How to deal with rent increases?

By Tenant

After a certain period of time, landlords can increase the rent on their rental apartment. We all know that rent is not that cheap in most areas and increase in rent normally cause a sting on the tenant. If you are a landlord, raising the rent on your property may be the only way for you to keep up with the rising economy and costs of your business. Rent increase is unavoidable but must also be handled by the landlord legally. Here are some options that you can do when your rental period come around.

If you are a landlord:

• Check the state law. In order for you to legally increase your rent, you must first check your state laws on how many days you can give your tenant as a notice. Put in writing that you are going to increase the tenant’s rent along with the 30 to 60 days’ notice period. You can also raise the rent at the end of the tenant’s lease.
• Be prepared. Your tenants may not accept your new lease with an increase in rent and thus may want to break the lease or not renew it. You must be prepared to re-rent the unit if that happens most especially if your tenant is on a month-to-month lease.
• Deliver personally. If your tenant had been living in your place for quite some time now, you may want to deliver the news personally. Tell them in all honesty why you are increasing their rent.

If you are a tenant:

• Read the lease agreement. In a month-to-month lease the landlord can increase the rent after the month is through while in a year lease the landlord can raise your rent when your lease end, so it is very important that you read carefully your lease agreement.
• 30 Day notice. Be sure to take note on the date the landlord gave you the notice of increase. According to state laws there should be a 30 day notice period first before the landlord can apply the increase.
• Negotiate with your landlord. Talk to your landlord politely about your stand on the increase. it is a plus if you have become a good tenant and caused no problems. If nothing works, then you can move out and find another place to rent that fits your budget.

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