Tenant no responding to rental raise
Realtor · Western MA · Member since 2022 · 21 posts · 16 votes
Tenant no responding to rental raise
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
2yQuote from @Account Closed:
Heyy. I'm trying to raise rent to fair market rent for one of my tenants. I have informed her through text and email. And heard no response. I texted again asking if she got my messages and if she had any questions. No response. I also texted if we could set up a time to chat on the phone. No answer. What should I do??
You are making a common mistake of failing to set a deadline.
When I want a response from my tenant, I set a deadline and a consequence for failing to respond.
"Dear Tenant,
Due to increases in costs, I am forced to increase your rent. Your rent rate is currently $500 below market, but I am willing to keep it below market as an incentive to stay.
Your new rent rate will be $1,650 effective June 1st, and I require you to take responsibility for the heat. This rate is based on a signed one-year lease term.
I need you to agree to this change by signing a new lease no later than April 20, 2024. If I do not have a signed lease with you by that date, then I will accept that as your notice of termination and expect you to move out no later than 11:59 p.m. on May 31, 2024."
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60 Replies
- Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes2y
Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:
Quote from @Mark Cruse:
This ^^^^ And I saw a news story recently that 50% of the US is currently having problems making their housing payment - both renters and owners. Imagine someone in this position getting a $450 mo raise. It would even shock people without money problems, that's a $5400 a year hit...
Yep! Its a significant chance this person cant afford it and has to search for a place they can afford, which may not even exit. Imagine someone coming to you or I with some proposition that forces us to uproot our entire family in month without a clear picture of the future. Imagine if we were stressed, having zero idea when or if our kids can have a roof over their heads. If we could land somewhere that we cant afford ,imagine things like changing kids schools, moving expenses, transportation issues and a thousand other things. Imagine if we had zero means or idea on what we were going to do. There are several landlords that operate off the mindset that its all business and could give a shtt less who it damages but it leads to a vicious cycle of events eventually. We can absorb this for the most part but millions cant.
- Realtor · Western MA · Member since 2022 · 21 posts · 16 votes2y
Quote from @Mark Cruse:
Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:
Quote from @Mark Cruse:
This ^^^^ And I saw a news story recently that 50% of the US is currently having problems making their housing payment - both renters and owners. Imagine someone in this position getting a $450 mo raise. It would even shock people without money problems, that's a $5400 a year hit...
Yep! Its a significant chance that person cant afford it and has to search for a place they can afford which may not even exit. Imagine someone coming to you or me with some proposition that forces us to uproot our entire family in month without a clear picture of the future. Imagine if we were stressed, having zero idea when or if our kids can have a roof over their heads. If we could land somewhere that we cant afford imagine things like changing kids schools, moving expenses, transportation issues and a thousand other things. Imagine if we had zero means or idea on what we were going to do. There are several landlords that operate off the mindset that its all business and could give a shtt less who it damages but it leads to a vicious cycle of events eventually.
yeah the problem with this, is I've been offering there to be a middle ground- if she doesn't think she can afford the raise, we could compromise. Or if she's looking for another place, I'll give her 3 more months with no raise. This is what happened when I saw her in person. She still has not repsonded to any of my texts. So she's not communicating at all with me except when I knocked on her door. If she was communicating with me, then she wont be out on the streets. But honestly my hands are tied with the way she's handling her communication. THat's the whole point of this post.
- 2yBruce WoodruffPro MemberContractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
@Mark Cruse is right again (as usual, knock it off Mark) and maybe this thread was a great learning experience for newbies and veterans alike.
Look, y'all know that I am the biggest Capitalist Ahole on here (sometimes :-) always ranting about "you gotta run this like a business, this ain't no stinkin' charity!", but there are ways to do things and then ways to do things.
One of the great things about this Forum is the incredible wealth of knowledge - but from different backgrounds and personality types. I swear, if you can't figure out how to do something with all the advice on here, then it can't be done...
- 2yBruce WoodruffPro MemberContractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
Quote from @Account Closed:
Quote from @Mark Cruse:
Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:
Quote from @Mark Cruse:
This ^^^^ And I saw a news story recently that 50% of the US is currently having problems making their housing payment - both renters and owners. Imagine someone in this position getting a $450 mo raise. It would even shock people without money problems, that's a $5400 a year hit...
Yep! Its a significant chance that person cant afford it and has to search for a place they can afford which may not even exit. Imagine someone coming to you or me with some proposition that forces us to uproot our entire family in month without a clear picture of the future. Imagine if we were stressed, having zero idea when or if our kids can have a roof over their heads. If we could land somewhere that we cant afford imagine things like changing kids schools, moving expenses, transportation issues and a thousand other things. Imagine if we had zero means or idea on what we were going to do. There are several landlords that operate off the mindset that its all business and could give a shtt less who it damages but it leads to a vicious cycle of events eventually.
yeah the problem with this, is I've been offering there to be a middle ground- if she doesn't think she can afford the raise, we could compromise. Or if she's looking for another place, I'll give her 3 more months with no raise. This is what happened when I saw her in person. She still has not repsonded to any of my texts. So she's not communicating at all with me except when I knocked on her door. If she was communicating with me, then she wont be out on the streets. But honestly my hands are tied with the way she's handling her communication. THat's the whole point of this post.
