How can i fight a rent increase?
I just got hit with an 8% increase in Chicago and tried to reason with them, suggesting a slightly lower increase. I was rebuffed, sent a stern email and was told that they were no longer offering me a renewal. YMMV. My landlord believes the place is worth more than I do and acted offended. Dealing with an agency might help to avoid the crazy reasoning I’ve gotten but I would be prepared to move out. Even though I think my place isn’t worth the increase someone else will.
I’m chiming in here with a different opinion. I don’t know anything about the New York rental market, but know quite a lot about it here, as my husband owns numerous rental properties. The rental market is very strong right now, which may be the reason they’re upping your rent. New mortgages are difficult to get, and foreclosure evictions are forcing people from their homes. Where do you think these people are going? To rentals! I’m sure your landlord already ran the numbers and is aware of what the market will bring. But maybe not, maybe he’s just trying to improve his cash flow for his own personal reasons. I think you’re going to have to bluff it out first, and see if you can get a counter offer from them.
avex: There has been a tumble in housing prices… … because demand has plummetted while supply has stayed steady or increased in some quarters. Remember that housing is microcosmic, not macrocosmic; I doubt I’d ever be able to argue my landlord down because “property values in the neighborhood are lower today,” and good luck if that’s what you plan to do. In order to replicate the drop in housing prices, you have to replicate the drop in demand for housing. Which is to say: you have to tell them that you won’t or can’t pay the extra $100 a month, and that you’re quite happy to start looking for another apartment if that’s going to be the price. Oh, you say, but that won’t work! They’ll just say that’s fine with them! Well, tough titties. Sorry. I’ve never lived in NY, but I lived in Boston for two years, and my experience with landlords was that they weren’t the types to be convinced to keep the rent low by a well-reasoned plea or a powerpoint presentation on the economy from a tena
If you can’t get them to lower the price, you might be able to get them to give you a few more months’ at the current rent so you have a little longer to look–MoneyMate Kate, a personal finance blogger/massage therapist living in Manhattan was able to do this recently. Also, did you move in one year ago, or did you just resign a one year lease last year? It makes a difference in terms of how long/how much work they’ll have to do to get the apartment ready to lease again (new paint is required every three years, etc). You might be able to use that as a bargaining chip. You don’t mention if the apartment is rent-stabilized but it sounds like it might be, from their 4% increase. If you offer to sign a two year lease, you will get a better deal on what they’d raise it next year.
@zephyr, 20 million unemployed, the spiraling economic crisis and recession, global stock market crash, corporate financial ruin, etc, indicate that there is an argument against a rent increase. There has been a tumble in housing prices, and a record drop in consumer prices with analysts predicting further drops in the months ahead, so hopefully it follows that there should be at least a stabilization in rent prices and a renter friendlier market in general. All of this stuff is irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is what the market will bear this month (not in several months). If someone else is willing to pay $2500 a month that is all they care about. Regardless, you can make a counteroffer, and they’ll accept it or they won’t. Kadin2048 has good suggestions along these lines.
