Landlord Suddenly Tries To Raise This Woman’s Rent By $855, And She Isn’t Having Any Of It In Now-Viral TikTok
There’s a lot of talking about housing prices going up and how being a homeowner will be less common for young people and future generations. The other option is to rent, but it seems that this is also getting out of reach for many people with the monthly prices getting ridiculous and people are considering the third option, which is to just live with their parents if they can.
The prices have gone up not only for new tenants, but for the current ones as well. Even if you pay in a timely manner, keep up with maintenance and have a good relationship with your landlord, it might not guarantee that they will let you stay at the same or just slightly higher rent.
A woman on TikTok, Kara, who often shares financial advice, just renewed her contract and her rent increased by $855 a month, and what is even more ridiculous is that this is legal in the state of Texas where she lives.
More info: TikTok | Instagram | Bravely Go
This woman checked her new lease agreement and was taken aback when she learnt she would need to pay $855 more than before
Image credits: webravelygo
Kara Perez is a financial expert and founder of Bravely Go, “an award winning international financial education company” as it is introduced on its official website. She started it after managing to pay her $25,302 student debt earning $22,916 a year and created a community of women talking about money and financial changes.
She explores financial topics on her TikTok account as well as on her Instagram and recently one of her videos went viral in which she showed just how much monthly rent can increase. Previously she was paying $1,895 a month and her new contract says it will be $2,750, which is $855 more.
Image credits: webravelygo
Image credits: webravelygo
Over 185k people saw the video and many were shocked at that amount. A lot of them noticed that this was a month-to-month lease, which means that the lease lasts for 30 days but it involves an automatic renewal.
However, because the tenants have the right to move out any time with shorter notice, there is more risk for the landlord to rent this way, which is why they tend to charge more.
But even if Kara signed a 12-month lease agreement, she would still have to pay $2,500 a month, which is $605 more than what she was paying before and is still a lot.
Kara lives in Texas and there are no limits to how much landlords can charge for rent
Image credits: webravelygo
There were also a lot of people who raised the question of legality. Many places in the world have a limit of how much rent can go up. For example, according to Haart, in the UK, rent typically raises about 3 to 5 percent a year.
The rules around rent increase listed on GOV.UK are: “your landlord must get your permission if they want to increase the rent by more than previously agreed” and “the rent increase must be fair and realistic, which means in line with average local rents.”
Some cities may have more control over landlords but not Austin where Kara is renting
Image credits: webravelygo
Image credits: webravelygo
In the US, there is no federal law controlling what is the maximum rent increase, but different states have different limits. For example, California issued a bill that doesn’t allow “an owner of residential real property from, over the course of any 12-month period, to increase the gross rental rate for a dwelling or unit more than 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living, as defined, or 10%, whichever is lower, of the lowest gross rental rate charged for the immediately preceding 12 months, subject to specified conditions.”
However, in Texas, where Kara lives, there are no such regulations. Landlords in Texas can increase their rent as high as they want to, and the only thing they need to do is wait for the lease to end. And for month-to-month agreements, they have to warn their tenants 30 days in advance about the change in price.
Image credits: webravelygo
Her only chance is to negotiate and expect that the landlord agrees to lower the rent
Image credits: webravelygo
Texas is more of a rule than an exception because only five states in the US (California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Oregon) and the District of Columbia have some kind of control on how much landlords can increase rent prices.
When there are no regulations and limits to how greedy landlords can get, price increases should be almost expected. But there is hope to make the new rent price less painful for the wallet.
Image credits: webravelygo
She suggests to offer to pay a few months ahead in exchange for lower rent
Image credits: webravelygo
And remind the landlord that you have always been on time with your rent and you have a good credit score
Image credits: webravelygo
Kara suggests trying to negotiate. You could offer to pay the landlord upfront for a few months so that they’ll trust you more and allow you to have a $100 monthly decrease. You could also remind the landlord that you are financially responsible, that you have paid your rent on time and have a good credit score. Because searching for new tenants is a hassle and also a risk, so show that you’re a good tenant worth keeping, even if that means decreasing rent price.
