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OH landlord
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Posted: Fri Jul 18th, 2008 11:08 pm |
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| Thanks for the clarification Yolanda. Hopefully the poster can work this out without involving the court. $75 is just too small an amount to bother with in court. Perhaps the LL will compromise?
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Yolanda
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| Joined: | Wed Mar 1st, 2006 |
| Location: | Texas USA |
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Posted: Thu Jul 17th, 2008 12:56 pm |
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You are correct, Texas Statutes are very detailed; however, as you know, not all areas of landlording are covered under State Statutes. That puts us in a bind for interpreting landlord/tenant concerns in making good business decisions. That is where local and legal law come in. There is a Texas statute on a 30 day notice to vacate when a lease expires or on a month to month lease required by either the tenant or the landlord. Texas statute does not address rent increases and certain notices, but local and legal law do. It states that at least a 30 day notice is required to be given to tenant if there is a rent increase. This gives the tenant an opportunity to accept or give his 30 day notice to vacate. I do not have my books with me as they are in Michigan to give you exact quotes, but you can google or research the info online.
Since I have not read his lease and I am not an attorney, I suggested to clee3917 to contact an attorney. He feels he did not receive proper notice of the rent increase and the month to month fee. If a tenant is requried to give 60 days notice to vacate, he should be given 60 days notice for a rent increase if we follow the law as it is stated. But the law only states 30 days to vacate or provide notice. If what he says is true, not only did he not receive proper notice, but he is now being required to pay an increase on a month to month, plus a $75.00 fee. An attorney could answer this better than anyone else. All this is subject to interpretation and laws are interpreted differently in a court of law.
Clee3917, correct me if I am wrong. Even though you do not agree with the two months, you want to fulfill your obligation by staying the 60 days rather than fight it in court, which is admirable. I would work with you as others might walk away and not pay. What you are now questioning is the $75.00 fee and whether it is legal. It is my opinion you should not be charged the fee, unless it is stated in the lease agreement. Since going to court is not worth the hassle, I suggested you write a letter quoting state statue and your lease agreement in hopes that a compromise could be reached. Did you write a letter? If not, you must do it immediately. If you contact an attorney, let us know his reply. Keep us posted.
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OH landlord
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Posted: Thu Jul 17th, 2008 12:23 am |
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| Forgive me if I'm wrong Yolanda, but I thought TX law required a 30 day notice if you plan to vacate on a month to month, but that state law didn't specify the amount of notice required to change rent? (I read the statutes for TX and could find no mention of a 30 day notice being required to increase rent. I must say the statutes are very detailed! If I'm wrong, please direct me to the corect statute.) If so, notifying the poster of the increase now for next month's rent may be sufficient. The lease ends July 31st, so the terms could be changed as of August 1st.
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Yolanda
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Posted: Tue Jul 15th, 2008 11:26 pm |
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LL Laura asks very important questions that only you can answer. Read your lease. I am not an attorney, but if your lease states it automatically renews on a month to month and does not state there is a month to month fee, more than likely you do not have to pay it; however, your rent can increase. In the State of Texas, a 30 day written notice is required to vacate or implement any changes. Written correspondence from the landlord or the tenant of any changes must be in writing and approved by both parties. If you signed promising to give a 60 day notice to vacate, I do not know if state statute would supercede the lease. You would have to contact an attorney. It appears you are staying until August 30th which is exactly 60 days notice from June 30th. You would be fulfilling your obligation. I do not understand the month to month fee of $75.00 if it is not stated in the lease and you were not given 30 days notice. It does not sound "right". If they only notified you on Friday of the fee, this does not appear to be sufficient.
I suggest you write them a nice letter about your concerns and quoting state statute and what is stated in your lease agreement. Try to work out a compromise. Send it by certified mail, return receipt requested. If they do not respond in a certain amount of time, you have proof in your receipt. I would hand deliver a copy and have someone sign receipt. Good luck to you and keep us posted!
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LandlordLaura
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Posted: Tue Jul 15th, 2008 12:39 am |
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Have you read through the Landlord Tenant Laws for the State/County/City where the rental property is located so that you are familiar with them? What amount of notification, for example, is the Landlord required to give you before changing the terms of your Lease Agreement? Is it necessary to be given written notification and is there a requirement as to how the notification is to be provided to you?
What is the term of your Lease Agreement? Did the Lease contain language that it did OR did not automatically renew after the initial expiration date? If a 60 day notificaiton period was required, then it sounds as though the Lease may have been set up to automatically renew... Could it have automatically renewed as a month-to-month Lease term after the initial expiration date or would it have renewed as a same-term Lease? What, exactly, does the Lease say? Are the month-to-month renewal fees noted in the Lease itself?
Verbal conversations are difficult to prove. The written information you received from the office is all you can prove regarding the renewal terms, right? If you weren't legally/properly notified of the proposed changes to the Lease Agreement, it might be possible to avoid paying the additional fees until the proper notificaiton is provided and/or legally required notification time has passed.
Let us know what you find out by doing some research...
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clee3917
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Posted: Mon Jul 14th, 2008 07:56 pm |
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I curently live in Dallas, TX. I am renting an apartment and I gave written notice of my intent to move out. Because I didn't give 60 days notice, I am having to pay my last month (July) as part of my lease and the next month (August) as a month-to-month. I have spoken to the apartment office (front desk girl, Manager and Regional Manager) before I turned in my letter asking specifically what I would have to pay. The informaed me that I would have to pay my normal rent ($742) for July and then $885 as the market rate for August. I turned my letter into the office on June 30th (giving more than 60 days notice).
On Friday I received a letter stating that my time was running out to renew and if I didn't renew, then I'd have to pay market rate and a $75 month-to-month fee. I was never told about the month-t0month fee that I remember. I went to talk to them (all 3 again as mentioned earlier) and they all told me that I was told and that this is an inconvience fee of life that I have to pay. I stated that I never knew about it and was never told from anyone on the office when I was in there the last two weeks about this. Once again i was told that they did tell me. It also would have been on my renewal notice that I would had gotten earlier. I asked them to find me my copy of the notice so I could see it. And surprise surprise they couldn't find the letter.
I don't think I should have to pay this. The Manager said that I wouldn't have to pay it but they'd take it out of my deposit. Then are't I still actually paying for it?
Is there anyway I can get out of paying for this fee? Any help would be greatly appreaciated.
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