If, when and how your landlord can increase your rent depends on your lease and applicable laws. For the most correct answer, pull out your lease and talk to someone at your local/city tenant board. They would be the best people to give you correct info about your rights in this situation.
Yes, a landlord can charge different rents for different units... Note I said different "units" not different "tenants." Most landlords determine the rent for a unit based on what the max they can get for that particular unit (depending on condition, location in the building, view, etc.) in that market at the particular time the unit is open, and depending on how desperate they are to rent at that time. Their livelihood depends on earning the most income possible per unit.
It's up to your landlord whether he/she wants to renegotiate (decrease) your rent based on your change in income. VERY few do it. This is your landlord's business and source of income, so basically you're asking him/her to take a smaller paycheck just because you do. That's a very tough sell... especially given that they hear sob stories all the time and this is a business for them.
You might have better chances by checking with social services / local organizations to see if you qualify for ANY kind of assistance (food or rent money) that would free up more money in your budget to allow you to fulfill the terms of your lease. There's no shame in that. A LOT of people are having difficulty these days. I hope you can work something out.
(By the way, my husband and I own properties that we hire a staff to manage... for some reason, I still hate calling myself a landlord... I think I'm more of a quasi-silent investor since that's not my main job and... I'm pretty hands off since I'm a softy about things like that and I'd let everyone live there for free and we'd lose all our money...)
Answered Oct 03, 2012
Edited Oct 03, 2012
