rewewing our lease

[redbird]

We just renewed the lease on our apartment, for another 12 months. They're increasing the rent by 4%, which is less than I had expected, given recent inflation and that our rent includes heat and hot water, and the price of energy has gone up by significantly more than 4% in the past year. We're seeing that in the electric and gas bills (we have a gas stove).

Comments

[sonia]

Has it been a whole year already? I thought you folks just moved in together! Anyway, congrats!

[redbird]

No, it hasn't been a whole year. Our lease began in June 2022, and I was expecting to be asked in early February whether we wanted to renew. (Lease notice periods in the Boston area feel long to me, based on New York.)

[sonia]

Wow, that is a lot of lead time. I'm used to 30 days notice on both sides. Then again I've been out of the rental market for a really long time except for a brief interlude last year.

[adrian_turtle]

This seems to be a local problem, not just local="the Boston area," but local="near Boston University." We looked at an Allston apartment that would have required us to decide to stay or go SEVEN months in advance of the new lease. That makes it impossible to have a new place lined up before giving notice on the old one, as so many landlords don't list apartments more than 60 days before the lease begins.

My old apartment was only 8 miles from here, but it was on the other side of the river and I rented it 10 years ago when conditions were different. (I don't recall any agents refusing to deal with clients unless everyone in the apartment had a full-time job, for instance. Yes, this excludes students and retirees and disabled people and families including a full-time parent. No, you can't argue the point or threaten to sue them if they won't communicate with you at all.)

[sonia]

Wow. :-(