QUESTION: I have been renting my apartment for five years from people who left me alone and never put the rent up. However, they recently got a managing agent who’s sent me a notice telling me my rent is going up by about 20 percent.
I know I’ve had an easy run without any rises but 20 percent is too much. Surely this is illegal. Who do I call to get them to back off? – Skipper, Bondi
ANSWER: You’re right about having had a good run with no rises all those years but your landlord is entitled to raise the rent now – the question is, by how much.
This isn’t really a case of the size of the rise but whether or not the rent is fair.
The landlord can’t raise the rent to make up for all the money they didn’t collect for the past few years. In fact, you can challenge any rent rise that takes it above the current market figure for a similar apartment in your area (call Fair Trading on 13 32 20).
The landlord has to give you 60 days notice and you have 30 days in which to appeal.
So, if you look around and find that the new rent is in fact reasonable, then the best thing you can do is politely ask them to raise it in stages to give you a chance to adjust your domestic budgets.
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