Can a LL offer a lower price lease renewal to a disabled resident?

[RamenAddict]

There could be a variety of reasons why they might do this. One is that the complex may have had a lot of people within the eviction moratorium and those took a while to actually work through the courts after the moratorium ended. If they were still working on getting the people who didn’t pay evicted, it makes sense for them to keep a person they know will be getting money monthly on a regular basis.

Otherwise, it’s not always as simple as raising the rent a lot or getting the current tenant out to raise the rent. The transition often requires doing upgrades like replacing appliances, flooring, etc. With the current supply chain shortage, the complex may not even be able to get those things to be able to do the updates. As someone who has been in the unit for over a decade, the apartment will at a minimum need a new floor, paint, and probably some new appliances.

[Rabrrita]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

But in the last 1-2 years, that's really not a good reason to keep his rent below what is should be.

They may not have a choice.

We have a building in an inferno market but we still have some rentals substantially below market rents and we have no choice. When we obtained the building, our plans called not for the addition of units but a reduction. A small 10% reduction in units created new expanded space that commanded stratosphere rates. You can imagine the uproar from the affordable housing community (although the property was never affordable to them anyways).

As a condition of approving our application to reduce the number of rental units, we were required to set aside a certain number of units for targeted affordable housing. Those units are not identifiable to anyone, nor is anyone aware who or what a occupant in those units pay. We have partnered with two community groups to use these set asides for disabled/handicap renters in need of lower cost rental rates. Their rent is substantially less than the other units. In some cases, the individual may not even know the actual per monthly rate as they pay a set amount and a program or charity may be paying an additional amount.

So there could be a legitimate reason the rent is below market and why it remains below market. The tenant may not know, you may not know and even the PMC may not be fully aware of the behind-the-scene financial arrangements of their corporate office; all one may see is below market rates.