Submitted by c_hampagne t3_z1fcrh in jerseycity
Lease is up for renewal and rent is going up, landlord is asking us to “pay the difference” on the security deposit for the new rate. Before I tell them to get fucked, just want to confirm they don’t have a leg to stand on. Thank you, Reddit hive mind.
thats how it usually works. you have a month security which equals 1 month rent. as rent goes up you have to top off the security account
Shit. Was looking forward to ripping them a new one but I guess I will refrain. Thank you 🙏🏼
Yea, that’s normal. If your monthly rate goes up, you gotta add the difference onto your security
Doesn't matter, what's in the new lease supersedes the old. It specifies a rent and a security deposit. If the old deposit is insufficient, then obviously it needs to be increased.
The landlord can legally do that as others have mentioned but it is a pretty shitty thing to do
They can ask as part of the new lease terms, but the deposit can only increase by a max of 10% per year.
Totally legal to match up to 1.5x your new rate.
Are they doing all the other stuff by the book, like storing it in an interest bearing account at a bank they tell you? Do you get the interest either yearly by check or a report on the amount? Many to most don't, bringing up these as questions may show you know your legal rights better than they think.
They can ask, but it's a bit weird to "top off" your deposit every year when they raise the rent. I've never once had that happen across many years of renting, big & small outfits.
No, but they’ve generally been responsive when we’ve needed them and otherwise leave us alone so I really can’t complain too much. It just rubbed me the wrong way but it sounds like it’s normal for a rate increase so we’ll deal with it.
when you do leave, you should ask for the deposit back with the interest. a lot of renters don’t even realize that’s what they’re supposed to get back. it’s a whole thing.
either that or don’t pay your last month’s rent just to be sure, but they’re still supposed to give you the interest.
I've never, ever had this happen to me & seems like the most petty landlord shit ever to me.
enfuegodiego t1_ixao0j3 wrote
Does your current lease specify the deposit in a monetary amount, or in terms of “one month’s rent” or something along those lines? If the latter, you probably have to oblige.