Find out how much they used to pay for your apartment

DW and I are starting to come to grips with the fact that we may be looking for new digs come October 1. It will be 3 years in our apartment, and we're going to try to do the stay-at-home mom bit, which we're both very excited for. But with one of us working, and that person being a teacher, the Upper West Side and us are likely to part amicably.

I was excited to hear there was a place that would send you your rent history. I thought for sure our apartment would still legally be rent-stabilized (and oh, the legends of landlords paying 3x the back rent did make me giggle with delight!)... but, alas, we're stuck with our deregulated, falling apart gem. When the next lease and rent hike comes, we won't be the ones giggling all the way to the bank. More like "Sobbing all the way to Craigslist..."

If you think your paying de-regulated rent on an apartment that should still be rent-stabilized, give the following number a call:
(212) 961-8930.
They sent me a rent history for my apartment going back to 1984. While our apt looks to have been legally de-regulated, it didn't cost anything to check!

I found this on the NYC Rent Guidelines Board site, which has a very useful NYC Rent and Rent Increases FAQ.