There's nothing to prevent a landlord from raising the rent after a lease has expired. Their costs are rising, too--they have insurance, maintenance, electricity and other utility costs, groundskeeping, etc. Every time a tenant leaves, they have the costs of cleaning and repairing the apartment, plus advertising costs, as well as the loss of income while the unit is vacant.

When I was first on my own, back in the early 1980s, it was pretty much expected that rents would go up a bit every year. Not a lot, say $25 to $50 a month. It wasn't until the 1990s that rents seemed to stop increasing every year.

And while you may be paying more now than when you moved in, landlords usually raise the rent more when they are renting to a new tenant. Say two renters are paying $750 a month, and their leases are expiring. Tenant A renews, and gets a $25 a month increase, or $775. Tenant B chooses to move out, and the new tenant is told the rent is $850 a month. Longer-sitting tenants usually are paying less than brand-new tenants, even if they have had some rent increases. And if that's not the case in your building, I'd think about moving, because that isn't fair.

In general, the longer you are in your apartment, the more your rent will be below the going rate for an apartment that size.

Actually our rent is above normal - perhaps because we have new owners. However, all of our utilities bills, etc have also increased, so it's difficult to have sympathy for apartment owners who are raking it in monthly.

Well, as a landlord, my costs increase every single year, especially HOA fee, insurance, and taxes. Over the last three years, this added up to a 10% increase. So far I haven't passed on that increase to my tenant, but I'm considering it.

To be sure. My costs also increase annually, and I'm a widowed nonagenarian. How does that grab you?

If you read what I posted, I haven't raised my (below market) rent because I appreciate a good tenant. However, at a certain point, I will probably have to pass on some of the increased costs. I don't know your rental situation, but of the 1200.00/month rent "I rake in", there's 700.00 for insurance, tax, and HOA every month. That doesn't even include mortgage, repairs, and maintenance, not to mention that the "profit" is income on which I have to pay taxes.

This is a one-sided discussion no longer worthy of tenants' input.

Well, I'm a tenant. I don't like it when the rent goes up. I also don't like it when gas prices rise, or the cost of heating oil, or food, or cable tv or any of the other things I like and use.

But I don't think it is fair to landlords to think that they should never raise their rents. In your case, it seems as if you have new owners--they probably needed to raise rents to cover the costs of owning the building you live in. Even if you owned your own house free and clear, taxes go up, insurance costs go up. And maintenance needs to be done, and broken appliances, etc., replaced.

You may be eligible for senior housing, or rent assistance.

"As the buildings receive more wear and tear, seems it should be just the opposite" (i.e. rents should go down.)

What a silly statement if you think about it.

It has been my understanding that adult participants in these forums act as ladies/gentlemen in their replies. My remarks have been inoffensive and sincere. If one must become insulting, it may mean that one has nothing of importance to say and perhaps should seek other diversions.

Agree. I should have never responded to your "question".

This is actually one of the arguments for buying your own house. When you buy, you're essentially "locking yourself into" today's prices. Your insurance, taxes, etc. may go up, the cost of your house doesn't go up. For example, we bought our current house for 86K -- today it's worth more, but no one can come say, "Hey, you ought to pay more now."

Of course, buying may or may not be right for you at this point in your life for other reasons, but it is one way to make yourself "inflation proof".

Responses here should be accomplished with thoughtfulness, not spite. Apartment complex owners surely consider appearance of apartments when determining charges, therefore if an apartment lacks in that respect it follows that applicable rent is determined accordingly - not a "silly" statement at all.

Thank you mrspete for your intelligent suggestion which, as a matter of fact, fits our plans precisely.

OK, I bite:

I just spent 2000.00 to have the condo repainted and 2.500.00 to have the hardwood floors refinished, plus about 2K for other things (new granite counter, cooktop, etc.). It is in pristine condition.

So now imagine that over the next few years, the tenant puts huge scratches and dents in the floor, makes big holes in the walls, the kids scribble with permanent marker all over, never, ever cleans the cooktop. According to your suggestion, the rent should now go down because the place is in worse condition than before? You'd basically reward the tenant who takes terrible care of the rental property.

Moreover, I tried to explain with an example how annual costs go up, so why do you expect the landlord to absorb all these costs?

I wish you all the best with your home purchase. You may realize that while home ownership has its rewards, it costs more in terms of money and work than many renters may anticipate

Great deductibles for you. We've owned several homes, so no need to talk down to us re ownership.

Changes in rent are also impacted by the market. If rents are going up in your area, then you can expect your rent to increase as well. The market and demand have a definite impact on how much your rent will be.

