Renter’s Advice and Resources

During World War II many largely populated cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago adopted rent stabilization and rent control laws to fortify and protect affordable housing. Rent control laws came into effect as early as 1919 stemming from the result of public outrage towards individuals and organizations taking advantage of the economic vulnerability of […]

So, you have decided to move the beautiful bay city of San Francisco. Whether you have just received a job transfer or you are unsure of how long you will be residing there, you have decided that renting an apartment is best choice for you. But before you move to San Francisco, you should know […]

Rent control is a set of laws, which is adopted by a local or state government, designed to protect tenants. The most common factors that rent control laws regulate are the maximum rent price, how much rent can go up when re-signing a lease, and what options are available to tenants who live in rental […]

The concept of rent control has existed to some degree since around World War I. It grew to include several states (and a number of counties and cities within these states) following World War II. The concept of rent control is that it places caps on the maximum amount of money a landlord can charge […]

Only a handful of states in the entire United States (including New York, New Jersey, California and Maryland) have rent control laws. None of them has statewide laws. Instead, cities within these states pass their own rent control laws. State laws affect city rent control ordinances (also called rent stabilization or maximum rent regulation), so […]

A user passed along this article as a good overview of how to get the most out of your rental, and we thought you might find it interesting and informative.

Here’s a summary from the full article; click the link below to read these tips and the comments from this top personal finance website publisher.

As a general rule, landlords aren’t exactly in favor of rent controls. There are plenty of tactics they use to work around rent controls, including trying to force out current tenants so that the landlord can adjust the rent to market rates, thereby leasing to higher-paying renters.

No matter how good a deal you have on your rent, eventually you’ll hear about someone who has it better. And then just when you start to feel bad for yourself, you’ll meet someone who’s paying an arm and a leg for a place much smaller than yours. When you think about the wide range of rents in your city, you’ll start to wonder –- how do landlords figure out how much to charge?

So your landlord’s notified you that your rent will be increased beginning next month. Since your lease agreement specifies that a particular amount of rent will be paid each month for the term of the lease, you’re wondering what entitles your landlord to raise the rent in this manner. The good news is that your landlord is likely not legally able to raise the rent in violation of the lease agreement. Read on for more information about when—if ever—your landlord may be allowed to raise the rent.