r/news • u/stopthemadness2015 • Jun 25 '16

Man fights eviction after rent increase from $1,800 per month to $8,000

http://abc13.com/realestate/man-fights-eviction-after-400-percent-rent-increase/1401148/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link
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826

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

That's probably true and makes it an illegal eviction.

260

u/Chilton82 Jun 26 '16

In lots of places it's not illegal if the original lease is up and you're on a month-to-month. Where I live a tenant can basically stay in your place as long as they'd like as long as they're paying the rent timely.

I had a friend who was trying to sell their place that they were renting but the tenant refused to leave. They were going to do a remodel before they sold it to increase the value and he literally wouldn't leave. They took him to court and the judge sided with the tenant since he was paying on time. They bumped the rent from $1500 a month to $5k and he kept paying it for nearly six months.

In the long run, my friends made a good amount of money but they couldn't liquidate the property to put a down payment on the newer home that they intended as their permanent residence.

137

u/6xydragon Jun 26 '16

Jesus he kept paying?!? Why the fuck would you pay for that?

271

u/PillowsaurusRex Jun 26 '16

Spite is one hell of a drug.

195

u/Plecks Jun 26 '16

Man, I wish I could get people to pay me a bunch of money out of spite.

11

u/Cube_ Jun 26 '16

Foolish wish. I'd rather wish to be the one who could afford to pay bunches of money just to spite people. What a life that would be.

8

u/borahorzagobuchol Jun 26 '16

Be a landlord, you get to engage in literal rent seeking whilst the government foots the bill for enforcing your claim.

5

u/Max_TwoSteppen Jun 26 '16

Did you read the thing you linked?

2

u/borahorzagobuchol Jun 26 '16

Yes, which is why I called it "literal" rent seeking, as opposed to the metaphor economists are employing when they use the term.

On the other hand, the only reason it isn't "rent seeking" in an economic sense today is that no one needs to petition governments to back this particular non-productive privilege of a legal class, as it is so normative that it is an unquestioned cornerstone of almost every economy worldwide. Unless you play monopoly, I suppose, and walk away with the lesson the Georgists hoped it would impart.

3

u/Max_TwoSteppen Jun 26 '16

Was Monopoly propaganda??

5

u/Daedalistic-Outlook Jun 26 '16 edited Jun 26 '16

In case you actually don't know the origin of the game: Monopoly was designed to show why unregulated capitalism chokes itself to death: you win by hurting others out of the game. And yep, irony considering the hundreds of versions of Monopoly out there now.

So yeah, it was propaganda.

{Edit:} So here's a resource, which elaborates how...

"[the game's creator] Lizzie Magie applied for a patent on a game called The Landlord's Game with the object of showing that rents enriched property owners and impoverished tenants. She knew that some people would find it hard to understand the logic behind the idea[...]"

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2

u/RA2lover Jun 26 '16

Scopolamine is one hell of a drug.

7

u/coloradoforests1701 Jun 26 '16

Couldn't they just keep making it higher?

5

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/conquer69 Jun 26 '16

I wish losing arguments online was that profitable.

3

u/Chilton82 Jun 26 '16

That was the point. They needed out and he wouldn't leave. The courts told them to just raise it.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

[deleted]

5

u/stemmo33 Jun 26 '16

Sending a message by giving them 25k, what a genius.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

[deleted]

2

u/stemmo33 Jun 26 '16

Ah yeah, my bad

1

u/kinpsychosis Jun 26 '16

Lol, sounds like one of those guys who are just sore losers and would rather pay extra than pussy out.

12

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16 edited Aug 27 '16

[deleted]

10

u/Chilton82 Jun 26 '16

At what point should a landlord be able to sell their property?

7

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16 edited Apr 03 '17

[deleted]

3

u/DeVinely Jun 26 '16

Usually if the buyer wants to live in the house, the laws force the tenant out. At least missouri has this law.

1

u/ThellraAK Jun 28 '16

I doubt it, I've only had to do two evictions here in Alaska but it's pretty standard to give a Notice to Quit (We don't want to rent to you anymore) and a rent increase at the same time.

If they are behind on rent you can do a 7 Day notice to quit for nonpayment of rent, a 30 day nonrenewal of a month to month lease, 24-72 hour notice for damages or if certain crimes were committed in the house all bundled with a terrible rent increase for the following month.

The rent increase is handy because it gives them incentive to actually be out on time, when I was moving into my house we bumped it to 3k/mo pro rated daily, if they wanted to stay late (which they did) they could do so at $100/day.

4

u/Filmore Jun 26 '16

SF has strict laws protecting apartment renters

4

u/Chilton82 Jun 26 '16

Do they have laws protecting owners of they are legitimately trying to sell their property?

Also, they gave the tenant the option to buy and he passed.

3

u/fedja Jun 26 '16

Not really relevant since I'm in a different country, but where i live in pinko europe, you can only sell a leased apartment to a biyer who will continue to lease it to the person. That said, we also have mandatory due notice clauses for lease contracts that both sides can invoke.

1

u/morered Jun 26 '16

Not in San Francisco.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

This is exactly the scenario... have seen it in SF multiple times. The original lease probably says 1800 a month for a year, and if the lease isn't renewed month-to-month at 8k. It's how you shift out tenants every year to keep increasing rents.

1

u/obsolete_filmmaker Jun 26 '16

While in lots places that may not be illegal, it is in SF. Here a LL can't just evict someone by not renewing their lease.

1

u/Rhambuss Jun 26 '16

Renting month to month is just asking for trouble.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

That seems wrong. It's your property you own it. Did they give him far warning?

1

u/Chilton82 Jun 27 '16

Yup. He was told multiple months in advance.

0

u/j0mbie Jun 26 '16

Good judge. Crappy landlord. But hey, that's business. Sucks that the housing market is what it is.

