop landing on you. The landlord still gets the legal rent: per DOF, a property tax credit covers the difference between the actual legal rent and the frozen amount you pay. So the landlord isn’t out of pocket; the city is.

That’s the whole trick, and it’s why the benefit compounds. Every increase your landlord is legally allowed to take after you’re frozen gets absorbed by the tax credit instead of your budget.

Who qualifies

DOF’s eligibility page lists the same income and rent tests for both programs, with different age and disability rules.

SCRIE (seniors):

• At least 62 years old.
• Combined income of all household members of $50,000 or less.
• More than one-third of monthly household income spent on rent.
• You live in the apartment and are named on the lease (DOF’s FAQ also accepts succession rights).
• The apartment is rent-controlled, rent-stabilized, or otherwise rent-regulated. Certain Battery Park City and former Mitchell-Lama properties may also qualify. If you live in a Mitchell-Lama or HDFC apartment, you apply for SCRIE through HPD, not DOF.

DRIE (disability):

• At least 18 years old.
• The same $50,000 household income limit and the same one-third rent test.
• The apartment can be rent-controlled, rent-stabilized, rent-regulated, Mitchell-Lama, Section 236, or HDFC, plus certain Battery Park City and former Mitchell-Lama properties. DRIE applicants in HDFC or Mitchell-Lama buildings apply through DOF.
• You’ve been awarded federal SSI, federal SSDI, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs disability pension or compensation, or disability-related Medicaid if you’ve previously received SSI or SSDI.

Not eligible, per DOF: NYCHA public housing, units paid partly or fully by a Section 8 voucher, non-regulated apartments (including private homes and co-ops that aren’t rent-regulated), and sublets, even sublets of regulated units.

If you’re not sure whether your apartment is regulated in the first place, start with our rent stabilization guide.

How income and the one-third test are counted

Household income is everyone’s income for the previous calendar year. Under the method DOF has used for new participants since July 1, 2024, that can be based on federal adjusted gross income, and IRA distributions included in AGI can be deducted. Rent paid to you by a roomer or boarder counts as income, though the boarder doesn’t count as a household member.

The one-third test is simple division: annual household income ÷ 36 = one-third of monthly income. Your monthly rent has to be higher than that number. DOF’s own examples: at $30,000 a year, rent must exceed $833.33; at $50,000, rent must exceed $1,388.89.

How the frozen amount is set

DOF freezes your rent at the greater of the rent on your immediately prior lease or one-third of your monthly income. That “prior lease” detail matters: because the freeze generally looks back to the lease before your current one, DOF asks first-time applicants for both leases, and it says you can apply at any point in your lease cycle. If you have a written preferential rent below the legal regulated rent, new applicants get the freeze based on the preferential rent.

Two caveats from DOF’s FAQ. First, a Major Capital Improvement (MCI) increase is covered only if the MCI order was issued within 90 days of your initial application; an older MCI gets added to your frozen rent. Second, for anyone who entered the program on or after July 2, 2015, if your rent stops exceeding one-third of your income at renewal, your required rent is raised to one-third of income.

Worked example

A hypothetical 70-year-old in a rent-stabilized one-bedroom with $36,000 of household income last year. Their prior lease was $1,400 a month. Their current one-year renewal commenced in early 2026, so Rent Guidelines Board Order #57 applied: up to 3%, or $1,400 × 1.03 = $1,442 a month.

• Income test: $36,000 is under $50,000. Passes.
• One-third test: $36,000 ÷ 36 = $1,000. Rent of $1,442 is more than $1,000. Passes. (Calculated: rent is about 48% of their $3,000 monthly income.)
• Frozen rent: the greater of the prior lease ($1,400) or one-third of income ($1,000) = $1,400.

So they pay $1,400 instead of $1,442, a calculated saving of $42 a month, or $504 a year, with the landlord collecting the other $42 as a tax credit.

Now the timing wrinkle. Order #58 sets 0% for one- and two-year renewals commencing October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 (landlords are challenging it in court; the RGB entry tracks the status), so their next renewal, if it falls in that window, adds nothing this cycle, and the gap stays $42. The freeze earns its keep in years when the RGB does vote increases. Purely as an illustration: if their legal rent rose 3% at each of two later renewals, it would reach about $1,529.82, while they’d still pay $1,400, a calculated gap of about $129.82 a month. Future RGB votes are unknown; this isn’t a forecast.

How to apply

DOF says the best way to apply is online through the NYC Tenant Access Portal (NYC TAP); online applications are processed faster. Paper SCRIE and DRIE applications are also available in multiple languages. You’ll need copies (never originals) of proof of age, proof of income (generally your tax return with schedules and 1099s), your current and prior leases or the equivalent rent documents for your apartment type, and, for DRIE, your disability award letter.

How to stay in

The freeze isn’t a one-time approval. You renew every year or every two years depending on your benefit end date, which is listed on your approval order. DOF mails a renewal application about 60 days before expiration, you can renew online in NYC TAP starting 60 days before, and DOF says the renewal must be filed within six months of the benefit’s expiration. Tenants approved for at least five consecutive years can use a short-form renewal. You also need to tell DOF about changes during your benefit period: a change in household members, a move, or new charges like MCIs. If your household income drops permanently by 20% or more, you can apply for a redetermination of your frozen rent.

If you’re further along and thinking about owning instead, the city’s HomeFirst down payment program is the buyer-side counterpart, with very different income limits.

Program rules and limits change; confirm current requirements with DOF (call 311 or visit nyc.gov/rentfreeze) before relying on these figures. This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice.