patrick.net

I went through this, too. They actually bank on what you expressed in the fist sentence of your second paragraph: you are being charged for the convenience of not having to move out of your apartment and for the luxury of having a place where all your things are already located and situated. It's crap, but that's how it works, especially with Property Managed rentals. Chances are, if you're in a multi-unit situation, new renters are enjoying a sizable rebate compared to your grandfathered rent rate. I have never heard of an apartment complex not raising the rent every year. You probably do have at least some room to negotiate, but it all depends on where you are renting from.

So don't pay it. Find a comparable place and check or negotiate the rent. Show that to your current owner or manager. Negotiate a little.

Find out what comparable rents are, tell them they have 1 week to get you paperwork setting your rent at that price for 2 years, or you're moving out.

"Any advice on what to do when you feel rent is being raised for no reason other than THEY can!?"

Talk to your landlord and negotiate. Hell, maybe even ask for a rent reduction if you have a good case.

I'd be ready to carry through on a threat to stick it to them even over $50/mo, bite the bullet and hire a mover to make it as painless as possible if moving costs were less than a year's worth of rent savings. 1 BR appt could not have that much stuff. But that's just me.

I have a friend and his girlfriend who live in an apt complex who saw the same floorplan they were living in for $500/month less than they were paying. They went down to the office to try and negotiate down and they told them they "never lower rent". So my friend moved to a different complex and is saving $400/month. Sure it sucks to move but if the money's there it can be worth it.

If you live in a SFH and your landlord tries to raise your rent it's easier to negotiate. Find comps to show what's fair and remind them that they'll lose at LEAST a month's rent if not two so it'll take awhile to earn back a $50/month increase after two months of vacancy.

I'm still getting about the average going rate for a 1 bedroom on my street... But my street over the past 4 years has lost it's luster a bit.. More loud drunken people at night, cars broken into more often... I'll probably write this in a letter to the property manager and negotiate another underground parking space for me.. since my car was broken into on the street 6 months ago.

That way I'll feel like I'm atleast getting something for the rent increase.. worth a shot...

I agree with some other responses. Negotiate, but be prepared to move. If you give an ultimatum, they may call you on it. If you are a good tenant, a smart landlord would rather keep you at the current rate than search for someone else - who might pay but might trash the place, or stop paying after a while. I say this as an ex-landlord and as a renter who has negotiated a bit. My landlord responded by coming to inspect the place (really inspect 'me' and my lifestyle) and we came to a fair agreement.

If you give an ultimatum, they may call you on it. If you are a good tenant, a smart landlord would rather keep you at the current rate than search for someone else

...that is how it would work in a world where common sense is the guiding light, but it isn't/doesn't. Property managers are automatons about the rules. In a game of chicken, most Property Managers will gladly glide over the cliffs edge. You might get a smallish concession - think two hundred dollars of your first months rent or something.

whats so hard about moving? hire some Mexicans in front of the home depot and pay them a small portions of what you'll be saving by moving. Done.

I'm a renter too and this is the deal:
Landlords will generally raise the rent 10 percent or less annually. They do this because the Real Estate Industry has done research that shows if the rent is increased greater than 10 percent, the likelihood is that the tenant will move out. If the rent is raised 10 percent or less, there is less of a chance the tenant will move, yet the Landlord will still be able to get a profit increase even in the midst of a Depression II.
I live in the Bay Area now after renting in both SoCal & southern NM (rented in 2 States simultaneously). Rents have dropped anywhere from $200-$500+ per month (Silicon Valley). Even on the Peninsula (Palo Alto) rents are dropping. Recent example: one unit we looked at is a 2BR/2BA/1-car garage condo in Sunnyvale. In March the LL was asking $1650. Dropped in increments of $50 to $1400 at the end of May.
One thing: Just because you are a good tenant doesn't mean you won't get rent increases nowadays. We are good tenants too and our recently former LL paid no attention to our history and raised the rent each and every year because she was using the rental property as an ATM (she is a serial refi'er) and wanted to eke out as much profit as she could to fund her architectural company.
Generally, Boomers will raise the rent on you. Its the older Landlords from Greatest Generation and the Silent Generation that didn't raise rents on *good* tenants. They took pride in this and generally tried to help their good tenants out to eventually become homeowners themselves.
However, Boomers are not the same and look at your income as though its their own. May want to keep this in mind.
Have you looked at the County property records? Maybe the property has been refinanced or there are multiple liens on the property.
So its your call. After 3 years of rent increases (always 10 percent or less) of $100/month each year, we moved. We have it designed so that we can move in 12 hours or less. That way, the Landlord's actions won't impact our lives too much should they choose to raise rent. Good moving boxes are photocopy paper boxes with lids, apple boxes from the grocery store (have built in handles) and those large clear plastic containers with lids from the Container Store. Keep those on hand and several boxes of 35-gallon trash bags and you're in business to move out on your terms instead of someone else's. :)
To close, since we moved out, Zillow has devalued her property by $35k. Yep, thirty-five thousand dollars. She won't be able to refi anytime soon.

