Registration is annual, filed between the first Monday in January and the first Friday in March. It is free if timely, $300 a property after the first Friday in March and $500 after the first Monday in July — and no rent increase is permitted anywhere on the property in a calendar year the landlord failed to register on time.
Losing every increase on the property for a whole year is a larger number than any of the fees, and it is a risk that transfers with the building. Registration requires a Certificate of Housing Compliance for the property and a Certificate of Habitability for each unit, matching the tenants on the rent roll — so the filing is only as available as the inspections behind it. An owner-occupied three- or four-family, exempt from the cap, still files a registration waiver every year. A building of five or more units needs a state-licensed superintendent, at a $150 licence fee.