I’ve been dealing with this for years now since my apartment complex was bought by new owners(multiple times now). Every time I renew the lease they want to raise the price $100+ ($300+ during covid). I always try to negotiate by saying I’ve lived there many years with no problems, paid rent on time, etc. Unfortunately I’m only even allowed to speak to the local office manager who is either powerless or pretends to be and doesn’t even pretend to be sympathetic.
Meanwhile, they aren’t even keeping their end of the deal up. The pool and hot tub have been drained and in disrepair since January.(I’ll definitely mention this when negotiating this time).
Lastly, moving is not the answer. Practically every apartment complex around here is owned by one of these horrible companies so there’s no escape unless you happen to find something owned by an individual(which has its own problems). I’m also getting a small discount(gets smaller every renewal) for being in an outdated unit so moving would still raise my rate, be a massive hassle, and I’d have to pay a new deposit.
Long term I will buy a house, but how can I save enough when they gouge me at every turn?
That’s the beauty of these giant mega housing corpsb You don’t. You’re completely powerless to do any sort of negotiating, you bend over and take whatever offer they give you or you move. It’s the American dream in reality.
Its just insane there’s no laws to help with these situations. They’re becoming extremely commonplace.
There are in some places. In red states, legislators are doing their damnedest to prevent municipalities from enacting those laws.
You need a tenant union. There may be tenant unions active in your area which you can contact for advice, or even support. Beware of retaliation though. This is something which needs to be thought about carefully and approached strategically. In this regard, it is no different from unionizing a workplace.
If the corporation is renting 500+ units, that means they are ripping off 500+ working class families / individuals. If those 500+ tenants organize to the degree where they can collectively withhold their rent, they’ve got the landlords by the balls. Individual action can only go so far.
Short term? You probably have some leverage if the upkeep of the stuff is in your rent contract. Try to report them someplace? Idk.
Long term? Form a (tenant union)[https://www.tenantstogether.org/resources/form-tenants-union] and vote for pro-tenant policies, e.g., rent control policies, owner transparency laws, limitations on the number/length of time empty properties can sit, etc. The only way to fight big power is with more-equal power.
As far as I can tell in my jurisdiction there is no recourse for reporting them aside from suing for not upkeeping the pool because it isn’t something necessary like water, heating/cooling, etc. Suing defeats the purpose because I don’t want to move and win or lose I definitely wouldn’t be able to stay there after the case.
A tenant union could be useful long term maybe but it puts a target on your back just like suing does.
Check if your local area has any laws around maximum rent increases per year, and how much notice is required. I once got a decent reduction because the apartment company notified me one day too late.
The local staff likely don’t have any power. Generally with the larger companies, all the rent increases are automated and the only people with any power to change it are very high up at the company.
If they’re following tenancy laws to the T (which most rental corporations do as it’s in their best interests) there’s not much you can do. If the pool/hot tub is in your tenancy agreement you might be able to use that for leverage, but if it isn’t and access is just given as a “perk” then not much you can do there either. People can’t really give you advice without knowing where you live, either.