Kara doesn’t promise anything, because rent prices are going up all across the country and actually the world, but it is worth trying talking to the landlord, because who wants to pay that much? The woman said that at least she doesn’t plan to.
Image credits: webravelygo
As it was discussed in an earlier article about housing prices going up, rent is increasing for the same reason–because of lack of supply, in other words, there are just not enough houses, so landlords can do whatever they want and know that they will still find a tenant.
Redfin’s Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather explains that one of the biggest reasons for not enough housing is the restrictive zoning laws, which regulate what can be built where.
You can watch the video showing the contract below
@webravelygo Lol Austin #renter #realestate #austintexas #austin #costofliving ♬ This is a joke right – Jackary
Have you experienced the increase in rent prices yourself? Do you think the amount Kara’s rent increased is normal, or do you agree that it shouldn’t be that much? Let us know your thoughts and reactions in the comments!
People in the comments were surprised to see such a jump in price but shared that they also didn’t avoid price increases
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It might not be illegal but morally it's completely wrong. How can the landlord justify such a massive increase, his costs of being a landlord surely can't have risen by so much surely.
The landlord justifies it because "capitalism" and "greed". Which is why UNFETTERED capitalism is as bad as any other terrible system and why we need regulation and accountability throughout all our systems.
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That is why I'm so thankful I landed a needle in a haystack. Pre-pandemic, I rented an apartment for $1,290. Post-pandemic, it went up to $1,890. Florida, by the way. I happened to find an even nicer place for $1,100 a month, including internet and cable, and I almost got beat out for it, but the other person didn't respond to the landlord quickly enough. I am so lucky compared to others in my area! It's price-gouging and just plain wrong.
My landlord just sent me a rent increase notice yesterday. It went up 10 dollars a month. I adore living here. Been here 27yrs
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This is f****d up. As a landlady myself, I rarely raise more than $25 a month and we only raise once a year (and only for people who have lived with us a year).We also give 60 days notice so if it’s too much, people have time. We have never had a problem. This is just disgusting.
So you raise it max. 25 a month... That's still an extra 300 a year! That's crazy!
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I live JUST outside of Austin, Texas. The prices here are absolutely mind blowing. I said in an earlier post that my house, that I bought in 2018 for $225k is now worth over $450k, but where the hell would I go? Nothing is within my price range (I mean, they all look like my house and I'm not saving a dime) and to get even a fraction of what I WANT, I need to look an hour or so outside the city, which would be great, except I NEED A JOB! So, I'm sitting right until the housing bubble bursts or I find the right place at the right price.
I find it ridiculous that this is allowed. Where I live there's countrywide rent control. Rent can only be increased once per year and by a set maximum (3,3% for this year). Also there's a rent commision, if a landlord doesn't do necessary upkeep you can contact the commission and demand a (temporary) decrease in rent. In some cases they will even hold the full rent until repairs and upkeep are done (you do have to pay the rent to the commission, but the landlord gets zip if a house/apt is in bad shape). A lot increase the maximum every year and do the bare minimum for upkeep, but there are plenty good ones to be found (for example, my previous landlord didn't increase for 3 years, then only did 20 or so the 4th year because they had a lot of work done on the place)
New York also has no regulations, so a lot of (if not all) landlords are b*stards. My landlords raised the rent $500 a month after a year -- with the FIRST lease renewal. Because the tenants just moved, and probably don't want to move again so soon. Tough luck! Move again or pay up. (My building slid downhill fast and there were numerous illegal Airbnb rentals but NY landlords don't care about anything but cold, hard cash.)
Radio host Dave Ramsey stepped into a moral morass when he said that landlords should be able to raise rent based on a property’s market value, not a tenant’s ability to pay. Raising rent on his rental properties doesn’t make him “a bad Christian,” he said. But taking this position cast Ramsey as the villain in what has been called the world’s shortest play — the children’s skit in which an evil landlord harasses a tenant by saying “you must pay the rent” until a hero intervenes. Ramsey, who says rental properties can be a means of building wealth, was talking about whether it’s justifiable for landlords to raise rent even if the change creates a hardship for the tenants and forces them to move. If tenants can’t afford the rent after an increase, the problem is their income, not the landlord, he said. “I did not displace the person out of that house, if they can no longer afford it. The marketplace did; the economy did,” he said.
