Question about rental contract.

[itisalmostover]

We lost our home to foreclosure and moved into a rental. It was advertised for a long time at a higher price and then dropped some and we then rented it at the new lower price. I think the property manager (owner lives out of country) might be getting fired soon and if that happens the owner might get a rental company to care for the home which I heard costs more than the person doing it now charges.

I have a lease for 2 years, is there any way the owner can make me pay more because he has to pay extra for a new company? Thanks!

[JustSharon]

I have a lease for 2 years, is there any way the owner can make me pay more because he has to pay extra for a new company? Thanks!

I'm a landlord and I never heard of such a thing. The whole point of a lease is that the landlord locks in the tenant for a specific period and the tenant locks in the price. It seems to me that you are locked in with both the amount of rent and living there for 2 years.

Now, if the landlord has to pay a lot more to the property management company than he was planning on, he may decide to cut corners elsewhere: maintenance or services, etc. Do you know if the owner is in financial trouble? Is there any possibility that the rental will be going into foreclosure? Is this an apartment complex? a single family home? Is this the only property that the owner has?

[walkin]

I agree that rent amount must be adhered to for the duration of the contract. However, as with all contracts, it depends on how they are written. Any contract can have a weasel clause, just depends on if the landlord put one in there. One example might be if there is a 30 day clause in the contract. If the landlord has in the contract that you, them, or either party can cancel the contract for any reason, with a 30 day written notice, there is his weasel clause to get you out, and put someone else in at a higher payment. Or, he could probably point that out to you, and ask for more rent, not sure. Read your contract word for word, and see if there is anything tricky in there. If not, I think you will be fine. If he tries to jack the rent up, and there is nothing in the contract to support it, that's probably when you would need to talk with a lawyer.