Lucas A. Ferrara in New York Times Real Estate Section, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN RENT HITS $2000 UNDER REGULATION, November 20, 2005.

Q. My husband and I live in a rent-controlled apartment that now costs us $1,800 a month. Is it true that when the rent reaches $2,000 a month the apartment will be decontrolled and the landlord can then raise the rent to fair market value?

We have lived in this apartment for 43 years, are in our 70's and live on a fixed income. ... Janet Dawe, Manhattan.

A. Lucas A. Ferrara, a Manhattan real estate lawyer and editor of Landlord-Tenant Monthly, said that when the legal rent for an occupied, rent-regulated apartment is $2,000 or more, the apartment is eligible for deregulation only if the occupants' federal adjusted gross annual household income - as reported on New York State tax returns - exceeds $175,000 for two consecutive years.

"The law requires that the income of all persons who occupy the unit as their primary residence be considered," Mr. Ferrara said.

He noted, however, that even if a tenant meets the income threshold for two years running, and the rent reaches $2,000, deregulation is not automatic.

"A landlord is required to serve a tenant with an income certification form on or before May 1," Mr. Ferrara said, adding that if, upon the return of the form, the landlord believes the apartment is eligible for deregulation, he must file a deregulation petition with the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal no later than June 30 of that same year.

If a tenant does not return the income certification form within 30 days, Mr. Ferrara said, the landlord can file the petition for deregulation, and the agency will ask state tax officials to review the tenant's tax returns.

"If a landlord misses this window period, the process is delayed until the following year," he said, adding that the law does not exempt long-term occupants or the elderly on fixed incomes from high-rent, high-income decontrol.