I need legal help re: a lease

I came home from my journey to DC to find a manila envelope on top of the newspaper in front of my door. Inside it is a new copy of my lease. Hmmm...that time of year again, fine. Except, they have raised the rent to the point where it will now take one entire paycheck to cover my rent for a STUDIO apartment.

Now, there's nothing in the lease that says they have to give advance notice, and it says I have to give 60 days written notice prior to the ending of the lease to leave. I know I can break a lease, but then i lose my deposit and I'm still on this apartment until they rent it out. With this price, can't see people jumping on it.

Am I screwed? I know we have doctors and PR peeps on here...I think we've got a lawyer or two running around.

 

Has your previous lease run out? Or are they bumping up the rent in the middle of the lease?

 

New lease term starts April 1. I'm scraping by, barely, as it is. That extra bunch of cash is going to break me.

I'm already contacting people on craigslist and roommates.com to see what i can come up with. I'll talk to the complex people tomorrow.

 

Since your lease is up April 1, you would be able to move without having to pay to get out of it. \\

They offered a lease renewal, which you do not have to accept. Of course that would also mean, you'd have to find a new place to live too.

 

As I said, the lease says I have to give notice 60 days before the end of the lease, otherwise the renewal is automatic, basically.

 

This should be an exception. They are raising your rates. You should be able to get out of this without the sixty day notice unless they're dicks.

 

Then, they should have given you 60 days notice on the increase. I'd take it up with somebody.

I'd avoid getting a roommate. Did you ever see Single White Female?

 

Yup. That's my argument, too.

 

Check the terms of your old lease, I'm confident that there's a maximum bump on the automatic renewal. The new lease is something different.

Check to see if there's rent control in your City then call/make an appointment to your local tenant rights group (If its a metro area.) Otherwise, you can leave.

Remember now, you can break a lease, even a renewal, and you are not on the hook for all lost rent, they have to make reasonable attempts to limit their damages, which means renting it out. You will lose your deposit basically to cover the time you stay in the unit.

Give your notice and leave then demand your deposit ASAP. If they balk, then go to small claims and stick it to them. In Cali, the renters have a whole bunch of laws to protect them in these situations. Good luck.

 

No, this is just what they want you to think, the lease is never automatic.

 

my credit rating may be negative by now, so it's not like this will hurt me. that's partly why I'm looking for a roommate, because if it's their house, maybe I won't have to have a credit check run on me.

 

But they only gave you 30 days' notice of an increase? Something smells fishy here...