Q: I pay my rent online the website always says my rent is 800. My lease says 850. I am now being charged back rent.
I pay my rent online the website has always said my rent is 800. My lease says 850 which I did not know as I just renewed my lease without reading it. I am now being charged back rent for the extra 50 that I have not been paying. If it has always said 800 on their website is it legal for them to now update it to 850 and charge me back rent?
A:
It's not a matter of legal v. illegal but rather a matter of what your contract states. It sounds like you've been underpaying rent due to a mutual mistake but that you owe the amount stated in the contract.
You should have read your new lease before signing it. The failure to read a contract that you enter is not a valid legal defense. If it were, contracts would be rendered unenforceable.
Bruce Alexander Minnick agrees with this answer
A:
Do not try to hide behind whatever the landlord's website says--because it does not matter. The legal monthly amount you owe is whatever amount the current written lease says it is. Period.
If this sounds wrong or unfair to you, try asking yourself this question:
If the landlord's website said your monthly rent was $950, would you accept that as the real amount you owe?
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