Understood. Maybe send a email, a text saying you sent an email, and then drop by. If she never replies at all, then what can you do? We get it!
- Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes2y
Quote from @Account Closed:
Quote from @Mark Cruse:
Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:
Quote from @Mark Cruse:
This ^^^^ And I saw a news story recently that 50% of the US is currently having problems making their housing payment - both renters and owners. Imagine someone in this position getting a $450 mo raise. It would even shock people without money problems, that's a $5400 a year hit...
Yep! Its a significant chance that person cant afford it and has to search for a place they can afford which may not even exit. Imagine someone coming to you or me with some proposition that forces us to uproot our entire family in month without a clear picture of the future. Imagine if we were stressed, having zero idea when or if our kids can have a roof over their heads. If we could land somewhere that we cant afford imagine things like changing kids schools, moving expenses, transportation issues and a thousand other things. Imagine if we had zero means or idea on what we were going to do. There are several landlords that operate off the mindset that its all business and could give a shtt less who it damages but it leads to a vicious cycle of events eventually.
yeah the problem with this, is I've been offering there to be a middle ground- if she doesn't think she can afford the raise, we could compromise. Or if she's looking for another place, I'll give her 3 more months with no raise. This is what happened when I saw her in person. She still has not repsonded to any of my texts. So she's not communicating at all with me except when I knocked on her door. If she was communicating with me, then she wont be out on the streets. But honestly my hands are tied with the way she's handling her communication. THat's the whole point of this post.
I understand but next time, maybe not come right out and tell them of that significant rise in a text. You may not know the mental state or anything about the person. Recently, one of my tenants came under some messiness from my PM. This lady has mental health issues and was having massive meltdowns and unbalanced episodes. I was able to mitigate but you really have to understand people and the various reactions to stuff they may have. We have landlords in this very forum insisting their tenants are savages and should be treated like animals. Many tenants see us all as having similar disgusting mindsets. They way things are communicated or how they are executed can have disastrous outcomes.
- Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes2y
Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:
@Mark Cruse is right again (as usual, knock it off Mark) and maybe this thread was a great learning experience for newbies and veterans alike.
Look, y'all know that I am the biggest Capitalist Ahole on here (sometimes :-) always ranting about "you gotta run this like a business, this ain't no stinkin' charity!", but there are ways to do things and then ways to do things.
One of the great things about this Forum is the incredible wealth of knowledge - but from different backgrounds and personality types. I swear, if you can't figure out how to do something with all the advice on here, then it can't be done...
Thanks Bruce. LOL
- 2yV.G JasonPro MemberInvestor · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
@Mark Cruse put things a lot more eloquently than me, but that's because you're more focused on being defensive than understanding your limits. Put your ego aside, and view this on both sides.
It's an absolute egregious ask for a 33% lift on rents, and there's a total disassociation with reality. But again, you're worried about you and how you're managing yourself--rather than worrying about the problem you created and the situation you put others in. You want to increase rents, just enough to where it does not incentivize a (great) tenant to leave and enough for you to operate in a fiduciary manner. You're not commercially reasonable and you lack judgement in general, forget as a landlord.
When I say you're unfit, you may not like the way I said it but you're going to learn one way or another what I said was correct. And in regards to being helpful, a PM is my suggestion. You can avoid truly irreparable mistakes by hiring one's with the proper expertise. You can get all in your emotions about how I type to you, or you can learn to read it and respect the message behind it and behave appropriately. As an REI/landlord to another these types of actions & behaviors is what creates a divide and that's something we need to avoid.
- Rental Property Investor · The Vampire State · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes2y
I get that you guys are critical of the lack of tact the OP has shown here. I think that point has been taken. But I'm a little bothered by the notion of the "heartless", "egregious" etc. comments about the raise. Perhaps the mistake was not keeping the rent near market, and now doing the "market correction" - but the market rate is the market rate for a reason. This is what housing costs these days. Property owners have operating expenses that are rising just as fast as everything else in society. Every other industry is passing those costs on directly to the consumer. What other choice do they have if they want to remain solvent? When eggs doubled in price in the blink of an eye did you scold your grocer for being "heartless"? That's what things cost. Blame Putin, like some were trying to do a bit ago. ;) Not raising the rents to market is just subsidizing someone else's lifestyle at the expense of your own household. We are living in inflationary times. It frustrates me that landlords are held to a different standard than the supermarkets, gas stations, and cable companies.
I guess the more diplomatic thing to do would be to issue a notice to vacate for a protracted date (90 days was mentioned) with no raise, and then part ways. It seems evident that this tenant can no longer afford an apartment like this, so this would give them a time to come up with a plan to find an alternative.
- Member since 2024 · 17 posts · 7 votes2y
If the tenant is not responsive to your rent increase or responding to your messages, you may want to take more direct action. A formal notice of rent change must be sent by mail with return receipt requested. In this notice, indicate the new rental amount, the period from which it begins to apply, and the requirement for confirmation of receipt of the notice.
- Member since 2024 · 19 posts · 6 votes2y
If the tenant is unable to contact you, try sending a formal rent increase letter by mail with return receipt requested. If there is no answer after this, it may be worth contacting a lawyer or real estate professional to find out about the legal procedures for raising rent in your area.
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