“It's not my fault employers don't pay 100k in this city. I only want CEOs living here.” /s problem is, each company usually only has one CEO, but a lot of entry-level staff...what a turd.
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Yes, landlords can be greedy jerks. At the same time, am I the only one who is super cynical of this post/TikTok? The women is a "financial" expert whose business it is to educate people on their finances. Seems a bit convenient to me that this specific scenario would happen to her. Plus, she acted like she wouldn't have known unless she read her lease. Most states, including Texas, require landlords to give tenets 30 days notice before increasing rent. And, for the most part it wouldn't make fiscal sense for a landlord to raise rent this much because they would risk losing all of their renters unless they were charging way under market rate to begin with.
I checked my (blue) state and we don't have any limits on how much a landlord can raise the rent either. I'm a little surprised by that.
My blue state does. And before it did many of the counties had their own.
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It's almost like people don't understand that your costs are not the only ones going up. Landlords have to pay mortgages, utilities, trash removal, etc... Do you think those things just grow on trees? His goal isn't to break even on expenses - they have every right to support their families as well.
The snippet included "...continue to stay Month to Month..." It looks like she went from a year lease and opted for a month to month. Those types of leases are enormously more expensive because there is no guarantee how long a tenant will stay. I bet if we saw the whole lease, it would show the monthly rent on a year lease.
If you read the post, it did actually give that info. About $600/month increase. Still insane.
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we have awesome landlords, then we have this shite, is there even a in between?
That's the cost in most big cities... For a bachelor studio
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I bought a house as soon as I could as a Single mother of 2, my landlord was my mom. knew the rent was way cheaper than It should have been, but I wanted equity. Knew I didn't want a landlord , when I could be paying myself. 24 years later, I've never regretted it.
I had a landlord raise my rent when they were advertising the same type of unit for what I was currently paying. I went into the office with the newspaper ad and asked him why a tenant that has been there for a year and hasn't missed a payment has to pay more than someone walking in off the street. He tried to tell me that rent always goes up. I said that I could let my lease expire, then sign a lease as a new tenant and get the same rent. Back and forth. Politely. I walked out with the lower rent. If he had raised my rent and then offered it in the paper for the same amount I was going to be paying, I would have taken it.
Understand, I'm not defending the landlord, that's some shady stuff, stuff I cannot use the bad words for in this comment. But, do you think that putting out a TikTok video, which seems to be the go to solution for any issue, no matter the size, will solve the issue? Or, was it it more of a "look at me"? Does she think blasting the landlord on social media resolve the issue? What was the resolution?
First it don't matter If it's a red or blue state. In ct rent is crazy high too. Blue state. Landlord seems like instead of saying he won't be renewing your lease, you can pay a ton more to stay. Are you getting any new appliances? Electricity or any other things increase? Maybe he wants to sell the property and just wants to raise the rent to show its a profitable investment to a new owner. I would consider renting a hotel room. For that much you can get a room, power, water, cable, WiFi, parking, some have mini kitchenettes. You can then use the extra cash to get a storage unit and save up the difference for a house or new apt.
So did OP negotiate? And what were the results? BTW, she could move to San Marcos and pay less rent.
Love the way this is simply explained and so easy to understand, NOT. I would just move.
