Rent Raises

[5pyg1a55]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Given that it's an illegal rental, I doubt there is a least in place. However if there is one, I would consult the lease for some direction.


To answer the question, my typical rent raises are $50-100/year depending on several factors. However I won't really go into detail since it's an apples and orange situation here.

Just a quick, short paragraph written up as a tenant at will agreement from when I first rented a guest room IN their main house for about 7-8 weeks at a much lower price. It says nothing other than my name, the original rent amount that was for the main house guest room, and the address. The apartment of course does not have it's own address. They didn't ask for 1st/last/sec, so I'd been paying 2 months at a time b/c it felt weird not to have security.

(My last apartment I was in for about 13 years, and my old LL owned multiple multi-unit buildings and had a huge $5800 security deposit and a 15 page long lease).

[sawyer2]

Originally Posted by 5pyg1a55

I paid for it before seeing it, based on oral description. I really needed a place & am unfamiliar with this area. And I didn't know (and still don't know) how long/if I will stay in MA.

It's my friend's parent's place, they live in the main house. I'm not going to screw w/ them legally. They're a older, 70's-90's, and one is very ill w/ cancer. They're ok people most of the time, but crappy landlords
(They had one other tenant, otherwise haven't Landlorded before). The family is slightly dysfunctional. The place is tiny but aesthetically OK: marble bathroom, quarts counters, wood floors, etc, all new) it's like 3/4 done being renovated.

I have really tried to be slow and patient, I'm getting frustrated and cranky, and I feel unstable and miserable and have no clue how to continue navigating this reasonably.

Two options then - speak with your friend and see if you all can come to some resolution, or move out and on.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by 5pyg1a55

The folks who own the place I'm staying asked for a $50 rent raise after two weeks, citing I used 'too much electricity'.
For a window AC unit in August. (its a small non-'legal' apartment attached to a huge old victorian place, there were 6 people living in the house?!). It's been a ****show. It's half finished, like no steps outside just a two foot drop, there was no railing on the steep staircase inside, no way to open the kitchen cabinets, holes in the walls with wires hanging out, raw drywall, no electricity downstairs, no screens in the windows, etc)

I couldn't actually move in till 11 days after I'd paid. I spent 3 days cleaning/sanitizing the place (last tenant left a huge, disgusting mess), and was waiting for promises of crap that either didn't happen or took weeks, like paint.

**at first it was $800. After *2 weeks* they asked for $50 more for 'electricity' without finishing anything. Dude said I was "doing extreme things with the air conditioner".

A month goes by, I'm still waiting for paint and cabinet knobs and a railing, and I complained, so they took my laundry privileges away wtf? Same night I gave 30 days notice. They reneged on the laundry and renegotiated for $25 extra dollars. And also gave me paint and a railing. Still waiting on everything else. This is an in-law tiny apartment in Northborough. It's weird, like a studio (tiny kitchenette strip, bed area, 3/4 bathroom), but with a staircase to a downstairs 'sitting room', which might fit a loveseat. All my stuff is still in storage since March and I still have to get mail at the UPS store, together an extra over $100 a month.

It really depends on your lease (and if you have one). If there's a clause in there that says they can raise your rent due to electricity or utility usage, then you're probably liable to pay. If there isn't a clause in there that allows for them to do that, then you're probably fine saying "I'm going to continue to pay the amount agreed upon in my lease."

If you don't have a lease and it is an illegal apartment, then it's not really a typical rental situation. You may want to call the town about it, but be prepared to move out if it's an illegal apartment. That's really the kicker. If you have no lease and the place isn't legal, you're going to find your options are limited.

[5pyg1a55]

Originally Posted by sawyer2

Two options then - speak with your friend and see if you all can come to some resolution, or move out and on.

Yeeee. I've moved now 4 times since February and im f'n exhausted.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

I feel like everyone in the Boston area who’s ever rented a cheap placein the non luxury units has at least 1 apartment story like this. And yea your rents gonna increase, buddyguy. Welcome! Get ready for the snow!

One day, when I was renting a room (not a bedroom, I got a living room turned bedroom) the landlord told the 6 people living in the house "renovations start tomorrow morning". At 6 AM they show up, everybody leave for the day, by the time we come back the floor is covered in a thick layer of debris, walls have been torn down in the common areas and there is dust everywhere. This went on for over 1 month with workers only working 6-8 AM 6-8 PM and on weekends. The whole point of the renovations was, of course, to take away the dining room and turn it into a 7th bedroom and change the heating system.
After changing the heating my friend on the second floor had for the entire winter around 40F at night in his room, my friend on the 3rd floor about 85F.

