Hey all, my landlord's management company just sent me a renewal offer for my one-bedroom in Dyker Heights. Buried in the email is a separate 'Mutual Move-Out Agreement' they want me to sign at the same time. It says if I sign the new 12-month lease, I agree to vacate at the end of that lease and not request another renewal. They're offering a 'renewal processing fee waiver' if I sign by Friday, which feels weird. Can they even make me do that? I thought tenants get to go month-to-month if a lease expires? I haven't signed anything yet. My building is 6 units, prewar, my rent is about $2,000. The lease says market-rate but I don't know if that's real. Any advice?

Under ordinary market-rate rules, a landlord doesn't have to renew you just because the lease ends. Once the term expires, they can offer a new lease on new conditions or send a nonrenewal/termination notice. So in a market-rate building not covered by Good Cause, they can say 'no renewal unless you agree to X.' But there are a few traps here. First, requiring you to sign a separate vacate agreement as a condition of renewal can look coercive, especially with a Friday deadline attached. Second, if the building is prewar with 6 units, you may actually be rent stabilized regardless of what the lease says. If so, they can't condition your renewal on waiving your statutory right to a renewal lease, and that 'Mutual Move-Out Agreement' would likely be unenforceable. Check the building's registration history on the DHCR portal. Also, Good Cause likely doesn't cover a 6-unit building, but that doesn't matter if you're stabilized. Do not ignore the email, but do not sign the vacate rider. Ask them in writing: is this unit registered as market-rate, and what is the building's DHCR registration? If they won't answer, consider requesting a rent history. The fee-waiver tactic is a red flag.

Smells like BS. I've seen landlords try this when they want to sell the building or open up a gut renovation. Don't sign that paper. If your place is prewar with 6 units, there's a solid chance you're actually rent-stabilized and the lease saying 'market-rate' is just the landlord's move. You can't waive rent stabilization in a lease. Call DHCR or look up the building address. Also make them send any renewal/nonrenewal by certified mail—email only is sloppy. You've got five months left, so don't let the Friday deadline make you jump.

Thanks @oldyork_otis and @Flatbush_F. I checked the DHCR building registration site and it says 'not found' for my address. Does that mean it's not stabilized? The management company said the building is 'market' because of something in the 90s. I didn't know they could just say that. Also, if I don't sign the vacate form but sign the lease, can they cancel my lease? The offer letter says the vacate agreement is 'part of' the renewal. I'm worried if I push back, they'll just send a nonrenewal.

DHCR's public search can be incomplete, especially if the owner never registered or deregulated without proper paperwork. With a 6-unit prewar building, the default legal picture is often rent stabilization unless there's a valid high-rent vacancy deregulation before 2019 or another exemption. 'Not found' is not proof you're market. You may need to request a rent registration history from DHCR, or file a complaint if you think you're being misclassified. Now on the vacate agreement: if you sign a market renewal alone, they generally can't later cancel the lease just because you refused a side agreement, unless the lease itself makes it a condition. But if the renewal package includes that rider, do not sign the whole thing. You may inadvertently waive future rights. Better to tell them you won't sign a vacate agreement, but you'll consider a simple renewal or month-to-month. If they decide to nonrenew, they must serve proper written notice depending on your term length. In a stabilized unit, they essentially can't refuse to renew except on limited grounds, and courts tend to look hard at 'sign away renewal' clauses when there's a power imbalance.

Following this because something similar happened to a friend in Ridgewood. The management company was trying to get a whole floor to leave by having people sign 'last renewal' letters. Some of them got help from legal aid and ended up getting a buyout instead of just agreeing to leave. @DykerNewbie, if you're near a Tenant Resource Center, they might look at the papers for free. Did the move-out agreement mention any buyout, or was it just 'you agree to leave'? My friend only got money after refusing.