Tenant Troubles: Rents Are Dropping, Can I Renegotiate?
Dave's here to answer your questions every Wednesday, so send them to him at tenant@sfappeal.com I signed a lease on 3-1-09 for $1425/month, but...
These are the comments for Tenant Troubles: Rents Are Dropping, Can I Renegotiate?
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sfboogie said:
January 13, 2010 2:13 PM
Reply
About 4 or 5 years ago I "negotiated" lower rent for my apartment. I say "negotiated" because I simply asked and they said yes. I don't recall how much it was reduced but enough to satisfy me at the time. I was happy in the apartment and where it was located so I told them I would sign another year lease. This way they were locked into the rate for a year and held to the allowable annual increase thereafter.
(I even got my illegal cat put into the lease.)
Dave Crow said:
January 14, 2010 8:37 AM
Reply
sfboogie, that's also an excellent strategy. I neglected to mention that a threat to move-out does not carry as much weight if your lease has not expired. If you move out before the lease is up, you are in breach. While the landlord must try to mitigate his damages, i.e. rent the apartment for a lower price, they often don't and the breaching tenant can be liable for the landlord's loss. There is sparse, crappy case law on this issue. In this reader's case, the threat to move is more credible because the lease is expiring soon.
indoorcamping said:
January 15, 2010 2:41 PM
Reply
We lowered rents for a couple of our best tenants who moved in when the market was at its peak. They didn't ask but I could see their rents were a little high. These tenants paid on time every month, communicate well and are just plain good people. I'd hate to lose them so I made the first move.
But think about it - more than half the tenants here pay less than half the market rate, thanks to rent control. You may be on the high end now, but you know it's not going to be that way forever.