Can an occupied apartment experience deregulation?
Yes. Under some circumstances apartments in 421-a and J-51 buildings may become deregulated at the end of the last lease commencing during the period of the tax abatement. For more information about these programs see the FAQ section entitled J-51 and 421-a Housing. On rare occasions an apartment in a building converted to a co-op under an eviction plan may be deregulated. Under an eviction plan, tenants are given the choice to purchase the apartment or vacate after a specified period of time. Since the overwhelming majority of co-op conversions are under non-eviction plans, such cases are very uncommon. For more information on this, we suggest you contact the Office of the New York State Attorney General – Real Estate Financing Bureau at (212) 416-8000. More common is the process of high income deregulation described in the question below.
