A rent increase is a situation that can be stressful for tenants, and also the landlords. Why? A tenant doesn’t like to pay more for the property, and landlords often deal with backlash from some tenants. However, effective tenant retention shows rent increases are a way to put money back into the property to maintain its condition.
When Can Landlords Raise Rent?
A landlord has legal requirements they need to adhere to when renting out property. It is important to know that a landlord cannot increase rent any time they want. A landlord needs to provide notice of rent increase when the contract a tenant currently has expires. A one-year contract is set in stone at that rate until it’s up for renewal, then the landlord can increase rent.
Rent Rate Increase Notice
Landlords must provide notice of rent increase. Normally the requirement is 30 days based on how high the rent will increase. If there is a large increase, say anything over 10%, landlords will need to provide more time to inform the tenant of the large increase.
Rent Rate Amount
Tenants often become frustrated when landlords announce a rent rate increase. Fear of the new rent being a high number they cannot afford is normally at the forefront of their minds. Landlords cannot raise rent as a punishment to a tenant they do not like. Landlords normally consider the market around them when determining what their new rental rate will be. As rent increase can become challenging, it pays to hire a property management company to deal with this issue.
Legal Rental Increase?
If a tenant feels their landlord increased the rent unfairly, they do need to have records to support this claim. Verbal communication should be recorded along with records of all emails and messages back and forth to help prove their case in thinking the landlord is unfair in raising the rent.
Lease Renewal Rent increase
One of the most common times for the rent to increase is when a tenant is signing a renewal. A good tenant normally doesn’t have an issue with a slight increase, especially if the landlord has promised to provide some upgrades to the property.
Keyrenter Property Management in Alexandria provides professional services related to rental agreements and tenant management. If you want to make sure you are keeping your rental rates within a reasonable amount, and you want to increase tenant retention, call our office today.