Rent Increase when 12m lease changes to m to m

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by drewex

Hey all, Ok i did some legal research with my realtor's contacts. Here is the deal
This below is correct. And there is no legal limitation going from 1year to m to m. They can do any type of raise with out limitation which sucks. In LA the subject is different, i have a friend lives in LA and had the same change 1y to 'm to m' but he only got 3% raise due to the link here. 4% Allowable Rent Increase in L.A. Starts on July 1, 2009! - Los Angeles, CA - AmericanTowns.com
Or the house owner just doesnt know the law only goes for long term leases. which is great for my friend.

Also my apt only does 12m leases no other option. So they are acting smart. My plans is getting in to housing market in the following months. Which is totally a different subject. So it sucks that i have to pay the rent increase until i get out. Hopefully i can find a place before a year passes then i would be pist. Thanks for all the responses.

for you it sucks, of course, but if they normally only do a 12 month lease I can see their side of this as well..

Nita

[BRinSM]

unless you have an amazing deal, i would try to negotiate with management. rents are on the decline all over socal right now, especially in larger complexes. if they lose your rent, there is a good chance it is going to take them a while to fill the vacancy, especially if they want to get more than you were paying. alhtough moving sucks, you should do your homework and see what your options are. maybe bring some comps to the table and tell them you that's where you plan on moving if they don't offer you the same rate. that's what i would do. it is very troubling (on both sides) that a property manager is trying to increase rents considering the current economic conditions.

[Coldjensens]

The reason that OC does nto have rent control is that there are plenty of apartments (no shortage) Thus there is plenty of competition. If they jack up your rent and will not negotiate, go somewhere else. After one year with no late payments and no problems, I was always able to negotiate reduced rent. It is hard to understand just how valuable a GOOD tenant is unless you have been a landlord. If you leave, the place may sit empty for a while. The next tenant may be a flake or worse and they will have to fight to collect rent or to get them out. THere are a lot of really bad things that can and often do happen when a good tenant leaves. Thus, most places will neogtiate to keep a good tenant. If this place will not - get out. Find someplace that will give you a reasonable price.

[MisterDuke]

I looked on the website for your complex, the Terrace Apartments in Orange. They are desperate for renters. They are offering 6 WEEKS FREE RENT on new leases. That's the equivalent of over $2500 in incentive. That's a very aggressive attempt to attract tenants. It should be very easy to negotiate with the property managers.

You would have been in a stronger negotiating position if you approached them about renewing the lease before it expired. Even if they failed to send you a reminder that your lease was about to expire, you should have approached them if you wanted to keep the same deal in play.

Signing a one year lease is like buying in bulk at Costco. You can get 50 candy bars for $5 because you are buying in quantity. But you wouldn't expect to take one of those candy bars out of the pack and up to the cashier and pay only .10 cents. You don't get the bulk discount when you buy individually. And that's what I suspect happened with your lease. You let the one year lease expire, but now you expect to pay the same discounted rate even though you are month to month. That's not the way it works. If you want that rate you have to commit to a year.

Here's what I'd do. Forget about quoting the law. This can be wrapped up in 10 minutes. Write a letter, dated today, that says you intend to move out and are giving them the required 30 days notice. Take the letter with you to the office. Meet with the manager and tell them you would like a one year lease at the same rate you paid on the previous lease, and you would like it to begin tomorrow. If they give you any hassle, tell them that is the only way you will stay, otherwise you will need to immediately give them 30 days notice. If they still hassle you, produce the the letter and tell them this is their last chance to retain you as a tenant. If they refuse, you leave. But they won't, not if they are handing out 6 weeks of free rent to lure in new tenants. They are desperate. Use that to your advantage.

[drewex]

You guys forget that i need to go to month to month. I am planing to buy a house. But i will go and negotiate today. I'll reply here sometime tomorrow. Thanks for all the input. I will probably save $150 a month thanks to you all.
...
I just called them for open aparts. for the size i have and they are asking for 1650 for new tenants. HOOLLYY CRPPP. Thats why they are giving 6 weeks free. I know its at a nice location but damn. Im shocked they can even ask for that much in orange.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by drewex

You guys forget that i need to go to month to month. I am planing to buy a house. But i will go and negotiate today. I'll reply here sometime tomorrow. Thanks for all the input. I will probably save $150 a month thanks to you all.
...
I just called them for open aparts. for the size i have and they are asking for 1650 for new tenants. HOOLLYY CRPPP. Thats why they are giving 6 weeks free. I know its at a nice location but damn. Im shocked they can even ask for that much in orange.

We were renting in Orange in the mid to late '90s, $750 for a 2 bdr. apt. in a nice complex. Then in about '99, new management/owners came in and started raising everyone's rent $200 every 6 months! By 2000, we were at $1200 rent, but bought a condo to get out of the rent situation. And the condo payment, w/HOA, was lower than the rent had been. But they were pushing out old, relible tennants to move in illegal immigrants. We found out their reason for that - they charged the $200 a head, and most would move 8 - 10 or even more people into each apartment. They paid cash, so if rent was $1200 for a 2 bdr. unit and there were 8 tennants, the managers would skim the extra $400 cash off, tax free. I don't know if that's still going on, but it seemed many complexes had this scam going on.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by drewex

You guys forget that i need to go to month to month. I am planing to buy a house. But i will go and negotiate today. I'll reply here sometime tomorrow. Thanks for all the input. I will probably save $150 a month thanks to you all.
...
I just called them for open aparts. for the size i have and they are asking for 1650 for new tenants. HOOLLYY CRPPP. Thats why they are giving 6 weeks free. I know its at a nice location but damn. Im shocked they can even ask for that much in orange.

good luck to you. I am not sure what some people are thinking today? I do understand the management does not, normally do mo to mo, but if you are a good tenent I would think in these times they would want to keep you happy.. We see it with all kinds of things, the economy sucks so interest on CCards go up, if people can't pay their bills at, say 8% interest what does Visa think will happen when the rate goes to 15% or more. The other day my husband got a renewal card on one of his. He called to activate it and the gal asked why he didn't use it more??? What was that all about. I was laughing at his conversation, not because of what he was saying as much as what i could guess was being said on the other end.

He did explain we uses it primarily for gas, it has a high interest rate and he pays it off each month. She actually asked him what his interest rates were on any other cards he might have..???
Of course she didn't offer to lower his interest rate, not that it would have made any difference, as I said, he always pays it off..

Nita

[killer2021]

If you don't like it, just find another place. No shortage of apartments in OC.

but if you are a good tenent I would think in these times they would want to keep you happy..

Yea any good landlord knows the real money is made by keeping tenants happy, especially good ones. Also good landlords know when you have a bad tenant, get them out as fast as possible.

If you have a good landlord and you are a good tenant, the rewards should keep on coming for you. You are making your landlord rich!

We were renting in Orange in the mid to late '90s, $750 for a 2 bdr. apt. in a nice complex. Then in about '99, new management/owners came in and started raising everyone's rent $200 every 6 months! By 2000, we were at $1200 rent, but bought a condo to get out of the rent situation. And the condo payment, w/HOA, was lower than the rent had been. But they were pushing out old, relible tennants to move in illegal immigrants. We found out their reason for that - they charged the $200 a head, and most would move 8 - 10 or even more people into each apartment. They paid cash, so if rent was $1200 for a 2 bdr. unit and there were 8 tennants, the managers would skim the extra $400 cash off, tax free. I don't know if that's still going on, but it seemed many complexes had this scam going on.

Wow very interesting story. Never knew landlords could allow for a per-head fee. That probably explains why some of these places have massive overcrowding.