Yes, rent increases are not fun. The technique to increase rents every time you renew is fairly common. Although, the forcing you to sign a 6 month lease isn’t too ethical, it is still legal. Your landlord could increase rent every single month if he wanted as long as you were not bound by a lease condition or fixed rate… its not the best business practice.

What can you do about it? Not much! The best answer is that you could threaten to not renew your lease. That might make management more willing to keep your rent the same.

If your rent is controlled by government (rent control) then you will not be able to be charged more than the amount set by the rent stabilization board. You could easily contact your local rent control office to see what the maximum rent amount is for your area.

Government only regulates a small portion of rents across the US. California and New York were the first to create rent stabilization as an effort to stop landlords from taking advantage of tenants in areas where there are few rental properties and many tenants. Before rent stabilization landlords would run their rentals like a casino and offer to the highest bidder. This practice is not acceptable in rent controlled areas. Most cities however, don’t have any type of rent control. The HUD published rent amounts only apply to section 8 tenants receiving housing welfare.

I know so much about this subject because I once had a landlord double my rent… I though is was illegal too. Then I found out that he had right to charge what he wanted. He did it to get me to move out. He knew I couldn’t afford the new rental amount and would be forced to move. Don’t worry, I filed a complaint with the RPA so that it would be documented against him. (At least I got the last word!!) My landlord was banned by the RPA and now has a negative record. Yay!

If you landlord is increasing your rent by 45%, that means she is trying to force you out. Have you done anything to upset your landlord? Such as bugging her about fixing something?

If you are in a lease, you should be locked in for the entire term. You will still want to read your lease to determine if there is a clause that allows your landlord to raise your rent. Most likely there won’t be a clause allowing her to do so, which means the only way she can get you to agree to the new rent increase is IF you sign a new agreement.

The law will allow your landlord to price her rental anyway she wants. Huge rent increases (more than 10%) are extremely unethical, but still legal. The government does not regulate how much a landlord can charge. (except in highly populated areas where rents are already very high.)

Make no mistake– your landlord wants you out. This is a common trick to force tenants to leave. I’ve never heard of a 45% increase, that’s pretty extreme. Rest assured that you have right to live out the rest of your contract without the new rent increase. I would advise you to not renew your lease if this is how unethical your landlord is.