Fire Damaged/ Vacate Order Apartments

If you have been displaced from your apartment due to a fire and/or a vacate order has been issued for your apartment or the entire building by any New York City agency or local municipal agency, and if you are subject to Rent Regulation, you may file an application with the Office of Rent Administration for a rent reduction based on decreased services.

If I am required to vacate a rent-regulated apartment because of a fire or vacate order issued by a government agency, can the owner of the apartment increase my rent, once the apartment is restored for me to move back in?
 

• Not if the owner simply restores the apartment to its previous condition.  However, if the owner installs new equipment not previously provided in the apartment, the owner can charge you with an Individual Apartment Improvement (IAI) rent increase, but only after you have given a written consent to the rent increase.  If you don't provide a written consent, then your rent cannot be increased.
   
• If you decide not to move back into the apartment, and a new tenant decides to move in, the owner would be entitled to add the IAI rent increase for any new piece of equipment not previously provided, even if you did not provide the owner with a written consent.  However, this rent increase would only apply to new equipment not previously provided in the apartment, and not the cost of restoring the apartment to its previous condition.

Affected Tenants may submit an online application on the HCR website at: https://rent.hcr.ny.gov/RentConnect/Tenant/DecreasedServicesOverview