Q: My landlord gave me a notice of rent increase letter in January 2019, but the pet rent was listed incorrectly.
But since the new rent increase law had already passed by the time they answered the letter, and they originally increased the rent 18%, they didn't want to give me a new letter, which would reduce the amount of the overall increase. Instead, they gave a new letter only referencing the pet rent, and stated a correction. Is the rent increase still valid even though the pet rent was wrong and not corrected in a new rent increase notice? Do they have to give me a corrected rent increase notice and abide by the new laws? Or is the old one valid with the letter correcting the amount after the rent increase laws went into effect?
A: Ultimately it would be up to the Judge to determine but I think the better argument is that rent is defined to mean "any payment to be made to the landlord under the rental agreement, periodic or otherwise, in exchange for the right of a tenant and any permitted pet to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others and to use the premises." ORS 90.100(37) and therefore it encompasses the total raise...but it also may depend upon the exact wording of the notices. Perhaps you had a valid raise in rent before but the new notice may simply be invalid. Did the new notice simply raise the pet rent or did it reference correcting the prior notice? Lots of small details here that can potentially affect the answer but in the end, to the extent it is an unlawful rent increase (does it provide at least 90 days advanced notice?), you may be entitled to recover up to 3 months rent, plus your actual damages (if any), plus your court costs and your attorney's fees. Depending upon all these facts, it might still be the type of case that an attorney would take on contingency, meaning they would not charge you for their fees (beyond an initial interview fee to evaluate the case) but rather would rely upon collecting their fees from your landlord. So consider reviewing everything in detail with a landlord-tenant attorney to craft a game plan for how to handle the matter.
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