How to prepare for a big rent increase

During the pandemic, rents across the country dropped – but they’re quickly bouncing back.

That means many tenants, especially those who nabbed a place at a discounted rate in the last year or two, will be in store for an unpleasant surprise come lease renewal time.

“Unfortunately, many renters are receiving higher-than-expected renewals and are being forced to move,” said Allia Mohamed, CEO of openigloo, which allows renters in New York City to review landlords.

Still, there are steps you can take to get ahead of a big jump, as well as a number of new protections available to tenants at risk of displacement because of rising housing costs.

There’s a growing movement across the country to regulate rent increases. In Oregon, for example, most hikes are limited to 7%, plus inflation.

Santa Ana, California, passed a bill in October limiting rent increases in most buildings to no more than 3% during any 12-month period, or 80% of the consumer price index change for the year, whichever is less. (If there’s no inflation in a year, rents can’t go up at all.)

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Meanwhile, residents in Saint Paul, Minnesota, voted this month in favor of a rent control policy that will also limit increases to 3% a year.

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 across Washington state are guaranteed at least a 60-day heads-up.

In Seattle and Portland, Oregon, your landlord may be required to pay your moving costs if you can’t afford to stay.

You can get a sense of how fair your lease renewal 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.