Its owner choice maybe he wants to remove the tenant it's a one sided beautifully rendered story owner has every right to charge what he wants there may be other options of the owner is overpriced as per market the tenant has options so he is not giving any charity it's totally business you like it you take it if not god bless why is it morally wrong maybe he has some financial issue maybe he needs money no don't agree business is business not charity sounds good but. No we people work we people do business how much have we been charitable sounds good seems good seems lovely to comment but not right
I am a landlady with 53 units and this is NOT a result of the moratorium. It’s the result of a greedy landlord. Of course we have loans and taxes and utilities and repairs, but that is no excuse for this rent hike. Yes, the profit margin sucks, but it’s no excuse to be an a*****e. And I do not have a single landlord friend who was devastated by the pandemic. And certainly no one who lost a year’s worth of rent. That’s b******t propaganda spread by ultra conservatives to make renters look bad. It’s bad form.
Load More Replies... It might not be illegal but morally it's completely wrong. How can the landlord justify such a massive increase, his costs of being a landlord surely can't have risen by so much surely.
The landlord justifies it because "capitalism" and "greed". Which is why UNFETTERED capitalism is as bad as any other terrible system and why we need regulation and accountability throughout all our systems.
Load More Replies... That is why I'm so thankful I landed a needle in a haystack. Pre-pandemic, I rented an apartment for $1,290. Post-pandemic, it went up to $1,890. Florida, by the way. I happened to find an even nicer place for $1,100 a month, including internet and cable, and I almost got beat out for it, but the other person didn't respond to the landlord quickly enough. I am so lucky compared to others in my area! It's price-gouging and just plain wrong.
My landlord just sent me a rent increase notice yesterday. It went up 10 dollars a month. I adore living here. Been here 27yrs
Load More Replies... This is f****d up. As a landlady myself, I rarely raise more than $25 a month and we only raise once a year (and only for people who have lived with us a year).We also give 60 days notice so if it’s too much, people have time. We have never had a problem. This is just disgusting.
So you raise it max. 25 a month... That's still an extra 300 a year! That's crazy!
Load More Replies... I live JUST outside of Austin, Texas. The prices here are absolutely mind blowing. I said in an earlier post that my house, that I bought in 2018 for $225k is now worth over $450k, but where the hell would I go? Nothing is within my price range (I mean, they all look like my house and I'm not saving a dime) and to get even a fraction of what I WANT, I need to look an hour or so outside the city, which would be great, except I NEED A JOB! So, I'm sitting right until the housing bubble bursts or I find the right place at the right price.
I find it ridiculous that this is allowed. Where I live there's countrywide rent control. Rent can only be increased once per year and by a set maximum (3,3% for this year). Also there's a rent commision, if a landlord doesn't do necessary upkeep you can contact the commission and demand a (temporary) decrease in rent. In some cases they will even hold the full rent until repairs and upkeep are done (you do have to pay the rent to the commission, but the landlord gets zip if a house/apt is in bad shape). A lot increase the maximum every year and do the bare minimum for upkeep, but there are plenty good ones to be found (for example, my previous landlord didn't increase for 3 years, then only did 20 or so the 4th year because they had a lot of work done on the place)
New York also has no regulations, so a lot of (if not all) landlords are b*stards. My landlords raised the rent $500 a month after a year -- with the FIRST lease renewal. Because the tenants just moved, and probably don't want to move again so soon. Tough luck! Move again or pay up. (My building slid downhill fast and there were numerous illegal Airbnb rentals but NY landlords don't care about anything but cold, hard cash.)
Radio host Dave Ramsey stepped into a moral morass when he said that landlords should be able to raise rent based on a property’s market value, not a tenant’s ability to pay. Raising rent on his rental properties doesn’t make him “a bad Christian,” he said. But taking this position cast Ramsey as the villain in what has been called the world’s shortest play — the children’s skit in which an evil landlord harasses a tenant by saying “you must pay the rent” until a hero intervenes. Ramsey, who says rental properties can be a means of building wealth, was talking about whether it’s justifiable for landlords to raise rent even if the change creates a hardship for the tenants and forces them to move. If tenants can’t afford the rent after an increase, the problem is their income, not the landlord, he said. “I did not displace the person out of that house, if they can no longer afford it. The marketplace did; the economy did,” he said.
“It's not my fault employers don't pay 100k in this city. I only want CEOs living here.” /s problem is, each company usually only has one CEO, but a lot of entry-level staff...what a turd.
