When Will You Know if Rent Will Be Raised in Your Apartment?

Getting a observe from your landlord that your hire is increasing would ruin anyone's day. Unfortunately, this stress-inducing reality has been happening across the country as reports of rental rates hitting an all-time loftier have been making headlines regularly.

After the initial shocks vesture off (and the superlatives subside) it's fourth dimension to start thinking about your options for dealing with a rent increase. Keep reading to find out what you tin exercise when your landlord raises the rent.

First things get-go, it'south important to sympathise why your rent is going upward.

Landlords may make up one's mind to increase their rental prices in order to match market rates , to pay for property maintenance or improvements, to adjust tax increases, or simply to increase their profits. Like most industries, the rental market responds to economic trends creating conditions for owners to enquire more than or less for rent depending on their region.

But why is the rent going up and so much?

It turns out, that most landlords do not regularly raise their hire to lucifer the cost of owning and maintaining a property. What ends upwards happening is after 5 years at a steady rental rate, the owner will realize that a rent increase is necessary to keep up with increasing property taxes, maintenance, and marketplace rates. All of a sudden, after 5 years of affordable hire, yous might meet a sudden 10-25% increase.

For a lot of renters, a 25% increase could price them out of their current rental property.I attempt to recommend that landlords include a regular 3% increase every year and so they do not detect themselves in a state of affairs where they are suddenly asking their tenants to pay an extra few hundred dollars a month. A $30 increase each year is a lot easier to stomach than a $150 increase later on nothing for 5 years!

So y'all got a 25% rent increase (or more than!) – Is that even legal?

Most likely, yes it is legal.* Landlords can accuse whatever rent the market allows.  State laws dictate how much notice a landlord must give earlier raising the rent on a month-to-month agreement. If you lot are on a lease, good news, your landlord cannot raise the hire on you lot. Only every bit presently as the lease is over, he tin raise the rent, fifty-fifty if your charter transitions into a month-to-month understanding.

Some states, like Oregon, forestall rent increases in the starting time twelvemonth of month-to-month tenancy and set longer periods of required notice before a hire increase takes place. A quick Google search of "[Your state] rent increase notice" should reveal how much time your landlord must give before raising the hire.

The merely other reason a rent increment would exist considered illegal is if y'all feel like your landlord is raising the rent in retaliation to your tenancy. If y'all think this is yous, you need to contact a landlord-tenant attorney to start building a example.

*Rent increases like those described above are legal in areas that practice non accept rent control or rent-stabilization acts in place. According to Rachel Stults at Realtor.com, rent-controlled and rent-stabilized areas are pretty rare , are governed on the local level, and have rules around how often and how much hire tin exist increased.

If you lot are facing a hire increase hither is what you should do:

Ask for Time to Think Well-nigh information technology

You lot don't need to determine today if you lot are staying or going. Merely y'all do need to brand a plan to think about your finances. Housing expenses should business relationship for 30% of your income (including utilities). If the new hire is going to price you out of your household budget, finding a less expensive rental is what needs to happen. Practice not put additional strain on your finances by living in a place you cannot beget.

If you can afford the new rent but practice non want to pay information technology, do some research to see what else is on the market. You might discover that rents have gone upward universally in your area and your landlord is asking for a reasonable toll. Would it be worth the moving expenses to notice a comparable property with comparable rent?

Effort to Reasonably Negotiate

Before you start paying the college rate or perusing the rental ads, have a professional and honest conversation with your landlord. Tell your landlord you are concerned with the rising rent prices and that y'all will probably have to motion. You lot might find that he likes you as a tenant and will negotiate the rent increase downwardly in club to keep yous. This tactic will but work if you get forth with your landlord and have a history of on-fourth dimension hire payments.

Y'all have to be prepared for him to say no. Only it won't hurt anything to ask. Exist professional, empathic, reasonable, and never get angry or defensive. I have heard the success of renters talking a 10% hire increment down to 5%, with the noesis that the rent will increase by another 5% in a year, but at to the lowest degree it wasn't such a steep spring. If you lot are mean or hostile during this conversation, your landlord will probably be happy that you are moving out.

Ask to Sign a Longer Fixed-Term Lease

Landlords cannot raise the rent on y'all during a fixed-term lease agreement. If you are tired of your landlord raising the rent every twelvemonth, ask your landlord if y'all tin can sign a charter for 1 or two years. This means you will have to commit living on that belongings but if yous have no intention of moving y'all will benefit from the noesis that your housing budget will remain stable.

In nearly cases, your landlord will agree to a long charter agreement, considering that means they will not have to deal with releasing the property, turnover, or vacancy. If you already take a history of on-fourth dimension rent payments and good landlord-tenant relationship your landlord should exist open up to a long-term lease agreement.

Move Out

In some cases, the only affair to practise volition exist to motility. The harsh reality of ascent rents is that some people will exist forced to motility out of great apartments in prime number locations. Moving abroad from your urban center center or job can reduce your housing expenses; however, it may likewise make your commuting expenses go up.

If you live in a tight rental market, with limited vacancies, be sure to communicate your moving plans to your landlord. He might be reasonable virtually giving y'all an extension to alive on the belongings at your current rate until y'all find a new property. Don't overstay your welcome or take reward of your landlord'south generosity. Remember that your current landlord will need to requite yous reference in order for you to notice a new place.

Foreclose Rent Increases – Be a Great Tenant

I have had many discussions with landlords that they practice not want to raise the rent on good tenants for fear of losing them. In full general, landlords hate finding new tenants. Turnover is expensive and time-consuming. If you are a good tenant, ie pay your rent on time or early every month, there is a chance that your landlord will avert raising the rent on you. This is not e'er the instance, as some hire increases are inevitable simply every renter should strive to be a expert tenant.

Unfair Hire Increases

If yous think that your rent increase is unfair or is done in retaliation to get you lot to move, you tin contact a landlord-tenant attorney in your state to talk about your options. An attorney familiar with the laws that pertain to tenant rights in your state will exist necessary to move forward with defending yourself legally.

Have you recently gotten a notice that your rent is increasing? Let the states know what you did in the comments!

This post was originally published August 12, 2016, and was updated on October 1st, 2018

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Related Reading For Y'all:

• A Renter's Guide to Understanding Lease Terms
• How to Relieve for A Home While Renting
• How to Breakdown with Your Landlord

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Source: https://www.rentecdirect.com/blog/landlord-raises-the-rent/

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