Rent Board Modernizes Petition Forms & Processes

The Rent Board has updated all petition forms to improve digital accessibility and simplify instructions for all parties involved. Additionally, at their March 2026 meeting, the elected Rent Board updated several key regulations (525, 1205, 1210, and 1242) to create more comprehensive e-filing processes for petitions—parties can now clearly designate if they would like to communicate with the Rent Board and each other about their petition case by email.

What Can a Rent Board Petition Do for You?

Landlords and tenants can bring certain housing issues to the Rent Board and formally request that the Rent Board issue a legally binding decision on their claim. This is called a petition. Common petitions include:

• Tenant Petitions asking for rent ceiling decrease due to housing code violations, habitability problems, or a decrease in living space or housing services 
• Landlord Petitions asking to raise the rent ceiling due to increase in number of tenants from that allowed at the beginning of the tenancy or an increase in living space or housing services; asking to increase rent ceiling of government-owned/subsidized units to maximum allowable by the governing agency.

We recommend speaking to a Housing Counselor if you believe your housing issue could be resolved with the Petition process. You can find information about all available petitions on Rent Board Petitions webpage.