My landlord wants to increase our rent at the end of our lease... - Page 3

Ray Zee · #21 12-10-2005, 08:45 PM

if you two are renting the whole apt. then he has no authority to close anything off to you. or even enter without notice and a good reason. and that may not be to show it to others unless that is in the lease.

you dont have to do anything until your lease is up and then decide. if yoou want out early you need his approval.
no rent increase until lease ends. but read your lease that will tell what happens.

xLukex · #22 12-10-2005, 10:33 PM

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What part of Pittsburgh?

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South Oakland...I go to Pitt. Roomie goes to Duquesne. We live right by the Boulevard, so it's a 5 minute bike ride for him to Duquesne and a 15 minute walk for me to campus.

Scotch78 · #23 12-10-2005, 10:43 PM

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how raising the rent 50% without significantly increasing the square footage, or otherwise drastically improving the property, is anything short of attempted robbery. Since I don't see him completing an addition in one week, I am assuming he intends only to renovate the existing space to change the use of one room. If that's the case, tell him to go [censored] himself.

Scott

SammyKid11 · #24 12-10-2005, 10:50 PM

So much is wrong with this equation:

1) Your landlord should not demand that you decide by mid-January whether or not you want to renew your lease 7.5 months later. This is wholly inappropriate and unreasonable. Tell him you simply cannot commit that far in advance and that if he can't bend on that, you will regrettably have to move out.

2) Your landlord cannot fundamentally alter the place you're living while your lease is still current. Politely inform him that you have rights under your current lease and that one of those rights is peaceable enjoyment of your leased property, as you leased it (a 2 bedroom with a full living room, not a three bedroom with no living room). If he pushes, threaten legal action against him...if he doesn't concede, TAKE legal action against him.

3) This alteration of the property does not lend itself to your living situation. You have one roommate and the two of you are happily paying your rent to live in a 2-bedroom with living room house. Tell him for your purposes as tenants, his alterations (even if done properly after your lease expires and/or with your permission) simply don't work for you...and that if those are his locked-in plans you will definitely be moving out. You might also let him know that finding someone to pay 900/month for a three-bedroom, no living room place might be a challenge for him given that most people enjoy living rooms.

4) His rent hike of 50% is unreasonable. Tell him if he initially undervalued the price of his lease that you're willing to work with him on an incrementally-higher payment...but that for the next lease period, you're really only willing to go as high as...I dunno how high you're willing to go...maybe $750?

All in all, it sounds like this guy is a total doofus who doesn't understand what he can and cannot do to tenants. If he refuses to work with you on these points, you should really find a different place to live. But DO NOT let him alter the property to your detriment while your lease is still current -- that is clearly against the law. And even if he is willing to give up the alterations entirely and work with you on rent, DO NOT commit yourself that far into the future by signing a lease that runs through August '07 in January '06.

NateDog · #25 12-10-2005, 11:32 PM

Lest we not forget that (at least in my California properties) your landlord can give you a 60 Day Notice to Vacate 60 days before your lease expires. Then you won't have a choice in the mattter, you're out.

PM me if you need any advice. I'm an asset manager for a mid size multi-family/commercial property management firm. My legal knowledge is limited to CA, CO, NV, and AZ though.

smb394 · #26 12-11-2005, 02:40 AM

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You certainly don't need to be deciding now whether you want to renew your lease for 9/06-8/07. Although he might like some idea now, it's awfully early to be getting tenants to decide whether they want to renew nine months from now.

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This is SOP in the student housing market. At least, my landlord, and landlords of most of my friends did. This was in Worcester, MA, so this may vary.

Being a landlord for college kids has it's plusses and minuses. The big advantage is that you have near 100% occupancy, at least if your property is near a school with a relatively low housing supply, like a school located in a city.

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This was generally true when I went to PSU. We would usually have to indicate to our landlords by January at the latest if we'd be renewing our lease. Sometimes earlier.

Towards the end of the lease periods, the large apartment owners do painting and other repairs, making the units very uncomfortable to live in for a bit.

In your situation, I'd strongly consider going elsewhere.

housenuts · #27 12-11-2005, 02:57 AM

would you stay there and pay $900 as it is now?

if you would tell him you'll just pay the $900 and you don't want him to do any renovations. tell him whenever you decide to move out then he can do the reno's if he wants, but for now you'll just pay him $900 and he doesn't need to do anything except fix what is already broken.

BadBoyBenny · #28 12-11-2005, 01:18 PM

If he won't compromise, you can probably find a better deal close enough to where you are that moving won't be a huge pain.

Luv2DriveTT · #29 12-11-2005, 01:32 PM

[ QUOTE ]
if you two are renting the whole apt. then he has no authority to close anything off to you. or even enter without notice and a good reason. and that may not be to show it to others unless that is in the lease.

you don't have to do anything until your lease is up and then decide. if you want out early you need his approval.
no rent increase until lease ends. but read your lease that will tell what happens.

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I'd like to clarify that although Ray's advice is generally correct in all states & municipalities, you must check your lease & regional laws to make sure.

PS: My rent just went up 24%, moving out on the 1st [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] 3.k/month is getting silly.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

xLukex · #30 12-11-2005, 02:28 PM

Wow, you guys have given me a lot of valuable advice.

Basically, I'm just going to tell him as of now we're moving out and not signing a super huge lease. Then I'm going to say if he decides to fix a lot of other stuff along with adding a room we can talk.

Good idea?