Disabled Persons and Senior Citizens Special Rights

The law includes extra protections for senior citizen and disabled rent regulated tenants who are subject to eviction or rent increases.

For a summary of these protections, see the Your Rights section. For a detailed explanation of these protections, see the Fact Sheet section. For an application to the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (S.C.R.I.E) program or the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (D.R.I.E) program for Nassau and Westchester counties, application instructions, and more, see the Forms section.

The Rent Laws provide certain protections to senior citizens, disabled tenants and/or their spouses against eviction based on owner occupancy.

Eligible Senior Citizens with a fixed income may qualify to have their rent frozen under the S.C.R.I.E program. Disabled persons may also apply to have their rent frozen under the D.R.I.E program.  In NYC, tenants may contact the NYC Department of Finance at 311. Tenants living in Nassau County and Westchester County may call DHCR at (914) 948-4434 to obtain an application and to inquire about their municipality's income and eligibility levels.

For additional information, see Fact Sheet #20 and Fact Sheet #21.

1) Do the rent laws provide any special rights for disabled persons?

Eligible disabled persons may qualify to have their rent frozen under the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (D.R.I.E) program. In NYC, tenants may contact the NYC Department of Finance at 311. Tenants living in select municipalities within Nassau County and Westchester County may call DHCR at (914) 948-4434 to obtain an application and inquire about their municipality’s income and eligibility levels. The rent laws also provide disabled tenants and/or their spouses certain protections against eviction based on owner occupancy. For more information, see Fact Sheet #20.

2) Does a senior citizen on a fixed income have any protection against rent increases?

Eligible senior citizens with a fixed income may qualify to have their rent frozen under the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (S.C.R.I.E) program. In NYC, tenants may contact the NYC Department of Finance at 311. Tenants living in select municipalities within Nassau County and Westchester County may call DHCR at (914) 948-4434 to obtain an application and to inquire about their municipality’s income and eligibility levels. For more information, see Fact Sheet #21.

3) What are the limitations on the rent amount a rent stabilized tenant can charge their roommate(s)? What if the rent stabilized tenant is a SCRIE recipient?

In a rent stabilized apartment, the rent collected from a roommate cannot exceed their proportionate share of the apartment. For example, if the rent stabilized tenant has one roommate, that roommate can’t be charged more than half of the total rent that is charged to the rent stabilized tenant. Therefore, when the rent stabilized tenant receives a SCRIE subsidy, the roommates share should be computed from the amount that is paid by the tenant.