Evaluating/Handling a 5 Year Rental Agreement in Ohio

Property Manager · Michigan Ctr, MI · Member since 2016 · 661 posts · 581 votes

3y

@Quincy Amekuedi I'm not a lawyer but the provisions you attached below are quite standard across multiple types of leases. Yes you can do both, you can terminate the current Lease and/or increase the rent if you give the proper minimum 30 day written notice. Written notice should be delivered to Tenant via USPS (or as otherwise outlined in the lease) and you should retain a 'proof of mailing' for your records --- ALSO check with your county (or your lawyer) to see if they have a standard 30 day notice (month-to-month) form they use.

Now the provisions you have included above SEC.15 & SEC.17 only allow you to terminate the Lease but you can increase the rent via the Sections indirectly via another lease agreement or modification to the current agreement. For example: Sec.15 only allows you to terminate lease with 30 day notice --- Sec.17 allows you to make changes to the lease BUT ONLY if the tenant agrees to it in writing.

So to raise the rent, you can do it a few ways. Method 1: You would execute via Sec.15 by giving a 30 day written notice to terminate lease and then draft and send the tenant a new lease agreement reflecting the new rent. If tenant agrees and signs new lease, then you have new rent; if tenant declines the tenant is required to move out.

Method 2: You would execute via Sec.17 first by giving Tenant notice that such and such sections (rent section) are to be updated to reflect $X,XXX in increased monthly rent. Just like method 1 above, tenant has to agree and sign for this to take effect; if tenant declines then tenant can continue with current lease agreement UNTIL you execute Sec.15 and give them notice to move out. In this method, the tenant can continue to rent until you tell them to move out if they decline the modification.

I sent you a DM on BP; I hope this helps.

[email protected]810-844-1104

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Quincy AmekuediPro Member

OP

Member since 2023 · 17 posts · 10 votes

3y

Quote from @Ricardo R.:

@Quincy Amekuedi I'm not a lawyer but the provisions you attached below are quite standard across multiple types of leases. Yes you can do both, you can terminate the current Lease and/or increase the rent if you give the proper minimum 30 day written notice. Written notice should be delivered to Tenant via USPS (or as otherwise outlined in the lease) and you should retain a 'proof of mailing' for your records --- ALSO check with your county (or your lawyer) to see if they have a standard 30 day notice (month-to-month) form they use.

Now the provisions you have included above SEC.15 & SEC.17 only allow you to terminate the Lease but you can increase the rent via the Sections indirectly via another lease agreement or modification to the current agreement. For example: Sec.15 only allows you to terminate lease with 30 day notice --- Sec.17 allows you to make changes to the lease BUT ONLY if the tenant agrees to it in writing.

So to raise the rent, you can do it a few ways. Method 1: You would execute via Sec.15 by giving a 30 day written notice to terminate lease and then draft and send the tenant a new lease agreement reflecting the new rent. If tenant agrees and signs new lease, then you have new rent; if tenant declines the tenant is required to move out.

Method 2: You would execute via Sec.17 first by giving Tenant notice that such and such sections (rent section) are to be updated to reflect $X,XXX in increased monthly rent. Just like method 1 above, tenant has to agree and sign for this to take effect; if tenant declines then tenant can continue with current lease agreement UNTIL you execute Sec.15 and give them notice to move out. In this method, the tenant can continue to rent until you tell them to move out if they decline the modification.

I sent you a DM on BP; I hope this helps.

Thank you Ricardo for your thorough reply. I do hope it turns out the way you described as that would be the most ideal situation. Getting additional guidance soon.

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Bob S.

Real Estate Consultant · Cleveland · Member since 2020 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes

2y

Quote from @Quincy Amekuedi:

As it turns out, a tenant in a property I have under contract is NOT on a month-to-month agreement. Instead, they are 2 years into a 5 year lease (2021-2026), signed with the owner prior to the current one that is selling. The rental agreement is under-market rent for the area by ~$400/month and my strategy would be to implement a rental increase or end the current agreement with the proper 30+ day notice. Getting this right is crucial to making this deal more appealing. How do you interpret the attached two line items in the current agreement and whether I can with at least 30 days notice, increase the rent or end the agreement?

Yes, I do have this question out to my real-estate attorney to review, but sharing here in case there are others who are curious OR have experience handling multi-year rental agreements.

Terminate and put in a new tenant

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Evaluating/Handling a 5 Year Rental Agreement in Ohio

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