Proper Notice of Rent Increase

If you have a lease, the landlord can seek a rent increase only based on the terms of the lease. For example, your lease may prohibit a rent increase or it may allow a rent increase (but only under certain conditions). Also depending upon what type of lease you have, a landlord may only be able to seek a rent increase at certain times.

a. No increases during the lease

Your landlord typically cannot increase your rent during the term of your lease. The one time when a landlord can increase your rent during the lease is if your lease has a “tax escalator clause.” This clause allows a rent increase during the lease if the property tax goes up.⁴⁶ For more see Tax Escalator Clause.

Even if you and your landlord agreed to an increase during the lease period, a judge may not find the agreement valid if you received nothing in exchange for the higher rent.⁴⁷

b. What kind of lease do you have?

Make sure you know whether you have a self-extending lease or an option to renew lease.

• Self-Extending

  With a self-extending lease, if you or your landlord do nothing, the lease automatically continues. You must give the landlord written notice if you want to leave, or the landlord must give you a timely Notice to Quit if they want you to leave. If you have a self-extending lease, and your landlord wants to increase the rent, they must send you a proper notice of rent increase before the date your lease automatically extends. If the landlord sends the notice of rent increase after the lease automatically extends, there can be no rent increase until the next time the lease ends. (Sometimes a landlord gives a Notice to Quit with a notice of rent increase so that if a tenant does not accept the rent increase, the lease will not automatically extend and the tenancy will end).

• Option to Renew

  With an option to renew lease, if you do nothing, the lease will end. An option to renew is not automatic. You must renew, if you want to stay. Read your lease to be clear about exactly how and by when you must give the landlord notice that you want to renew.

  Also read the lease to see if your landlord can increase the rent if you renew. If your lease requires your landlord to give you notice of a rent increase and the landlord does not give you notice before the lease is renewed, your rent cannot be increased during the renewed lease period.

  If your lease already says what the new rent will be if you renew, your landlord may not have to give you a separate notice of rent increase.   

To determine whether your lease is self-extending or whether you have an option to renew see Chapter 4: What Kind of Tenancy Do You Have - How Long Is My Lease Valid.

a. Getting legal notice

If you are a tenant at will and do not have a lease or live in public or subsidized housing, your landlord can propose a rent increase any time. For all tenants who do not have a lease, a legally valid rent increase notice has to do 2 things:

1. End (or terminate your existing tenancy at the current rent, and
2. Offer you a new tenancy at a higher rent.

Landlords often combine the notice of rent increase and a 30-day notice to quit so that if you refuse to pay the rent increase, they do not have to wait to bring an eviction case in court. The notice to quit and notice of rent increase can be given as two separate documents, or as a single document combining both notices. In any case, you must receive timely notice that your landlord is terminating your tenancy at the current rent and offering you a new tenancy at a higher rent. You must receive the notice terminating your current tenancy at least 30 days or one full rental period (if it is longer than 30 days) before the proposed date of the rent increase.⁴⁸ A notice of a rent increase by itself cannot and does not end your existing tenancy at the current rent.⁴⁹ 

For example, if you pay rent on the 1st of the month and your landlord wants a rent increase as of September 1, they must make sure you actually receive the offer of a new tenancy at the higher rent and a notice terminating your existing tenancy before August 1. If you decide to accept the rent increase but do not receive the notice of termination of tenancy until after August 1, your tenancy at the existing rent continues to the end of September, and you do not have to pay the increase until October 1. But you must continue to pay the current rent.

Remember: It is the date you actually receive the Notice to Quit that matters, not the date written on the Notice to Quit or the date the notice was mailed or served. Be sure to write down or put in your calendar when you got the notice.

b. What if you refuse to pay the increase?

If you do not accept your landlord’s rent increase demand, you still need to pay the current rent. Make sure you get receipts of the payments so that you can prove that you paid the current rent. See Keep Receipts.

If you continue to pay the current rent, a landlord cannot send you a 14-day Notice to Quit for non-payment, but must send a 30-day Notice to Quit if they want to evict you. Often, landlords do not understand this difference and try to evict tenants improperly after giving a 14-day Notice to Quit for non-payment of the rent increase. If your landlord makes this mistake and files an eviction case, you should ask the court to dismiss the case because the notice to quit is defective.

Important: A Notice to Quit or notice of a rent increase does not mean you have to move out of your apartment, even if you choose not to pay the rent increase. A Notice to Quit is the first document your landlord must give you before they can start a court eviction process. A landlord must always go through the court eviction process; they cannot simply lock you out of your home. For more about the eviction process, see Chapter 12: Evictions.

If you have a housing subsidy, the landlord may be able to seek a rent increase but must follow the rules of the housing subsidy program. This includes the Section 8 voucher program and other housing programs for private landlords.

To figure out what rules apply, first figure out what kind of subsidized housing you have.

See Housing Programs in Legal Tactics: Finding Public & Subsidized Housing. For information about rent increases in public housing, see the booklet Rent in Public Housing.