Rents are bouncing back. What to do if you expect a big increase

Like many other renters during the pandemic, Trish DaCasta nabbed an apartment that she normally couldn’t afford.

The upgrade was a big one: She was able to leave the place she’d been sharing with roommates for more than five years for a studio of her own in a luxury building in downtown San Diego, with a gym and pool.

“It was amazing,” DaCasta, 36, said. “I’ve wanted to live alone since the day I graduated college.”

But the good times were tainted by the feeling they were only temporary.

And over the last few months, DaCosta, a Pilates instructor, has been seeing the open apartments in her building go for rents just as high, if not higher, than they were priced pre-Covid. By her calculations, her current rent of around $1,900 could easily go up to $2,300 or more. That would force her to move.

“It’s just too much,” she said.

As cities begin to resemble their pre-Covid selves again and the period of discounted rents evaporates, many tenants are facing a similarly unpleasant reversal.

“Renters who originally received pandemic pricing are now experiencing steep rent increases at renewal – sometimes upward of 40%,” said Allia Mohamed, CEO of openigloo, which allows renters in New York City to review landlords. “I’m amazed this is legal.”

While it’s true that most tenants in the U.S. aren’t protected by rent control policies, some are. Meanwhile, others are helped by requirements they be given a certain amount of notice before their rent is raised. And, in almost all cases, it’s worth trying to negotiate with your landlord for a better rate, experts say.

Here’s how to prepare for a rent increase.

There’s a growing movement across the country to regulate rent increases. In Oregon, for example, most hikes are limited to 7%, plus inflation. Many cities in California have a cap, too.

While many landlords are free to raise your rent at renewal as much as they’d like, some have to provide you with notice. Landlords in Seattle, for example, are required to alert their tenants 180 days prior to any change, and most renters in Washington are guaranteed a 60-day heads-up.

You can get a sense of how fair your adjusted rate is by comparing it to the rents of similar apartments in your area, Mohamed said. Openigloo.com has a rent calculator that can help New Yorkers learn if they’d be overpaying. At Zumper.com, tenants can look up the median rental prices in many cities.

“If you find that other places in your area are going for less, start making a list of examples,” said Patty Crawford, vice president of strategic accounts at Zumper. “The more data you have, the better.”

In addition to the hard numbers, finding out other information about your landlord and building can also be useful.