Disclaimer

Nothing on this website, in any analysis result, chart, flag, estimate, timeline, checklist, draft form, email, chat message, or other communication from RIOT MOTION LLC constitutes legal advice or a legal opinion. RIOT MOTION LLC is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law, and does not employ attorneys to advise users. Using the Service, contacting us, or paying for the REC-1 full-service records request does not create an attorney-client relationship or any duty of confidentiality or loyalty owed to you by us.

The Service is designed to help you read a complex government record and to illustrate, in general terms, how New York's rent-stabilization rules can apply to the figures in it. It is a starting point for questions to ask a qualified professional — not a substitute for one. The information is general in nature and may not reflect the most recent legal developments, agency guidance, or court decisions, and it does not account for facts specific to your situation that are not contained in the document you uploaded.

We make no representation or warranty of any kind that any output is accurate, complete, current, or legally valid. In particular:

• Source records may be wrong. DHCR registration histories are compiled from owner-filed annual registrations that DHCR does not audit. They frequently contain missing years, mis-keyed rents, wrong apartment or tenant identifiers, and status codes that were never verified.
• Automated reading may be wrong. Our software uses optical character recognition and AI models to interpret scanned and photographed pages. It can misread digits, dates, and codes, skip lines, confuse columns, or merge units — especially on blurry, cropped, rotated, or partially redacted documents.
• Calculations are estimates. Any "overcharge," "legal regulated rent," "statutory cap," "look-back," "freeze," or "recovery scenario" figure is a hypothesis generated by applying general rules to the numbers we read. The real answer depends on facts we cannot see: what rent you actually paid, the terms of each lease, improvements claimed, vacancy periods, prior DHCR or court decisions, the applicable Rent Guidelines Board orders, and the specific statutory framework in force at each date.
• Legal conclusions are not made here. Whether an apartment is rent-stabilized, whether a deregulation was lawful, whether an overcharge occurred, whether it was willful, and what may be recoverable are legal questions that only DHCR, a court, or an attorney can determine.

You must independently verify every figure and conclusion before relying on it.

You alone are responsible for any decision you make or action you take — or decline to take — based on information from the Service. RIOT MOTION LLC disclaims all responsibility and liability for any consequences of such decisions, including without limitation:

• filing, amending, or withdrawing a DHCR complaint (including an RA-89 overcharge complaint) or a court action;
• withholding, reducing, escrowing, paying, or negotiating rent;
• signing or refusing to sign a lease, renewal, buyout, or settlement;
• responding to, or failing to respond to, a landlord notice, demand, or eviction petition;
• communicating with a landlord, managing agent, neighbor, attorney, or agency;
• sharing your analysis or documents with anyone else.

Rent-regulation claims are subject to strict time limits and look-back rules that have changed over time and continue to be litigated. Waiting can permanently bar a claim. The Service does not track your deadlines and does not warn you of them. If you believe you may have a claim, consult a lawyer immediately.

We cannot say this strongly enough: before acting on anything you learn here, talk to a licensed attorney admitted in New York who handles rent-regulation or landlord-tenant matters. A lawyer can review your actual leases and payment records, obtain and interpret the complete DHCR file, evaluate defenses and risks, calculate what may genuinely be owed, and protect your deadlines. Free and low-cost help is widely available in New York City, including through legal-services organizations, Housing Court help centers, tenant-rights groups, bar-association lawyer-referral services, and by calling 311 and asking for tenant legal assistance. If you receive court papers, seek legal help at once.

Draft RA-89 complaints, REC-1 requests, and other documents produced by the Service are assembled from information you enter and from automated analysis. They are drafts for your review; we do not verify their accuracy or legal sufficiency, and we do not represent you before DHCR or any court. Our paid REC-1 full-service option is a records-retrieval and document-explanation service only. We do not control DHCR and make no promise that DHCR will respond, respond within any timeframe, or release any particular record.

RIOT MOTION LLC and the Rent History Analyzer are private and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), the Rent Guidelines Board, the courts, or any other government body. Official rent histories can be obtained directly and free of charge from DHCR.

The Service links to third-party websites and services (including DHCR portals, payment processors, and messaging platforms) and may display data drawn from public records. We do not control and are not responsible for their content, accuracy, availability, or practices.

Documents you submit, and the data within them, are regularly shared with New York City tenant-rights organizations and are periodically published in redacted form for educational purposes, as described in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Published data may contain the same errors as the source records and is likewise provided without any warranty.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, RIOT MOTION LLC and its members, managers, employees, contractors, and partners are not liable for any loss or damage of any kind — including lost rent, money, housing, tenancy rights, claims, or opportunities — arising from your use of, inability to use, or reliance on the Service or its output. The complete disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability appear in Sections 14 and 15 of our Terms of Service, which govern in the event of any conflict with this page.

We may update this Disclaimer at any time by posting a revised version with a new effective date. Your continued use of the Service after that date constitutes acceptance.