Rent Increase

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

On a standard lease, does anyone know how much notice the tenants are supposed to be given if they are renewing their lease if the landlord wants to increase the rent?

Short version: our lease is up at the end of this month. Last night was the first we'd heard of a possible increase in our rent after making it clear at least two weeks ago that we wanted to renew for another year. Our last month deposit has not been used. Can the landlord do this? Or are they required to have given us more notice than this?

Thanks very much for any help or advice in advance!

(an apartment in Somerville/Davis Square area)

EDIT: Thanks for everyone's help, we've come to an agreement with the landlord on the issue.

Comments

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

AFAIK, if you're signing a new lease, it's up to the landlord. However, they should have presented it to you well ahead of time. I would suggest a month-to-month compromise if you want to move out.

I also believe that they can't ask you to increase your security deposit or your last month's rent.

[jmspencer.livejournal.com]

I also believe that they can't ask you to increase your security deposit or your last month's rent.

Yes, they can. When they increase your rent, and you sign a new lease, they can ask you for the difference in the old ledger balance and the new one. I almost got evicted last year because the person I was subletting from hadn't paid the $100 difference in her last-month rent when she had an increase a year earlier.

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

If you have a month-to-month agreement, then the landlord is required to give you thirty days' notice. If there is a rental increase at the lease changeover, it must be written into the lease. If you have signed a lease that did NOT indicate an increase, then the specifics from the existing lease stay in effect. If you have not yet signed a new lease, then I don't believe there's much you can do.

You may want to talk to your landlord. Depending on the size of the increase, he (I'm using "he" because you said "landlord," rather than "lessor," apologies if this is in error) may be willing to negotiate. If you move out, the apartment will probably be empty for at least a month, and that costs him money. If the rent is going on a large amount (more than 10% of the existing rent), it may be more difficult, especially if the rent hasn't been increased for several years and/or taxes and property values have gone up.

What did your landlord say when you told him you wanted to renew your lease?

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

We haven't signed the new lease yet. We called before the end of last month to say we wanted to renew, and didn't hear back. I included a letter to the same end in our rent payment when that was mailed on the 1st, and heard no reply. I called last night to make sure they knew we wanted to renew, they called back and that's when we found out about this potential increase. They did make mention that we (and others in our building) had been good tenants, so there's that in our favor.

I did at least find that 10% thing out, and it is over a 10% increase from our previous monthly rent.

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

That's kinda cruddy on the part of the landlord, but I think it's legally within their rights. I think the only thing you can do is negotiate, just as you would if you were having the discussion a month or more before the lease ran out. Although, if your landlord truly believes he can get much more for the unit, he may not be willing to give up the extra income. As two_stabs mentions, you may be able to negotiate a month-to-month lease, or at least a one or two month extension. This would allow you to find a new apartment and him to find a new tenant.

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

Leases automatically change over to a month by month rental agreement at the end. It is up to the landlord to issue you a notice in writing of his intent to terminate the rental agreement; a 30 day notice is needed.

[larksdream]

I googled it, which you could have done for yourself ("Massachusetts landlord law terminate"):

If your landlord wants to raise your
rent, s/he must send you proper legal notice terminating your current
tenancy. This notice may contain an offer to remain in the apartment for
the increased rent. You must receive this notice at least one full rental
period, but not less than 30 days, before it becomes effective. The
rental increase may be any amount the landlord wishes to charge, and s/he
may increase the rent as often as s/he wishes, provided that proper
notice is given each time the rent is increased.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

According to http://www.lectlaw.com/files/lat07.htm

"Rent for a Tenant with a Lease can be increased only when the lease term expires. "

I don't know what 10% thing you're talking about; there are only caps in increases in very specific cases.

Don't forget that the landlord is required to pay you interest on the last month's rent & security deposits, and that's due on the anniversary date of your tenancy.

This is another good online resource about tenant's rights -- http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/landlord.html

And the city of Somerville publishes a document all about renter's rights:
http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/CoS_Content/documents/Tenant%20Helper%20-%206th%20Edition.pdf

Good luck!

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

I did google a number of terms, that happened to not be one of them.

Thanks, though, that's very helpful.

[unferth.livejournal.com]

Do you have a reference for this? It doesn't match my understanding of the situation, or at least it varies depending on the terms of the lease. But I'm no lawyer.

The clearest reference for the way I understood it to work that I can find is:
How to be a tenant in Massachusetts and avoid getting ripped off (http://www.gis.net/~groucho/tenant.html#24)
"If you have a fixed-term lease which is expiring, the landlord is not required to give you any notice. But since most leases are renewed annually, and most landlords and tenants expect that to be the case, landlords often give notice anyway if they don't want to renew the lease."

If the landlord accepts rent, that creates an at-will tenancy, but if they just say 'Your lease is up, sorry' and don't accept the check, I don't think there's a notice period required. Unless there's one written into the lease, of course, and self-extending leases or leases that create tenancies at will after they expire are pretty common.

[larksdream]

Fair enough. I withdraw my snark. :)