One of the reasons I decided not to move to Calgary or Edmonton was because they are going through what Denver did a decade ago: a huge increase in population with a corresponding housing shortage and ridiculous rents. The market finally crashed in 2002, and over the next year or two, rents dropped almost as dramatically as they went up. They’re just now starting to creep up again.
I never suggested that I shouldn’t have to pay rent. The issue concerns the fact that they jacked my rent up $60 the last time and now they’re trying to get me for $40 per month more this time. Where does it end?
Greedy, rotten pigs.
Guynbluejeans goes first class. snort 
Please don’t address anything beyond my first sentence. Thank you.
In the 7-years I’ve been here, I’ve not asked them for much at all. The place is getting dirtier by the week with all of these smokers tossing their butts all over the place. Lots of dog droppings, too.
When I think of it, it seems like they should almost be paying me.
You sound a little persnicketty there. :dubious:
So it’s not a persecution complex, it’s a sense of entitlement. I see.
Seriously, dude, get used to it. There are lots of perfectly good reasons for your rent to be going up. And yes, some bad. Without knowing what part of the country you’re in and what your apartment complex is like, there’s no telling whether it’s justified or not. My guess: it is. You should anticipate that it will continue to rise between 3-7% each time you renew. Possibly more if there’s a housing shortage in your area or a lot of improvements to your complex.
Dear god, why not just give them the green light to drain my blood while they’re at it.
My other comment about the first class thing was a J-O-K-E. Geeeeze. :smack:
In case you can’t tell, I’ve very little sympathy for you. Rent increases are a fact of life.
You’ve a number of options:
[ul]
[li]Find a better job[/li][li]Find a cheaper place to live[/li][li]Cut back on your other expenses[/li][/ul]
And I suppose, if you are truly as good a tenant as you claim (Do you pay the rent and utilities on time every month without fail? Has a neighbor ever complained to management or called the cops on you? Have you left an undriveable car parked sideways across three parking spaces until it was towed away?), it’s barely possible that you could negotiate it down with your landlord, but not if you go in there tomorrow with the attitude you’ve displayed in this thread, so let’s forget that one.
Judging by the posts subsequent to the OP, you’ll be lucky if they don’t whack you with another $35 in smiley taxes.
Out of curiosity, do you ever complain to the managers of gas stations why they and every other gas station in town is raising their prices while your earning power hasn’t increased? Do you think gas station owners have breakfast every Saturday and discuss how much to charge for gas, despite your being a perfect customer (that is, you never tangle the hose up before replacing it)? Do you call the clerks names and nail them to the wall when they can’t explain why prices keep going up?
Honestly, I have sympathy for your learning disabilities that keep you from getting a better job. That’s a tough hand to be dealt in life. But rents going up to take into account increased taxes, increased cost of maintenance, increasing market prices, etc is just a fact of life that you’re going to have to get used to. It’s not personal, nor is it about what kind of pay you take home. I don’t know where you are, but $100 of rent increases over a period of three years (two 18 month leases, right?) seems quite reasonable to me.
I also find it weird that, given your lot in life, you don’t want the government to give you some kind of assistance, but you expect your landlord to look out for you? I think you’ve kind of mixed up there, to say the least.
I occasionally find, when discussing simple concepts with the unprepared, that I encounter a point where I am unable to express basic concepts in terms that they may grasp.
Gee, I had this problem too; rent was raised every lease expiry, until the point that they were charging more than market value for the place. So I posted an obnoxious whiny thread about it, and called and argued with them. That totally fixed it!
Oh wait, I just found another place and gave them notice I was vacating.
It’s just simple enough to work!
You don’t want to have to get a better job or go on government assistance, nor do you want to try finding another apartment or downgrade to a studio. You think it’s perfectly acceptable to “crush” a “helpless” person who’s not your landlord while maintaining your delusion that you are a “perfect” tenant.
I think you moving out would be a win-win proposition for everyone involved.
I pay $1250 a month. It’s a great apartment and my landlord is terrific, so even if it went up a hundred bucks I’d find a way to stay. Don’t like where you live? Change something.
Oh, and atop all of the other costs of doing business that the nasty money-grubbing sons-of-bitches who own your building endure, they’re not entitled to make a few bucks more than they did last year, to perhaps offset their own personal expenses? Nah. Didn’t think you’d go for that.
Dear GuyNblueJeans’s landlord,
Go ahead and drain his blood, he gave his permission.
I wish her luck and forbearance.
So refuse to sign it, insist on the current rent, and make preparations to move. Here’s a dirty little secret: if you’ve been a good tenant, paying your rent promptly and regularly, landlords generally want you to stay. A month’s rent lost is a big deal. Plus the expense of getting a new tenant in. Be prepared to negotiate.
Check with your city about the permitted rent increases. If it’s legal, then stop whining. I had a new landlord jack up my rent $90 a month once.
And if I had been the “office peon” you went off on, I would have told you to leave and if you hadn’t, you’d now be getting free room and board, courtesy of the City. Come to think of it, your threats would have guaranteed arrest and immediate filing of eviction papers. I’m in Rental Property Management, and we don’t take shit like that.
This was like reading a bunch of M&Ms.
Why don’t you do a little research to see how well the price increase matches up with the prices charged in the area for similar apartments? This will give you a feel for how much negotiating scope there is.
When my 12 month, $820pm lease expired I got a letter stating the new 12 month rate would be $930pm. A quick internet check showed that this increase was not in line with market conditions (the prices still seemed the same as the prices I saw when I initially found my current complex). In fact, the complex’s own website indicated that similar apartments to mine were still renting for about $835pm.
A short, polite email to the manager indicating that I could not justify spending $930pm when that sort of money would get me a nicer apartment in a more convenient location led us to agreeing on $835pm for a 12 month lease.
Complex’s do take advantage of the fact that people don’t enjoy moving and probably will increase the rent dramatically after a lease agreement ends. But they only make money while they rent out the apartment to someone. There is no reason for them not to offer you what they would offer to a new applicant if you show some resistance, especially if you have a good payment history with them and the apartment would stand vacant for a few months. And if the increase they’ve asked for does match what they would charge new applicants, then it probably is a true reflection of prices in the area (of course you should check this, they might just be nuts!)