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Rent Increase after lease renewal

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Rent Increase after lease renewal

Postby janikay27 » Sun Aug 18, 2002 7:14 am

My lease renewed in March of 2002 and in my landlord's own handwriting it clearly states on my lease "this lease will renew year to year so long as rent is paid, apartment is kept clean and there are no wild parties". I pay my rent on time every month and follow every other "rule" she sets forth. I received a hand written letter from her stating my rent to be increased by $50 beginning September 25, 2002 (which is six months after the renewal date). I was under the belief she couldn't increase my rent after a renewal date...is this true? There is nothing in my lease about rent increases.

Please help!!!!
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Re: Rent Increase after lease renewal

Postby TenantNet » Sun Aug 18, 2002 8:53 am

Not-so-golden (from a not-so-intelligent reply).
It is not a guaranteed lease (as you might find in a rent regulatory scheme). Based on the information the poster supplied, it appears to convert a month-to-month tenancy into a year-to-year tenancy. The LL can still seek eviction, but only at the end of the yearly lease with 30-days notice. (of course it depends on the local laws where the poster is located). The rent can also be increased. It did not contemplate that the rent would never be increased. No jurisdiction would ever read that into what the landlord wrote. However, the LL cannot increase the rent during the term of the lease. So in this case, the rent can't be increased until the end of the lease (March 03).
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Re: Rent Increase after lease renewal

Postby ellerge » Mon Aug 19, 2002 6:38 pm

I must agree with ME AGAIN. The Landlord is indeed very STUPID to write what he did in the Lease! The way I read it, the Lease automatically renews yearly IF the Tenant pays her rent, has no 'wild' parties and keeps the apartment clean(the Tenant's definition of clean?). There is no provision for a rent increase ANYTIME.
I would write the Landlord that there was NO provision in the Lease for a September increase in the rent. I would say nothing about his low IQ or a possible rent increase at the end of the Lease.
I would also remember that this LL MAY have to give me a referance when I move or some Rent-to-Own Appliance store may call him sometime in the future when I want to do business there.
This is a tightrope for the Tenant to walk BUT, LEGALLY she is on solid ground in not accepting a rent increase.
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Re: Rent Increase after lease renewal

Postby TenantNet » Mon Aug 19, 2002 10:02 pm

Well George, you and Me Again are both incorrect, and on two points. Parse it out. "This lease will renew year to year..." simply sets the term of the lease. It's the same as saying "this is a one-year lease." There's nothing in it (assuming the poster gave us all the relevant language) that provides for guaranteed renewal, and there's nothing in there to say the rent can't or won't increase. There's no need for the LL to put in any provision regarding the level of rent increase in a future term as any subsequent lease will have its own terms. A tortuous read of this, as we're seeing, could give the tenant a big surprise.
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Re: Rent Increase after lease renewal

Postby TenantNet » Tue Aug 20, 2002 10:31 am

Again you're incorrect. Nowhere in the original quote is the word "shall." Go ahead, read it again. Too many tenants get into trouble by imbueing their own tortuous interpretation of legaleze. We see it all the time and we see tenants losing on this type of interpretation all the time. Just the fact that there are different interpretations and ambiguity would open the door that the LL never intended or agreed to guarantee a lease for life and without any increase along the way. It doesn't work like that. Time to move on.
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