Q: Can my landlord increase my rent by $50 for my boyfriend living with me? Does not state any increases in the lease.
My current landlord bought the house and in the middle of my lease with my previous landlord. He did have me sign a lease agreement with him. My boyfriend isn't on the lease and he wants to charge more for him living here and add him to the lease. The lease doesn't state anything about increases due to individuals living here. Also he's trying to increase it the last month of my lease and then there-after. I pay all the utilities, so my boyfriend living here is at no cost to him. I also have three children. It's a 3-4 bedroom house. He also is refusing to fix the electrical problems in the house.
A: Landlord can try to charge you more, and if you don't pay, landlord could sue you or try to evict you. But when you go to court and show the court the lease, the court would likely not agree with landlord. But it could be a hassle going to court. And if your lease is about to expire, landlord can choose not to renew it, so you would have to move or be evicted. If landlord is not fixing electrical problems, send written notice of the problem, and then you could start paying your rent into escrow with the local court until it gets fixed. Check your local court web site for the rent escrow process.
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