His landlord tried to take advantage of him by charging an extra month at a higher rate. But little did he know OP (Original Poster) learned about the ins and outs of the law!
Big Rent Increase
OP’s renewal time was coming up, and his landlord had just sent him the paperwork with a “big rent increase.” Because he knew he would find a cheaper place nearby, he sent him a written notice stating he wished to vacate the unit.
Technicalities
He mentioned that the written notice to vacate should be sent 60 days before the tenant’s move-out date. So, OP’s landlord rejected the notice and reminded him about the lease conditions.
OP wrote, “The landlord rejected my notice and told me that if I read the lease, I would know that notice to vacate was required 60 days before the first day of the month that I wanted to move out, not 60 days before the move-out day itself.”
Forcing Him to Pay
Because of the issue OP faced with the technicalities, his landlord forced him to submit a new notice the following month. Additionally, he was being required to pay an extra month’s rent—at the new, higher rate.
Agree to Disagree
OP was offended by his landlord’s attitude but accepted that he “had won.” However, OP wouldn’t let go of the issue that quickly.
He checked the lease against local rental law.
Aha! Moment
When OP reviewed the law, he found that his landlord was right about the required date of his notice to vacate. However, his landlord failed to send him the notice of rent increase on time.
He shared, “I was supposed to have a minimum of two weeks after receiving their notice of rent increase to put in my notice to leave at the end of my original lease term!”
Fighting for His Rights
OP immediately wrote back to his landlord with a screenshot of the relevant city law.
He told him, “While you are correct about the due date of my notice to vacate, you also failed to send me timely notice of the rent increase. You can’t require me to send you notice to vacate at the end of my lease term before knowing how much you will be raising rent! So how do you plan to remedy your breach of the lease?”
Legal Battles?
OP had an intense call with his landlord’s lawyer. However, after that, his landlord accepted defeat!
What They Decided to Do
OP’s landlord agreed to accept his original notice and let him move out on the day he planned.
He said, “Since I had already paid my last month’s rent, they never got another cent from me!”
Redditors’ Opinions
The community had been stirred up by OP’s post, and some shared their personal experiences or sentiments.
One shared, “I recall my cousin had a heart attack and died whilst at work. His landlord charged extra two weeks as he failed to advise them of his departure. How f***** up is that?” Another replied to this comment and said, “Wow! Did they expect him to come back as a ghost and write his notice on the wall or something?”
Some People Have No Ethics!
A woman shared a frustrating encounter she had with a nightmare of a landlord.
She wrote, “My mom passed, and her landlord tried to hold us to the rest of her lease. I told him that was not legal. He said it was. I told him to sue her for the money! Then repeated the date I would be vacating the premises. He had a lawyer send me a bill. I sent it back to the lawyer, told him I’m not on the lease and threatened to sue him for harassment or intimidation. He knew I did not have to continue the lease, yet he threatened me anyway! Some people have no ethics!”
Landlords Are Getting Worse
Someone on the thread pointed out that there seems to be a growing trend of people “attacking” landlords. One Redditor tried to explain why this is so.
He said, “If you see a trend against landlords, it is because people might be becoming more aware of how some landlords take advantage of renters who don’t know the laws. Not everyone is bad, but here when moving out, the landlord is required to provide an itemized list of anything taken out of the security deposit. Yet, not a single landlord had done that for me when I rented.” Another said, “There’s the rub; it’s not all landlords. It’s the ones that are absolute s*** and don’t give a f*** about anything but how much they can make from a property.”
Questions and Debates
Someone from the community also wanted to ask what would happen if one refused to accept the rent increase and didn’t want to move out. Though it varies per country and state, we get a clear explanation from a Redditor from California.
He said, “You don’t get to refuse if you want to stay there. If you refuse to increase and refuse to vacate, they would go through the process of eviction, which I’ve heard can take a while. You would be able to live there for a while, but eventually, sheriffs would come to remove you by force.”
Sarcastic Remarks
One Redditor also sarcastically remarked that landlords are great people.
He said, “A landlord trying to screw their tenant over? Inconceivable! All landlords are the friendliest, hardest-working people in the whole country! We should celebrate and venerate them each day!” Then another jumped in and said, “Hey, there are a few decent landlords out there. A few. A very few.”
You Did Good!
Someone on the thread also commended OP for a job well done.
“Landlord picked the wrong person to mess with! Good for you,” said one Redditor.
Do you have any experiences with bad landlords? How did you handle them?
More From Quote Ambition
This Redditor turned to the community for advice after being called out for being a horrible woman for not wanting to raise a baby born from her ex-husband’s affair. Was she wrong to refuse?
An Entitled Woman Refused to Vacate His Assigned Seat on a Five-Hour Flight. So, He Kicked and Yanked the Chair Every Two Minutes, Ensuring There’s “Extra Turbulence” All Flight Long!
He got annoyed when a woman wouldn’t budge and get off his assigned plane seat, saying she was “already comfortable.” So, he devised a plan to make sure she’d regret every second of it!
She Left Her Cousin’s Wedding and Took Her $1,000 Gift Back After the Groom’s Family Ruined Her Dress for Being “Inappropriate.” They Want the Money Back, but It’s Too Late
OP (Original Poster) was stoked to attend her favorite cousin’s wedding. However, little did she know it would become one of the worst experiences of her life yet!
A Woman Noticed Their Security Cameras Glitched Only When Her Husband Was Home Alone. He Flipped Out After Being Confronted, but She Wants to Get to the Bottom of Things!
This Redditor’s home security cameras kept on glitching whenever her husband was home alone. Suspicious of what was causing this, she asked her husband, but instead of remaining calm, he got defensive!
He Begged His Neighbors to Extinguish Their Fire So His Dying Dog Could Spend One Last Day Outdoors, but They Showed No Sympathy. So, He Ensured They Learned Their Lesson!
He only wanted to give his dog a day in his backyard before putting her down. However, things didn’t go as planned when his neighbors decided to light a fire so close to them!
This post first appeared as His Landlord Raised the Rent and Forced Him to Pay an Extra Month at the Higher Rate When He Decided to Leave. So, He Taught Him a Lesson! on Quote Ambition.
Read Next:
- A Property Management Company Pinned the Blame on Him, Adding an Extra $100 to His Rent for the “Inconvenience” He “Caused” His Landlord. So, He Decided to Teach Them a Lesson!
- His Landlord Cheated Him Out of His Security Deposit, Lying About “Dirty Cupboards and Mold.” So, as Payback, He Decided to Teach Him Why One Shouldn’t Lie and “Screw Over” Their Tenants!
- Her Landlord Took Out $400 From Her Deposit for a Phantom Dog. So, as Payback, She Sued Him, and He Ended Up Paying More Than $2,000!
