Some renters are shocked that landlords have the ability to hike rents at renewal time—but that’s how market-rate apartments work.
For many New York City renters who signed leases with a discount, renewal notices can come with an unwelcome surprise: A hefty rent increase.
Some renters are shocked that landlords have the ability to ask for such high rents—but that’s how market-rate apartments work. There are no restrictions on how much a landlord with market-rate apartments can raise the rent at lease renewal time—and many are doing so to make up for their losses during the pandemic. (Rent-stabilized apartments, on the other hand, are regulated and when there are increases, they are typically around 1 to 2 percent.)
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Take this note from a shocked renter: “I’ve been living at my current apartment for a year now and my lease ends in four months and my landlord is trying to raise the rent from $2,000 to $2,800. Is that allowed? Is there any way to combat this?”
[Editor's note: This article was originally published in January 2022. We are presenting it again as part of our winter Best of Brick week.]
That’s a message received by openigloo, a site which has listings and building reviews. Allia Mohamed, co-founder and CEO, says the platform is receiving dozens of messages like this from worried renters—some reporting they are being notified by their landlords to expect rent increases of 50 percent.
In response, Mohamed created three templates that renters can use to respond to a rent increase.
“Some renters have trouble getting the conversation started because negotiating can be an intimidating process,” she says. “We haven’t released something like this before, but our hope is it can give renters a foundation to start rent discussions with their landlords.”
She says negotiating by email is ideal, because it's especially important to have a written record of your correspondence and “having an email template can help you structure your thoughts and argument in a clear way. It’s a way to show your landlord you are calmly approaching the negotiations backed with data.”
Below are openigloo’s sample email templates that you can customize to respond to a rent increase. (They have been changed slightly by Brick.)
Some New York City landlords offer a free month (or more) at the beginning or end of a lease. The advertised rent is the net effective rent. The net effective rent is less than the amount you will actually have to pay --- known as your gross rent --- during your non-free months.
Brick Underground's Gross Rent Calculator enables you to easily calculate your gross rent, make quick apples-to-apples comparisons between apartments and avoid expensive surprises. All you'll need to figure out your gross rent is 1) the net effective rent, 2) the length of your lease, and 3) how many free months your landlord is offering. [Hint: Bookmark this page for easy reference!]
To learn more about net effective versus gross rents, read What does 'net effective rent' mean?.
Net Monthly Advertised Rent Length of Lease Months Number of Free MonthsIf the landlord is offering partial months free, enter it with a decimal point. For example, 6 weeks free rent should be entered as 1.5 months.
