Have not received lease renewal yet...

[linonyc]

We're going thru a difficult time and are behind a month in rent (we are working on getting ourselves up to date), our lease expires the end of August this year and our landlord usually sends out the lease renewal form around April - we have not received it yet and is making us nervous! Does he have the right not to send a renewal because of our "past due" status?

[jot0n0]

I assume you have a rent statblized lease if you're posting here, which means LL must offer you a 1 or 2 year renewal not less than 120 days prior to expiration of current lease regardless of whether you are behind in rent or not. That's a separate issue and should not affect your right to receive a renewal offer.

[consigliere]

The landlord must offer a lease renewal between 150 days and 90 days before the expiration of the current lease.
 
Part 2523 of the Rent Stabilization Code - Hearings and Records provides:
 
§ 2523.5  Notice for renewal of lease and renewal procedure
 
(a) On a form prescribed or a facsimile of such form approved by the DHCR, dated by the owner, every owner, other than an owner of hotel accommodations, shall notify the tenant named in the expiring lease not more than 150 days and not less than 90 days prior to the end of the tenant's lease term, by mail or personal delivery, of the expiration of the lease term, and offer to renew the lease or rental agreement at the legal regulated rent permitted for such renewal lease and otherwise on the same terms and conditions as the expiring lease. The owner shall give such tenant a period of 60 days from the date of service of such notice to accept the offer and renew such lease. The tenant's acceptance of such offer shall be entered on the designated part of the prescribed form, or facsimile thereof, and returned to the owner by mail or personal delivery. Pursuant to the provisions of section 2522.5(b)(1) of this Title, the owner shall furnish to such tenant a copy of the fully executed renewal lease form bearing the signatures of the owner and tenant within 30 days of the owner's receipt of the renewal lease form signed by the tenant. Upon execution by the owner and delivery to the tenant, such form shall constitute a binding renewal lease. Upon failure of the owner to deliver a copy of the fully executed renewal lease form to the tenant within 30 days from the owner's receipt of such form signed by the tenant, such tenant shall not be deprived of any of his or her rights under the RSL and this Code and the owner shall be barred from commencing any action or proceeding against the tenant based upon nonrenewal of lease, pursuant to section 2524.3(f) of this Title. In the event that such notice is given to the tenant after the expiration of the lease, the provisions of subdivision (c) of this section shall govern.
 

[jot0n0]

consigliere,

I'm not sure if the law you posted been updated, but on DHCR's renewal form and fact sheet, it states "For New York City rent-stabilized tenants, the landlord must give written notice to the tenant of the right to renewal no more than 150 days and not less than 120 days prior to the end of the lease", not 90 days per your post.

[consigliere]

The regulations I posted are the most recent -- effective December 20, 2000. Before that, the period for a landlord to offer a lease renewal was 150 days to 120 days before the expiration date of the current lease.
 
DHCR Fact Sheet No. 4 - Lease Renewal in Rent Stabilized Apartments, revised effective December 20, 2000, also gives the time frame for New York City as 150 days to 90 days before the current lease expires.