I find it hard to believe that this e-mail is real since just the "increase" in rent is far more than the average rent per sf for even the best parts of LA (and I have never heard of ANY landlord that has tried to raise the rent EVERY month for four full years and can not even imagin ANY tenant that didn't move after four full years of rent increases)...

FormerAptBroker:
Not to criticize however, in recent years many landlords took out helocs on their rental property and are raising rents to compensate for their increased obligations. Others refi'd and turned a fixed mortgage into an Option-ARM. Again, they are raising rents to meet their reset.
btw, any LL who needs to raise the rent in this economy probably has run into financial problems stemming from a questionable loan against the property. With 6 million unemployed....how can anyone raise rent in this enviro? Its happening. Amazingly, there are LLs who want to pass off their problems onto the sector of the country most financially vulnerable.
I think rmm221's post is entirely believable based upon my own personal experience described above.
Most landlords these days have been irresponsible with their money and their property.
Sorry to say.
http://tenantsforeclosure.blogspot.com

I find it hard to believe that this e-mail is real since just the “increase” in rent is far more than the average rent per sf for even the best parts of LA (and I have never heard of ANY landlord that has tried to raise the rent EVERY month for four full years and can not even imagin ANY tenant that didn’t move after four full years of rent increases)…

No, no - I took it to mean that that's how it broke down: they raise his monthly rent by 50 dollars every year, so each year, it goes up 600 bucks...2400 total in increases over 4 years.

SF is one of the great cities to be sure, but $1400. a month for a 682 sq. ft. is just brainless.

Yeah, Austinhousing bubble has it correct... It's yearly rent increases... I've lived in Los Angles since 2002... And every year I've lived here the rent has gone up in the 3 different complexes I've lived in over the course of 7 years.

If fact I WAS renting a 2 bedroom across the street with some friends for $1450 a month just 6 years ago... Now my one bedroom across the street with 1/3 the square footage is about to rise to $1225... So in 6 years 1 bedroom rentals are getting within striking distance of 2 bedrooms. (And i'm sure some one bedrooms on my street are as high as $1450). It was a desireable street being right next to Runyon Canyon in Hollywood.. But the neighborhood has gone downhill a bit over the past 5 years...

Either way.. I'm drafting a letter to my property manager... Like I said.. If i can get another underground parking space out of it.. It'd make the price hike easier to swallow.

Go buy a house. You won't have to worry about raising your own rent.

Read this

http://messymatters.com/2009/05/24/landlords/

Probably the most lucid explanation of the theory behind the landlord-renter conundrum in such cases. Well written with a real such occasion involving the author.

Well worth the time for reading it.

Try to negotiate. If that doesn't work, look for an older building in West Hollywood or Los Angeles that falls under rent stablization requirements (i.e., rent control). Generally, older buildings fall into this category (with original occupany permits dating prior to 1978). Maxium allowable rent increases are tied to CPI increases and have averaged around 4% for the last 10 years in Los Angeles.

The down side is that landlords can increase rents to market rates when a unit become vacant, but if you're seeing lower rental rates in the area as I have, you'll likely break even on move costs in your first year and then don't have to worry about unforseen rent hikes. The savings benefits accumulate the longer you rent.

I rent a one-bedroom in a large apartment complex in Palms just south of Culver City. It's actually in the city of Los Angles and unbeknowst to me at the time I started renting, subject to rent control. After 10 years of renting, current market rates on similar units in the building are 30% higher than my rent control adjusted rate, so I'm happy to wait out the downturn in real estate before ponying up to buy a house or condo.

More info on rent control here:
http://lahd.lacity.org/lahdinternet/RentStabilization/tabid/247/Default.aspx
http://www.weho.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/detail/navid/113/cid/757/

My rent here in Fremont for a 682 sf 1BR just dropped by $270 a month, going from $1320 to $1050.
chris, Your anecdote is consistent with what I've heard from others. The 2bed/2bath units around the Fremont BART station dropped from ~$1800 to ~$1500 over the past half of year. The units serve Silicon Valley to the south, East Bay industry, and even SF (albeit with a long BART ride). The deteriorating rental market is going to kill any speculators that had managed to hang on with minimal positive cash flows. It also exacerbates the price-to-rent ratios.

We sold our house in 2006 and have been renting since. We just got our first rent increase. The wife went and talked to the people and found a smaller but still 3 bedroom apartment in this same complex for $500 a month less so we're moving. Its a pain in the butt but you gotta do it or suck up the rent increase.