Posted on 01/23/2024 8:49:44 PM PST by know.your.why
Hello fellow FReepers. I have just been given the shocking news that my monthly rent for a 1-bdr apartment in N. Alabama is going up by $300 which works out to a 45% increase. The apartment complex has been recently bought by a NJ based company and apparently they have resolved to raise every tenant's rent. The reason that the manager told me was that materials costs are up "such as drywall". Ridiculous excuse. I just cant believe that this has happened. People here cant afford this kind of increase. Wages have not gone up AT ALL. I just dont get it. Any help is appreciated.
I own my home outright, but it’s still expensive: I had a 900 dollar hike in my home insurance this year, and considering that insurance companies think of Florida the way a vampire thinks of garlic, I was basically stuck with that.
I’m expecting rents to be by the minute soon. 100$ a minute.
Yes it is legal and there is a good reason
During Covid, you could not evict people so many people quit paying rent. Insurance rates went up as did property taxes in many places. So you are now competing against people who will pay that amount and add a deposit of 1st and last months rent plus an animal deposit and additional animal rent. They are willing to pay this much because they have an eviction and bad credit on their record but they make good money.
Does Alabama have Rent Control Laws?
This is an interesting idea
Gently, remember the owners are from New Jersey. They are in Alabama, a foreign land. gently I would advise you to cease doing business with greedy Yankee carpet baggers and move.
Your landlord is from New Jersey and therefore bad.
And gently, you have two courses....... pay the rent or move
“Your landlord is from New Jersey and therefore bad.”
I was at a bar in Key West, the guy playing GTAR asked everyone who entered where they were from. If form NJ, he asked everyone to yell “FU”. It was halarious.
Bidenomics.
It’s Democrat approved!
How does that song go? Make a new plan, Stan...hop on the bus, Gus...just drop off the key and get yourself free.
Where is this concept of landlords being local a “good thing” and a landlord from somewhere else being “bad” coming from?
First off, your landlord is a company. Most likely an LLC, which has probably 3 general partners and then a bunch of limited partners (most likely 30-50). I can say this with confidence, because this is the “syndication” model and how people invest in commercial real estate. I would be quite surprised if the LLC was a NJ LLC, because a) NJ is not favorable to businesses, and b) the LLC is usually created in the state where the property is.
Now, the investors in the LLC are probably from NJ, and NY, TX, CA, WA, FL, OK ... etc, etc, etc ... including Alabama. In fact, I would be surprised if one of the GP’s was NOT from Alabama. This is because there are 3 major roles for GPs. One is the underwriter that creates the business plan, one is the capital raiser that brings other investors (limited partners) into the investment, and the third is “boots” which is short for “boots on the ground” ... a local that visits the complex once a week to oversee the hired property management company (the landlord is NOT the property manager ... one is the owner and the other is a contracted service). Hard to have “boots” if someone does not live within an hour’s drive of the complex.
So your rent before now was less than $350 per month? Are you living in a storage facility? How many square feet? That’s 1980s crazy cheap, even for Alabama.
ok so far as it goes (and i dare to postulate that your perpective may in fact be generic to all of the states), but i would guess that most people dont have enough cash to buy a home outright, even a fixer upper in the sticks. and even if one did find such a home it would be a three plus hour commute to one’s well paying job (iow, goodbye quality of life).
in silicon valley, they are now building up (no longer out), which means more condos and less ranch homes. more density. smaller units. less quality of life.
many cannot afford even that without two incomes. but two incomes usually requires marriage and marriage rates are at a historical low. income levels are (i believe) falling below inflation levels since the 1990s or prior. one can observe the trend that one income families owning ranch style homes were the rule and not the exception in the 1960s.
what happened? perhaps — government budgets, regulatory burdens, and the welfare state causing inflation, plus erosion of the concept of the nuclear family unit. (or else?)
Yea and if the feds are not paying the rent, they cram 1/2 a dozen into a one bedroom. So $1000 a month isnt a problem.
The real reason it went up is that some company from NJ now owns it. I am pretty sure Alabama law allows for rent increases. There may even be a clause in your lease allowing for such even if the terms are current. Not sure how that works without such language.
What you need to consider is this may be the first step to the new owners converting your building to condos. No doubt it was bought as an investment property. A far worse scenario would be if the new owners want to make it eligible for section 8 tenants. Either scenario is not good for you.
Would it be feasible for you to see if a smaller unit is available? That might be cheaper.
There are huge housing projects popping up on every square foot of vacant property in Charlotte, NC. They go up seemingly overnight and fill up a little slower.
true if they do not have rent control.
if they have rent control, then perhaps consult the relevant local city ordinance for the allowable percentage periodic rent increase. if it’s higher then maybe just complain to the city directly (avoid lawyer costs if possible). also the landlord may not be aware of the rent control ordinance so maybe talk with him/her first.
i’m not sure how rent control applies to transfer of ownership. maybe ordinarily not at all— in which case the renter may be out of luck. i would first check with the city to avoid lawyer fees since that kind of stuff may be spelled out in rent control ordidances and/or well understood in city offices.
Best reply on this post.
I saw a fairly recent article about how it will take at least 3-1/2 years for housing to become affordable again - that’s using a 7% pay increase each year (and no more inflation).
That means our own pay buys about 25% less that it used to and the “booming markets” are about 25% low on actual buying power.
As Dems say - it just shows that Bidenomics is working....
To bad all the best spots in California are taken
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