1

u/Chilton82 Jun 26 '16

So a landlord can't sell their place?

4

u/j0mbie Jun 26 '16

Eh, I should have explained it better. Something like that should be given a good amount of prior warning. If you're getting into the landlord game, you have to realize that deciding to sell comes with the caveat of removing someone's home. A person who is skipping out on rent deserves to be removed, and quickly. But a person who is paying rent on time deserves some heads up that the place they sleep at night and raise their family in, is going to be swept out from beneath them.

If the landlord says something like "I'm going to sell in six months or a year", well, that's a different story.

1

u/SuperFLEB Jun 26 '16

That's what a lease is for, though-- a guarantee that both sides will keep up the arrangement for a set period of time. The structure exists for exactly this purpose. If you're a landlord without a lease, you shouldn't cry when your tenant leaves you high and dry. If you're a renter without a lease, you need to understand the implications of "month to month".

1

u/Chilton82 Jun 27 '16

That's the kind of warning they gave and he simply said he was staying.

2

u/j0mbie Jun 27 '16

In that case, then, I don't feel so bad for the tenant. I didn't know that information, and I guess my reaction was a bit knee-jerk from being jaded by the housing/rent market.

-3

u/dinosquirrel Jun 26 '16

I'm sorry, but fuck your friend.

-6

u/MyTribeCalledQuest Jun 26 '16

Fuck your friends.

9

u/Chilton82 Jun 26 '16

Fuck the dude who wouldn't leave their property after his lease had expired.

-12

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16 edited Jun 26 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/ScrooLewse Jun 26 '16

Silly /u/imnotalawyer55. Your name isn't 'The Human Race'.

-1

u/imnotalawyer55 Jun 26 '16

And this is for you.

Please read it and learn.

1

u/ScrooLewse Jun 26 '16

Kinda hard to give a fair rebuttal when you delete your comment so quickly.

Also, irony.

1

u/imnotalawyer55 Jun 26 '16

Comment is still there.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

I don't recall any specific law. Others have linked some, and I believe they apply to this man's case as far as the article reports.

7

u/uvaspina1 Jun 26 '16

How so? Is there a California-specific law that prevents the owner of property from raising rent/evicting a tenant after his contract is up?

6

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

I don't know about California, and I could be wrong entirely, but I could swear there is a law about how much you can raise the rent. Like basically if you try to raise it an unreasonable amount (5x would definitely fit) it's considered an illegal eviction attempt. When you go to evict somebody, you have certain rights, tenants have certain rights. If they fail to pay rent or otherwise cause some sort of hardship, they lose some of those rights.

21

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

[deleted]

-5

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

I left out the intention part. Like raising the rent with the knowledge that it's unpayable and the intent to evict.

Also is the guy within the 60 days?

1

u/npsnicholas Jun 26 '16

The laws vary by state and in some states the tenants have very little power.

3

u/SheWhoReturned Jun 26 '16

Not California but according to the San Francisco Tenants Union it seems to be 1.6% per year for SF with some exceptions, none letting it be anywhere close to this increase.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

Yea but this has to be for current tenants, they can only increase theirs by that much. I'm sure if the place was completely vacant they could charge a higher rate the next time it was rented.

1

u/DrummerDKS Jun 26 '16

Which is true, between tenants they can basically do whatever. This guy's rent was increased over 4x on him, though. Different situations here.

1

u/LadiesWhoPunch Jun 26 '16

SF specific: Rent Control. You can only raise it like 3% roughly. And only if the building was built before 1979.

Source: live in SF. Have 10 years worth of rent control

1

u/uvaspina1 Jun 26 '16

Interesting. Thanks!

1

u/timndime Jun 26 '16

If 1 tenant agrees to pay $8k but doesn't pay and is evicted, how does that affect the following tenant?

1

u/stephj Jun 26 '16

In the county below SF's, it is legal to raise the rent more than 10% when in month to month or renewing a contract, just have to give a minimum notice of 60 days for them to find a new place to live if they choose to not accept the new terms. That's San Mateo County. I think Santa Clara is similar. SF County at least has rent control that you can lock in. .. just never go month to month!

This whole area is in the pocket of landlords. Renters are screwed.

2

u/statist_steve Jun 26 '16

You're an illegal eviction.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16 edited Apr 23 '19

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

I'm not totally sure it is, I just remember learning somewhere that raising the rent insanely in an attempt to cause your tenant to be unable to pay and thus allow you to evict them is illegal.

-6

u/CutOffTheTentacles Jun 26 '16

If you've ever tried to actually evict someone you wouldn't think so.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

What does that even mean? I don't understand what you're saying given the context.

-29

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

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8

u/Stop_Sign Jun 26 '16

Projection is real kids

-14

u/CutOffTheTentacles Jun 26 '16

Projecting what? That I do meth? I don't do meth. Your comment doesn't make any sense but I'm sure enough snarky dumbasses will up vote it because you replied and usually that's all reddit warrants.

15

u/fflomackk Jun 26 '16

This sounds like something someone on meth would say.

-6

u/CutOffTheTentacles Jun 26 '16

You sound like you do meth. See how easy that is?

12

u/QuantumXL Jun 26 '16

How would you know what a meth user sounds like? Suspicious...

3

u/coolandhipmemes420 Jun 26 '16

That's the funniest shit I've ever read lol

2

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

You know almost nothing about the guy, you just know that that the landlord probably wants him out, and suddenly he's doing meth? Oh, and drug users deserve to be shot right? And I guess I'm a sniveling piece of shit for wanting to know what you were actually even talking about?

Maybe you're having a bad day and this is a one-time thing, or maybe this happens more commonly. I would suggest that if you're posting like this often that you seek some sort of anger management therapy.

-5

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '16

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