Load More Replies... Yes, landlords can be greedy jerks. At the same time, am I the only one who is super cynical of this post/TikTok? The women is a "financial" expert whose business it is to educate people on their finances. Seems a bit convenient to me that this specific scenario would happen to her. Plus, she acted like she wouldn't have known unless she read her lease. Most states, including Texas, require landlords to give tenets 30 days notice before increasing rent. And, for the most part it wouldn't make fiscal sense for a landlord to raise rent this much because they would risk losing all of their renters unless they were charging way under market rate to begin with.
I checked my (blue) state and we don't have any limits on how much a landlord can raise the rent either. I'm a little surprised by that.
My blue state does. And before it did many of the counties had their own.
Load More Replies... It's almost like people don't understand that your costs are not the only ones going up. Landlords have to pay mortgages, utilities, trash removal, etc... Do you think those things just grow on trees? His goal isn't to break even on expenses - they have every right to support their families as well.
The snippet included "...continue to stay Month to Month..." It looks like she went from a year lease and opted for a month to month. Those types of leases are enormously more expensive because there is no guarantee how long a tenant will stay. I bet if we saw the whole lease, it would show the monthly rent on a year lease.
If you read the post, it did actually give that info. About $600/month increase. Still insane.
Load More Replies... we have awesome landlords, then we have this shite, is there even a in between?
That's the cost in most big cities... For a bachelor studio
Load More Replies... I bought a house as soon as I could as a Single mother of 2, my landlord was my mom. knew the rent was way cheaper than It should have been, but I wanted equity. Knew I didn't want a landlord , when I could be paying myself. 24 years later, I've never regretted it.
I had a landlord raise my rent when they were advertising the same type of unit for what I was currently paying. I went into the office with the newspaper ad and asked him why a tenant that has been there for a year and hasn't missed a payment has to pay more than someone walking in off the street. He tried to tell me that rent always goes up. I said that I could let my lease expire, then sign a lease as a new tenant and get the same rent. Back and forth. Politely. I walked out with the lower rent. If he had raised my rent and then offered it in the paper for the same amount I was going to be paying, I would have taken it.
Understand, I'm not defending the landlord, that's some shady stuff, stuff I cannot use the bad words for in this comment. But, do you think that putting out a TikTok video, which seems to be the go to solution for any issue, no matter the size, will solve the issue? Or, was it it more of a "look at me"? Does she think blasting the landlord on social media resolve the issue? What was the resolution?
First it don't matter If it's a red or blue state. In ct rent is crazy high too. Blue state. Landlord seems like instead of saying he won't be renewing your lease, you can pay a ton more to stay. Are you getting any new appliances? Electricity or any other things increase? Maybe he wants to sell the property and just wants to raise the rent to show its a profitable investment to a new owner. I would consider renting a hotel room. For that much you can get a room, power, water, cable, WiFi, parking, some have mini kitchenettes. You can then use the extra cash to get a storage unit and save up the difference for a house or new apt.
So did OP negotiate? And what were the results? BTW, she could move to San Marcos and pay less rent.
Love the way this is simply explained and so easy to understand, NOT. I would just move.
Its owner choice maybe he wants to remove the tenant it's a one sided beautifully rendered story owner has every right to charge what he wants there may be other options of the owner is overpriced as per market the tenant has options so he is not giving any charity it's totally business you like it you take it if not god bless why is it morally wrong maybe he has some financial issue maybe he needs money no don't agree business is business not charity sounds good but. No we people work we people do business how much have we been charitable sounds good seems good seems lovely to comment but not right
I am a landlady with 53 units and this is NOT a result of the moratorium. It’s the result of a greedy landlord. Of course we have loans and taxes and utilities and repairs, but that is no excuse for this rent hike. Yes, the profit margin sucks, but it’s no excuse to be an a*****e. And I do not have a single landlord friend who was devastated by the pandemic. And certainly no one who lost a year’s worth of rent. That’s b******t propaganda spread by ultra conservatives to make renters look bad. It’s bad form.
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