Raising Rent on a 30 day tenant

[Gayle Eisner]

Hi all:

I was hoping to raise the rent on my income property but I have never done so previously.  Tenant has been there almost 2 years.  I was wondering what is the maximum I can raise the rent on a month-to-month agreement?  Further,  I am paying for his internet.  Spectrum has raised their costs double and I was considering asking him to take care of  his own internet costs and finally,  How much of a notice is normally required, in writing?  thank you, G

[Russ Cowley]

Gayle, is the property subject to AB 1482 or any other local rent control ordinance?  If not, you can raise rent as much as you want with proper notice.  With a month-to-month lease, a Landlord can serve a notice of change in terms of tenancy and modify just about any lease term, such as passing the cost of internet on to the tenant.  

Notice periods vary based on the amount and frequency of changes.  Landlords must provide 30-days notice if the rent increase is less than 10%. If the total rent increase over the past 12 months exceeds 10%, then Landlords must provide 90-days notice.  Source: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml...

Always consider the tenant management component of any changes, however. Tenants are people.  If you are too aggressive, tenants may retaliate, making your life difficult. 

Best Practice: do not provide variable cost services like internet, water, PG&E, or trash service to residents.  These costs should be paid by the tenant. 

Feel free to reach out if you need more specific information about your situation.