Is there a law against rasing the rent of an apartment?

Question

My mother-in-law has an apartment in Maine. I was wondering if there are any laws in Maine saying how much, or how many times your rent can go up in a year. This will be the third time it has gone up since January '05, for no reason, just because her landlord wants more money.

Answer 1

Here is a link to Maine's laws regarding tenant-landlord rights.

http://www.maine.gov/ag/?r=clg&s=chap14#14.7

The section pertinent to your mother-in-law is §14.8.

- §14.8 specifies that if the tenant has a verbal leasing agreement, the landlord may raise the rent only if they provide 45 days notice prior to said rent increase. If said landlord violates this law, a complaint may be filed with Maine's Office of the Attorney General.

- §14.8 also specifies that if the tenant has a written leasing agreement, the landlord may only raise the rent after the leasing term expires.

Judging from what you have stated, your mother-in-law probably does not have a written leasing agreement. If she in fact doesn't, she should have one made. A model tenant-landlord agreement is avialable on the previously mentioned link. Here is a direct link to the model tenant-landlord agreement.

http://www.maine.gov/ag/?r=clg&s=chap16

I also suggest your mother-in-law familiarize herself with the entirety of Chapter 14 : CONSUMER RIGHTS WHEN YOU RENT AN APARTMENT.

Answer 2

They can't just arbitrarily change the rent. Only when a lease runs out or a new tenant moves in can rent be changed, but in most areas these dollar figures are set by a state or local control board or some entity along those lines. If it's just a small time landlord with an extra apartment, he may be operating outside the law on this. But since you said 05, that could be Jan 05, jan 06 and now Jan 07, which would be legal if it fits into the local market scheme.

Answer 3

You need to find out if her town or county has any rent control ordinances if state law does not address the issue.

If she is in a place that allows free market rents, her best bet is to personally appeal to the landlord and cite the fact that she is a good tenant, pays on time, etc and ask if they will waive all or part of the increase.

I know that where I live, if you are not in a rent controlled apartment the landlord can still only raise your rent once a year; 6 month lease, month to month or whatever, it's still limited to once a year.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, Maine has no rent control laws. But contact Fair housing and see if they can do anything because upping the rent 3 times in 1 year sounds excessive.
Found this for ya:

For Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont:
Boston Regional Office of FHEO
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
Federal Building
10 Causeway Street, Room 321
Boston, Massachusetts 02222-1092
[phone]
1-800-827-5005
TTY [phone]

Answer 5

The last I knew of, they are not supposed to raise the rent if that person is still living in the apartment and hasn't moved out. They can only raise it if you move out and then move back in. But as far as a Law I'm not sure but they aren't supposed to do that. If she moved in 10 years ago, she should still pay the same rent as on her first lease 10 years ago.

Answer 6

We rent and our rent can only go up when we renew our lease. Other than that they cannot raise our rent because we have it in writting that we pay this amount over the year and that is set at so much per month.

Answer 7

if mom has had 3 rent increases she may be on a six month lease , ask for a 12month lease.
rents are determined by supply and demand.
no supply high demand = high rents and conversely. as for reason , she doesn't need to know why. she might consider increasing her money income knowledge so a rent increase is no big deal. suggest she visit library for ideas.
if rent gets too big she might want to start looking for something smaller.

Answer 8

somehow I doubt if any part of Maine has rent control laws.
Check wit a clerk of the local city hall over there.

Answer 9

Costs go up due to insurance and taxes. Both of those have gone up in Maine. Rents have gone up almost everywhere. It isn't nesessarily your landlords fault.

Answer 10

PLEASE READ YOUR APARTMENT LEASE AGREEMENT.
PLEASE SEE AN ATTORNEY. Many offer a free one time
consultation.. My guess is that there is a paragraph in your contract that allows them to raise your rent. If not, you
may be able to challenge them on it. But, I am not a lawyer.
So see a lawyer. The fee might not be that high and you
could get a 100% correct answer....