My bathroom was not-heated in the basement shared with a girl whose room was also in the basement.

This works very well when all of your tenants are in the US with visas.

[5pyg1a55]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Lol Boston rental life. The ghetto.

When I lived in Dorchester my entire window fell out of it pain and onto me during my sleep-in the middle of a thunderstorm. Land lord told me he’d “patch it up”. And don’t even get me started on the mice and creaky floorboards.

I feel like everyone in the Boston area who’s ever rented a cheap placein the non luxury units has at least 1 apartment story like this. And yea your rents gonna increase, buddyguy. Welcome! Get ready for the snow!

No but seriously good luck-I’ve seen your story play out many times and I’m only 26...

Oh, dear that's horrible. Mice? TF? There's plenty of bad landlords, even among the higher priced places. Ya just never know.
This is my first 'cheap' apartment--- after living a considerably more comfortable lifestyle for many years, so I'm not used to this stuff.

Winter frightens me, I haven't been to Mass in a winter since 2010, and even that was just to come visit family for a week. My car was shipped from CA, has never been through a winter.

This summer was miserable- hadn't been here in a summer since 2007, and thought I might die each day, constantly sweating, the humidity, mosquitos, etc.

[5pyg1a55]

Originally Posted by Lampert

One day, when I was renting a room (not a bedroom, I got a living room turned bedroom) the landlord told the 6 people living in the house "renovations start tomorrow morning". At 6 AM they show up, everybody leave for the day, by the time we come back the floor is covered in a thick layer of debris, walls have been torn down in the common areas and there is dust everywhere. This went on for over 1 month with workers only working 6-8 AM 6-8 PM and on weekends. The whole point of the renovations was, of course, to take away the dining room and turn it into a 7th bedroom and change the heating system.
After changing the heating my friend on the second floor had for the entire winter around 40F at night in his room, my friend on the 3rd floor about 85F.

My bathroom was not-heated in the basement shared with a girl whose room was also in the basement.

This works very well when all of your tenants are in the US with visas.

oh, that's just horrible

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Lol Boston rental life. The ghetto.

When I lived in Dorchester my entire window fell out of it pain and onto me during my sleep-in the middle of a thunderstorm. Land lord told me he’d “patch it up”. And don’t even get me started on the mice and creaky floorboards.

I feel like everyone in the Boston area who’s ever rented a cheap placein the non luxury units has at least 1 apartment story like this. And yea your rents gonna increase, buddyguy. Welcome! Get ready for the snow!

No but seriously good luck-I’ve seen your story play out many times and I’m only 26...

lol were literally, almost the same age. Funny.

But anyways, thats really anwhere. NYC is 10x worse to rent in, if not luxury. Boston is up there on a smaller scale.

Nothing was worse than non luxury units in Syracuse. Youd get screwed big time.

[mdovell]

Maybe I feel lucky in springfield. I've never seen mice. Maybe a cat outside every year. Bugs a tad during heat waves and droughts but nothing major. Work orders are put in with the app, guest parking managed with the app. I have instant hot water (150f in seconds). No electrical issue, heat included. The building retains a ton of heat though so you pretty much have to have shades down in the summer. there was a washing machine problem but has long been fixed. They took away the full hd cable package on the tv in rec room :-/

Now neighboring properties are another story and that gets into code violations and emergency court orders....

[id77]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Lol Boston rental life. The ghetto.

When I lived in Dorchester my entire window fell out of it pain and onto me during my sleep-in the middle of a thunderstorm. Land lord told me he’d “patch it up”. And don’t even get me started on the mice and creaky floorboards.

I feel like everyone in the Boston area who’s ever rented a cheap placein the non luxury units has at least 1 apartment story like this. And yea your rents gonna increase, buddyguy. Welcome! Get ready for the snow!

No but seriously good luck-I’ve seen your story play out many times and I’m only 26...

Not a rental thing. It's an old city with old (and beautiful) buildings thing. We own what would probably be considered a luxury unit and also have uneven/creaking floors and still have to steel wool the openings regularly to keep the mouse droppings to a minimum. It just comes from living in 120-180 year old buildings.

Windows aren't falling out, but rodents are pretty normal. Even the glass and steel towers like One Dalton and the Millenium have rat traps.

I'd still take my ghetto brownstone any day of the week over late-20th/early-21st century McMansion builds out in the burbs that live by the HGTV playbook.