It is true that a landlord expects income to cover expenses. If it didn't then, why would he or she own the property? Expenses do not decrease over time; instead they increase. Landlords expect to see an economic benefit from owning and managing property. I don't know many landlords who are "raking it in" after you consider the mortgage, real estate taxes, maintenance costs, insurance, management costs, repairs (do you have any idea how much it costs to paint or replace the roof on an apartment building?), utilities such as water and sewer and trash removal that the landlord pays, utilities for common areas, cost of maintaining a fitness room, pool or other common area, cost of maintaining the grounds (mowing, edging, snow removal, etc.) . Not one of those things gets less expensive over time. Many are more expensive as the building ages.

The age of the property has nothing to do with the amount of rent that can be charged. Condition does. Rent for a well maintained apartment should be more than rent for a rundown apartment.

It is unrealistic to believe that rent will decrease from year to year as a building ages.

I give up. "Great deductibles"?

"Truthiness is a quality characterizing a "truth" that a person making an argument or assertion claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or because it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts."

I'm a landlord and I raise rent because my costs go up, have to fix things when they break. I guess not everyone understands things. Recently I sold a condo with a great tenant that I've had for 2.5+ years. She was the only person I showed it to and gave her $50 off market rate because her family was good friend of my parent's next door neighbors whom we know for 20+ years. I didn't raise it after first year because she kept the place super nice and never gave me any problems. I had to raise it at 1.5 year when she wanted to possibly move out to larger place (this is 1 bedroom) and asked me to be flexible with breaking the lease. As the condo building only allows 6 or 12 month leases I renewed at $50 more to try to catch up to $100+ below market rate. I recently sold it and my old tenant stayed with the new owner at old rate and just moved out to a bigger place in the end of August. New owner and I agreed that raising the price by $100 would be a reasonable market price. New tenant already moved in the beginning of the month.

My tenant stayed with me for around a year @ $50/month (~$600 total of extra rent collected). At the same time for 2.5 years of renting it costed me more than $600 of worth of repairs and expenses.

"Truthiness" is not in any of our dictionaries. A coined word?

We pay for water + sewer + trash + gas, + electricity, + insurance + rent.

"Rent for a well maintained apartment should be more than rent for a run down apartment. + "It is unrealistic to believe that rent will decrease from year to year as a building ages." These are conflicting statements that cancel each other.

As we're no longer interested in owners' contentions, we retire from replies to this thread. Thanks to all who participated.

Regarding the first part of your question "what gives the right?". Because I own it. And what determines what I raise it to will be based on what the market pays.
It doesn't make financial sense to rent a property for less than similar properties in your area.
Now, if I have a good tenant, I may forgo an increase to keep them. But it wouldn't be something I would do every year. Unless of course, the rental market warrants it.

I can't imagine what the OP thought was going to happen with this thread, but I don't think it did.

Their expenses are rising, as well - they have protection, upkeep, power and other utility expenses, grounds keeping, and so on.

I can't imagine what the OP thought was going to happen with this thread, but I don't think it did

Opening statement: What gives apartments owners the right to automatically increase the rent every year?

Closing statement: As we're no longer interested in owners' contentions, we retire from replies to this thread

OP didn't want anyone to disagree and in my opinion has some very thin skin. I am glad I am not his or her landlord.

Rents go up for no reason at all in this college town. When I was looking for apartments last year, I checked out one I had looked at the year before and the rent was $40 higher, and not even in line with other rents for the same amount of space. I pay what I think is actually below market value for this apartment. The owner doesn't have a mortgage on the place, and he rewards good tenants by not raising their rents much. I really love it here, but I expect that in July, my rent is going to go up, probably about $25 a month. I don't mind, because it's a nice place, almost completely remodeled, quiet and close to shopping. It has everything I need, maintenance is done in a very timely manner and the grounds are kept up nicely. Even with a $25 increase, I'm getting a real bargain here. The owner also owns several other properties that he does the same with, to give lower income people a nice place to live. He's a good man, and I'm happy living here.

I used to own a house and my insurance and taxes went up yearly, so why shouldn't I expect my landlord's to do so? Nobody likes paying more. I'm not on a fixed income but my income puts me in the lower end of the income scale, so I worry sometimes about increasing costs. It's just that it took me a long time to find a place I want to stay, so it's well worth it to pay a bit more every year.

And forget to give your tenant advance notice that your rent will go up if you renew. In most states it’s 30-day notice. It’s essential condition.

I hope you know that landlord cannot change any aspect of a lease during the fixed-term period except by mutual agreement, this applies to rent increase as well.